Heart Of The Whiny Season
The Great Basin, unlike some deserts, doesn't officially have a rainy season. What little precipitation we get here generally falls in the form of snow during winter months. But what we do have is a whiny season, and we're in the heart of it now.
If you live in Northern Nevada you hear it everywhere these days, like the dull, high-pitched drone of a bee colony. "How come it's not Spring yet?" "Why is it still cloudy?" "When will the gray skies go away?" "How can it still be snowing on the pass?" "How can the high today only be 58?"
Look, I love a nice, sunny day as much as anyone, but all of you need to ramp it down just a bit (and you know who you are). Reno's weather is rarely predictable, but there's nothing unusual about rain and cool weather in early April. As I've said a hundred times, this is a reality of living in a mountain valley at about 4400 feet in elevation. Spring comes when it comes, not when the calendar says it will. Some years, like last year, it doesn't come at all and we go right into Summer. Most years it's warm and dry by mid-May, but there's never any guarantee. Most longtime residents can tell you stories about seeing snow fall on the valley floor in July. It's just where we live.
I'm not above occasionally complaining about the weather myself, but this gray, wet weather is perfectly normal for this time of year. I suppose I get a little defensive about this, but it's only because unlike a lot of people I actually like it here, even despite the April showers. If a few rainy weeks at that end of winter really bothers you that much, this probably isn't the best place for you.
If you live in Northern Nevada you hear it everywhere these days, like the dull, high-pitched drone of a bee colony. "How come it's not Spring yet?" "Why is it still cloudy?" "When will the gray skies go away?" "How can it still be snowing on the pass?" "How can the high today only be 58?"
Look, I love a nice, sunny day as much as anyone, but all of you need to ramp it down just a bit (and you know who you are). Reno's weather is rarely predictable, but there's nothing unusual about rain and cool weather in early April. As I've said a hundred times, this is a reality of living in a mountain valley at about 4400 feet in elevation. Spring comes when it comes, not when the calendar says it will. Some years, like last year, it doesn't come at all and we go right into Summer. Most years it's warm and dry by mid-May, but there's never any guarantee. Most longtime residents can tell you stories about seeing snow fall on the valley floor in July. It's just where we live.
I'm not above occasionally complaining about the weather myself, but this gray, wet weather is perfectly normal for this time of year. I suppose I get a little defensive about this, but it's only because unlike a lot of people I actually like it here, even despite the April showers. If a few rainy weeks at that end of winter really bothers you that much, this probably isn't the best place for you.
posted by Yukon Sully | 8:04 AM
2 Comments:
No doubt! I've been hearing it way too much the past few days too. Sometimes I think it's just a conversational ice breaker. "How bout that weather?" is replaced with: "When is it gonna be spring?" I work indoors so I only really have to worry aobut the walk to and from the car. I imagine most people don't really care that much either.
I say it a lot. I dislike cold weather. I'm the guy you want to yell at and choke. Yet, somehow, I manage to get through it alive each and every year. Plus, now that I own a badass 4WD, I'm no longer living in fear of the snow.
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