Yesterday we seemed to be on the southeastern edge of the stormy weather that's moving through France right now. Today, we seem to be on the northeastern edge of a new storm center moving in. There's something climatically significant about the wide, long Loire River Valley that makes heavy weather track either north or south of it, often protecting us from the extremes.
Yesterday morning was beautiful. I took my camera out at sunrise when I went walking with the dog. Sunrise is still late here — between 8 and 8:30. There was basically no wind at that point. And it was pretty. The rain moved through starting around noontime.
It's a lot windier right now, but the worst part of the new storm is on the southwest coast, around Bordeaux. MétéoFrance has that area under a red alert for violent winds and heavy rains. The areas immediately south of us — the Indre and Indre-et-Loire départements — as well as the southern part of the Loir-et-Cher where we live, are experiencing fairly strong winds too. As I type this, I can hear gusts whooshing through the trees in our yard.
It looks like the strong wind and heavy rain will move off by this afternoon. I'm just glad it hasn't been any worse here in Saint-Aignan. We actually needed the rain.
The light through the trees in these photos is wonderful. The first and third look like landscape paintings. I'm guessing they are poplars in the third picture.
ReplyDeleteWe've had quite a few rain storms through Socal lately, which we desperately need.
Oh well, we need the rain, is a very Australian expression. Good for the the garden is another when it spoils your picnic, as it will tomorrow for my great niece's first birthday party, mid summer mind.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of rain, I saw a report on CNN this morning about the incredible amounts of rain and snow California has received and is about to receive from two storms churning in the Pacific. The snow pack in the Sierras measures 175% of normal. All this after about 7 years of drought. The farmers must be ecstatic. So many foodstuffs (is that a word?) we all enjoy come from California so it's a win-win for the whole country.
ReplyDeleteOh that last photo is so very beautiful / striking. It has to be my screensaver :)
ReplyDeleteI hope you weather the storm with no damage and possibly some tasty baked goods ... that is what I do when the weather goes bad, I start baking. Lucky for me the weather here is good almost every day :)
Such magnificent photos!
ReplyDeleteI had a meeting in Loches yesterday morning. Coming home in Tempest Kurt was a bit windy and rainy, but nothing really scary. Today I went up to Blois through Tempest Leiv, in the dark. Lots of driving rain, lots of sheets of invisible water on the road, which was the worst thing. Driving home this afternoon was a doddle, blue sky, no rain. But I got home to find a large patch of render had fallen of the house, right where the car had been parked 5 minutes before. Apparently we've got Tempest Marcel to look forward to now.
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