"Sun so far in December"
The weather has been so extremely grey so far in December that Swedish Television has taken to show daily statistics of the number of hours of sunshine. Note that this (above) is not the number of hours per day, but for a period of 15 days...
Over the past two weeks, our capital Stockholm on the east coast only had 30 minutes of sunshine altogether. Karlstad, situated on the north shore of Lake Vänern (and generally known as a town where the sun always shines) saw the sun for 2 hours and 18 minutes in total; while our 2nd largest city, Gothenburg (Göteborg) on the west coast, can brag about getting 3 hours and 48 minutes. (Borås, where I live, is only an hour inland from there, but I think our statistics would probably be closer to Stockholm's.)
Viewers can send in their own weather photos. The background above is not a blank screen, but a fog photo from Boden, far up in the north.
Below, a silhouette photo from the province Hälsningland, in the middle of our oblong country. Beautiful, but kind of spooky - like an island appearing "out of nowhere"...
And as for the next couple of days - not much hope of improvement...
We have had lots of days of grim grey wet weather. It sounds as if you have had the same.
ReplyDeleteWe certainly have, Addy.
DeleteIt is striking how these sparse minutes of light, mapped so clinically by statistics, make the viewer appreciate the submitted images even more
ReplyDeleteRo, sometimes the weather varies a lot between north and south, but just now it does not...
DeleteOur weather reports always feature viewers' photos. My friend used to get hers featured regularly.
ReplyDeleteSame here, CK - viewers' photos are always part of the weather reports.
DeleteHas this ever happened before? Goodness, I wonder WHY. The island photo is beautiful, and I like seeing your weatherman!
ReplyDeleteGinny, it probably has but I have no statistics for that...
DeleteThe chart of the few hours of sunshine in the past 15 days is surprising, and rather shocking to this California girl. Stay warm and upbeat til the sun shines longer hours.
ReplyDeleteTerra, at least not long until the winter solstice now... ;)
DeleteThe silhouette photo from the province Hälsningland is excellent - proving that wintertime can lead to wonderful images. Sunshine makes people in northern Europe feel more alive in winter. Just two or three hours helps a lot.
ReplyDeleteYP, there's a big difference between 2 hours a day and 2 hours spread out over two weeks, though...
DeleteI love the Hälsningland photo!
ReplyDeleteIn some Northern countries where the sun does not shine for weeks or even months on end, companies and people in their private homes have resorted to using lamps that emit light of the same wavelength as the sun, in order to prevent depression and increase productivity at work. I don't know how common such lamps are in your country, but it would certainly be an idea - not even a great number of candles or typical Christmas lights can amount to what the sun can do for us.
Meike, I know someone who used one in the past when he had to get up early. Retired now so perhaps less need...
DeleteThat's an excellent image of Hälsingland. It seems your forecasts are not going to encourage you to go outdoors.
ReplyDeleteOur weather has been very much in tune with yours these last couple of days and yesterday it rained heavily almost all day. Just a very short dry spell when I took the dog out for a quick walk then it started to rain halfway round and we got soaked. Today started with heavy cloud which has now drifted away and there's a blue sky and the sun is shining. Not a day for the beach though, it looks very "watery".
Taking one day at a time as far as that's possible, Carol... ;)
DeleteSorry, but I laughed! A friend of ours is going to Stockholm to spend Christmas with her son and his family. She thought she might see some snow!
ReplyDeleteThe lake photograph is stunning in its simplicity.
Christmas is a week away yet, Janice - who knows!! ;)
DeleteTypical Winter for you I guess? Time to hibernate indoors. My Anderson ancestors came from Goteborg.
ReplyDeleteIt does feel like it's been unusually grey so far, Amy. Forecasts for next week looking a bit better, but probably not to be trusted just yet...
DeleteOH MY! I had no idea how little sunshine you are having. that fog is like a sheet of typing paper. wow.. hope the sun breaks through soon
ReplyDeleteSandra, so do we! :)
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