Merry Christmas! As some of you know, I have many broadcast meteorologist friends around the world, and we are in touch daily via a special WhatsApp group we’ve set up.
On Christmas Eve, I wished them all a Merry Christmas, and asked them to let me know what their Christmas weather is so I can share it with you. Here are the responses I got:
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Dr. Luis Alves in Porto Velho, Brazil wrote that it was a very hot, windless Christmas Eve with temperatures in the low to mid 80s with 90% humidity making it feel much warmer. Of course, he added, this Christmas weather is not unusual for a city in the middle of the Amazon rainforest!
Farther north (MUCH farther north), my dear friend Madeleine Westin at Channel 4 in Sweden said that most of the country had a White Christmas which, contrary to what you may think, is unusual! In fact, she said that the last time she had a White Christmas was in 2010!
My pal, Everton Fox in Qatar wrote “Merry Christmas Paul from a warm and dusty Doha, Qatar.” It was in the mid-70s, which is perfectly normal for them. Everton added, however, that it hasn’t rained there for around eight months now, and this is what they call the rainy season.
Meteorologist Siobhan Ryan in Dublin, Ireland had a wet and breezy Christmas. In fact, they even had warnings issued for the rain. High temperatures today were slightly above normal in the mid-40s to low-50s.
I’ve known meteorologist Jesper Theilgaard from Denmark for many, many years, and he reports that they had a dusting of snow (see photo below) with a low this morning of 5 degrees, and a high near freezing at 32 degrees.
Likewise, I’ve known Chantale Bijoux, meteorological officer in the Seychelles, a group of islands off the east Africa coast, for many years. As you would expect, it was a hot and humid Christmas there, with highs in the upper 80s today! Similar to what Everton wrote above, this is their rainy season there, but the rains are delayed. Here is Chantale’s photo!
Meteorologist Sakis Thessaloniki at ERT3 Channel in Greece reports that temperatures early Christmas morning dropped into the 20s, but recovered into the 40s to near 50 degrees (even warmer in Crete, where it was in the 50s to near 60 degrees).
Claire Martin, who some of you may remember for her work as the meteorologist on the CBC national evening newscast, The Nightly, is the international colleague that I’ve known the longest…she and I first met at an American Meteorological Society conference I believe over thirty years ago. She now lives in western Canada, and says that the temperature this morning was in the upper teens, with wind chills not far from zero! Here’s Claire’s photo:
I’ve also known Jean-Christophe Vincendon in Lyon, France for many years, and he reports that it was a mild Christmas there, with highs in the low 50s (normal is in the low 40s).
Chief Meteorological Technician Abraham Mwale in Zimbabwe wrote that it was a wet Christmas there, but that is very, very good news because (and this seems to be a common theme) the rainy season with much-needed rain started late this season..
My colleague Christian Euscategui in Bogota, Columbia bucks that common theme and shares that this is normally a dry part of the year there but, due to the La Nina conditions, they have had some “atypical rains” at Christmastime this year.
One of my newest friends, Sari Saadati in northern Iran on the southern coast of the Caspian Sea, says that Christmas Day there was warm, with highs in the mid-to-upper 50s…her average high this time of year is in the mid 40s. Sari also writes that “We Iranians celebrate the arrival of winter, the renewal of the sun and the victory of light over darkness. Considered the longest night of the year, Yalda Eve is the night when ancient Iranians celebrated the birth of Mithra, the goddess of light. I think Yalda night and Christmas are closely linked.” Take a look at Sari’s table!
Croatian Meteorologist, Zoran Vakula and I have been friends for many years…I even know his wife and daughter! He wrote that the Croatian capital, Zagreb (I’ve been there…it’s an amazing city), had a Christmas morning low of 41 degrees (normal is 30 degrees), and a high in the mid-50s.
Meteorologist Laura Tobin in the United Kingdom says that they officially had a White Christmas, with snow in northern England and Scotland!
Finally, I’ve known Tsietsi Monare since he was a TV meteorologist in South Africa, but he now works at NHK in Japan. However, he was on vacation in Boise, Idaho today!!! That man sure gets around. Based upon his photo, Boise had a White Christmas, but he says that it apparently hasn’t snowed there on Christmas in a long time! Here’s his photo: