The spongy moors between here and Manchester will be sodden and streams and rivers will be swollen as they cascade, trundle and gush towards the sea. Reservoirs will be brimming and the footpaths I often walk will be treacherous.
This is not a day for going out. Shirley went out half an hour ago - off to catch a public bus into the city centre. She'll be working all day at the Sheffield Hallam University health centre - vaccinating dozens of students. Many will be from China. The increasing presence of Chinese students in this city is clear to all and there are several building projects associated with this influx.
Meanwhile, in British news channels, all the talk is of the forthcoming general election. It will be held on December 12th and no doubt I will be invited to work as a poll clerk. It will be a busy day with perhaps a 75% turnout. The day's pay will be rubbishy but it's nice to be engaged in the processes of our so-called democracy.
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| Brtitain's Trump |
The path to December 12th will be bitter and unpleasant with accusations, lies and false promises. Odious Johnson has suppressed a major intelligence report that sheds light upon Russian involvement in the European Union referendum of June 2016. And it is patently obvious why he does not want that information to come out before the election. An army of Russian bots and Facebook infiltrators were working overtime before that referendum to cunningly swing the country to "Leave". It was all good practice ahead of the last presidential election in America.
Calm down young man - I say to myself - calm down!
There are many things I might have blogged about this morning but as the rain continues to pour I will simply leave you with some annual rainfall figures that demonstrate that England is not as wet as outsiders and indeed insiders sometimes think:-
Sheffield, England - 29.4 inches
London, England - 22.9 inches
New York City - 45.2 inches
Tallahassee, Florida - 59 inches
Stuttgart, Germany - 28.5 inches
Florence, South Carolina - 45.0 inches
Bangkok, Thailand - 65.1 inches
Mumbai, India - 95.3 inches
Red Deer, Canada - 19.6 inches
Seattle, Washington State - 38.4 inches
Tamborine Mountain, Australia - 61.5 inches
Auckland, NZ - 50.5 inches
31.89 inches in Blackburn, Lancashire. And we have all those potholes that the Beatles sang about........
ReplyDeleteI have heard that you have got four thousand of them. Why don't the council fill them in?
DeleteWe had 4000 in the 1960's. There's far more now! They couldn't possibly fill them in. They haven't any money. Budget cuts.
DeleteThat is probably an average, based on the rainfall of several years, right? 2018 was extremely dry in the Stuttgart area, and 2019 was better but still our groundwater levels have not fully recovered.
ReplyDeleteAs for the elections in your country, they are watched from here with great attention. Our main TV news never fail to bring us the latest from the UK.
Yes that Stuttgart figure was indeed an average. In any stated rainfall figures you will find annual variations.I hope that the German TV news is telling the truth.
DeleteWell done for still being able to get up early enough to be a poll clerk!
ReplyDeleteI gave up several years ago - much too long day - took me days to recover last time I did it.
A full polling day is like running a marathon isn't it Sue? And the low pay is almost insulting.
DeleteI love the cities you picked for your statistics.
ReplyDeleteMumbai, especially.
You are a cheeky monkey, Mr. P.!
I stuck in Tallahassee special for you! Twice as much rain as Sheffield! I hope you have an umbrella!
DeleteYes...I have an umbrella somewhere. I think.
DeleteMary always had a brolly...Mary Poppins that is! But she didn't swear!
DeleteI love that Red Deer, Canada. In Canada we would say Red Deer, Alberta but then most people wouldn't know where that is. I grew up in Red Deer. It was a nice little town when I was young and lots of farms. When it rained, all the farmers would come into town.
ReplyDeleteWe have snow now, sigh.
Did you realise that my blogging chum Red - at Hiawatha House - resides in Red Deer with his professional carer The Micro Manager?
DeleteNice to have met a local blogger on YP.
DeleteOvercast here at the moment...rain due later. Next week they are mentioning some possible snow and temps in the -3c range. Considering last month we had a temp of 37c, you can see why nature might be confused.
ReplyDeleteAs for the burial of Russian election interference reporting in the UK, we are no stranger to that in the US. The Senate (led by Mr Moscow) has been trying to withhold/slow down legislation to curb the Russian/other misinformation campaigns for the 2020 election. You don't have to wonder why--afraid they and the orange idiot can't win without brainwashing their base.
