Editorial - This Wacky Weather

ONE would be excused for thinking that Ireland and the East Coast of the U.S. have geographically switched places this summer, given the extremes of climate both are experiencing.

A typical Irish summer day often has bright spells followed by torrential rains. The locals say that you can experience the weather of all four seasons in one day. 

One of the oldest jokes is the one about the American tourist returning after a week in Ireland. He is asked if it rained and he says twice, once for four days and once for three days.

Here in New York and along the East Coast, of course, we would usually be sweltering under heat wave conditions in mid-August, longing for the weekend and a breath of sea air to cool us down.

Instead what do we find? The year so far on the East Coast has been one of the wettest on record. 

Indeed, it looks increasingly like August will be the wettest month since records began if the torrential rains and thunderstorms keep up. Philadelphia has had rain for 16 consecutive days, something even the longest living locals can never recall in high summer.

It seems every day more thunderstorms roll in off the ocean, and flash flood warnings appear crawling across the bottom of our television screens. Given that we had a similarly rainy spring and a brutally cold winter, this has been the worst sustained bout of weather in decades.

Meanwhile, what do we see in Ireland? Temperatures soaring in the 90s, not a cloud or rain shower about, and a population, long complaining about wet weather, throwing a damper on everything, scurrying to the beaches for relief.

A friend just returned tells how he and several others were so hot that they jumped into one of the famous Lakes of Killarney just to cool off. Space is a premium at beaches, with little more than elbow room as the locals try to cool off in the heat wave.

Of course, Ireland has very little air conditioning compared to the U.S. for a very good reason. One can pass a lifetime without ever having to use it there. Outdoor barbecues have become quite the fashion among the Irish these days, again something new for Americans used to sprinting between the showers in a typical Irish summer.

Various theories, of course, are put forward for the extraordinary changes. Everyone nods sagely and discusses global warming, though there is never any explanation as to precisely what that means. It is certainly far cooler here on the East Coast, so how does that fit into the global warming theory?

Of course, many Irish might have the sacrilegious thought that if it is the effect of global warming, well that might be no bad thing. A Mediterranean climate would make Ireland the hotspot of Europe, literally. 

The natural beauty and the wit of the locals is a huge draw in itself. Add in predictably good weather and the Riviera would have to look out.

But what of the U.S.? It is galling to consider that Labor Day looms and there seems little prospect of a summer proper this year. Now we know how the Irish feel, year after year, as the bright promise of sunshine and endless days fade under the weight of repeated storms and flash floods.

Not that this summer is all bad. There are many who will welcome the fact that the barometer has not come near to the 100 degree mark we usually experience, and that the air quality has been remarkably good because of all the rain.

That seems like a small consolation prize, however. The lazy hazy days of summer seem a distant memory this year, while a generation of Irish bask in the greatest weather in their lifetime. Perhaps in the grand scheme of things it is refreshing that the roles are reversed, but don’t tell that to most East Coasters.