As you can tell, I have no opinion. :)
No...no... very neutral Mary! Just sitting on the fence.
DeleteOh, inches of rainfall! Thank goodness. I thought it was something else for a moment.
ReplyDeletePlease refer to the annual rainfall for The Atacama Desert!
DeleteI have been watching a listening to elections for what seems like years and not one of the elected has done much good. I therefore refuse to have anything to do with any of it any more.
ReplyDeleteI have other more interesting things I can do than watch or read about another lot of egotistical liars.
Briony
x
How much do you want for your vote Briony? I'll give you a tenner.
DeleteThose rainfall figures do surprise me! I think the thing about England's rain is not necessarily the quantity so much as the persistence. Often it's a very light, misty rain that probably doesn't amount to much in a rain gauge, but lasts all day and sometimes several days. Whereas in Tampa, we'd get a downpour in the middle of every summer afternoon, but it would only last about 15 minutes!
ReplyDelete(For the record, though, I happen to love England's climate.)
I think your rain observation is probably spot on Steve. Also in Mumbai and Bangkok they only ever seem to get very heavy rain.
DeletePut a long red tie on 'im and to my bad eyes, he IS Trump!! Brothers from different mothers, they are!
ReplyDeleteDenver averages 17 inches of rain and 60 inches of snow per year. Now, because that snow is sooooo dry, 10 inches is equal to one inch of moisture. So, that would be an average of 23 inches of moisture per year. Not much at all! Of course, the mountains to our west get many more feet of snow and we benefit from that snow melt in the spring and summer.
Thanks for this extra climatic information ma'am. I guess there are different kinds of snow in Colorado. We seem to get different types here but in some winters we do not see any snow at all.
DeleteAre those statistics just rainfall or all precipitation?
ReplyDeleteOur average annual precipitation (of all forms) is about 55 inches in Halifax, Nova Scotia. My particular town averages 47 inches. I had no idea England's averages were that low. The figures from around the world are eye-opening.
I always want to shout at Boris to stand up straight and comb his hair!
I call that clown Johnson - trying not to use his chummy first name. And yes Jenny - ALL precipitation.
DeleteThat's different from my outlook on using first names - for public figures, I intend it as a show of disrespect because I'm not using their titles. Funny how people interpret things differently.
DeleteRight wing papers in Britain generally refer to him as Boris - as though he was our cuddly best mate or something like that.
DeleteEek - I'll have to change :)
DeleteI don't know where you got the rainfall amount for Red Deer. Our annual rainfall is 14 in. Our subsoil is clay. Our land is flat. It takes a while for the water to disappear.
ReplyDeleteI have re-checked Red. 19.6 inches PRECIPITATION. But you are right - 14 inches of rain.
DeleteReading about all the flooding in and around Sheffield--hoping Shirley got home safely today.
ReplyDeleteIt's okay Mary. I bought her a canoe for her birthday.
Delete"Wet and grey" to me is very pleasant. I wish we would get rain here...and in many other areas that desperately need it. Many areas, once again, are on high bushfire alert. Wet and grey...with rain teeming down would be absolutely wonderful.
ReplyDeleteIs that how you like your men too? Wet and grey?
DeleteI just dropped in to let you know about the Leven Canyon you asked about on my blog post. It was apparently linked to the River Leven in the area which was named after the River Leven in Scotland. In case it makes you feel better about your weather thus week, we have had rain, hail and sleet down here and it is only t.v. 😣
ReplyDeleteThat last bit should have read 5C. Darned autotext....
DeleteSpringtime in Tasmania.... I must say that I didn't realise you would get such weather at this time of year.
DeleteIt looked like rain here yesterday but the clouds just rolled away in the late afternoon. This morning there's a cloudless blue sky, so no rain yet. When it comes, it will be a deluge and everywhere will be flooded.
ReplyDeleteYP, will you be taking bets on how long it will take, after Brexit, before the UK want to join again?
The sick joke is that the majority would now like to stay in the EU! So I am guessing 45 minutes.
Delete