Job Discussion Forums

[MELEE]

I'm almost afraid that posting this will jinx it, but it does appear we will be having an early start to the rainy season this year.
4th rain in 2 weeks here!

[MO39]

I just walked home at the tail-end of a big fat lovely thunder (and lightning) storm here in the D.F. that lasted over an hour. And a couple of days ago we had a nice (though shorter) storm in the evening. So maybe the rainy season will arrive early this year !

[Linda T.]

I apologize for taking this post somewhat off course, but . . . speaking of weather . . . do any of you have suggestions for clothes I might be accumulating now to take with me in the Fall to Guadalajara? I was only there in April when I would have been plenty warm WITHOUT ANY. I absolutely HATE shopping for clothes so am hoping to accumulate a few things between now and then which will be as versitile as possible (regarding useful for teaching and other situations I'm likely to encounter in the type of weather I'm likely to encounter). I'm anticipating probably working for a private language school.

And, back to Mexican thunder storms . . . I'm curious . . . after you've been there for a while, do you stop hitting the floor and covering your head when the sound comes crashing through the walls? (or do you just consider it part of your daily exercise???)

[MO39]

[Samantha]

Oh, the fabulous light shows are really worth standing up for! But it IS the loudest thunder I have ever heard in my life. The pets all congregate under the bed. When a storm approaches we get all the candles and flashlights on ready, and then I let any street dogs in the block into our yard for shelter. Where I am (we are still waiting for the first rain in over 7 months) we get alot of the summer tropical storm and hurricane action that spins over from the Baja. It is dusty and dry right now and the farms need rain terribly. I hope we get an early rainy season, also.

[hlamb]

It's rained a couple of times here recently too. I hope the rainy season is here because it helps cool things off. It's been rather warm in the past few weeks.

[Guy Courchesne]

Been one of the warmest Aprils on record so I hear. Like last year, it seems rainy season is early.

[GueroPaz]

Living in Illinois, Oklahoma and Texas, I took thunder and lightning for granted, thinking it was universal. A coworker from Seattle, however, told me that for all the rain there, it never stormed. He stayed up late one night, just before returning to live in Seattle again, watching a Texas storm.

Here in northern Thailand, the weather pattern is very similar to Chiapas, and the heat is near record highs this week, 38 to 40. Rains will become regular very soon.

Down at the coast in southernmost Chiapas, the light company would turn off the luz when a bad storm approached, and turn it back on when they knew no lines had been knocked down.

[MELEE]

Linda,

Clothes are very personal but things that layer well are a good idea since you will see a wide range of temps throughout the day.

Since we are talking about rain. I recommend you have 3 good umbrellas.
You leave one umbrella at home, one at work. And you favorite is the one you mostly use, carrying it back and forth. That way you are rarely caught without one. If you ever arrive, either at home or work and put your umbrella away and notice there are 3 there--you simple remember to take one home with you. So that there is always at least one on each side.

I grew up with thunderstorms too, but it IS really loud here--maybe it has to do with the elevation? The clouds are just above our heads?

[jfurgers]

[notamiss]

Rainy season in DF:

Variable rain from now until June, increasing in frequency in fits and starts. Daily rain usually starts sometime during June. In 10 years here, I have seen it start as early as the beginning of June and as late as the end of June.

During July and August, you can expect it to rain every day, with few exceptions. It isn't depressing, though, since mornings are often clear, or at least partially sunny. The rain arrives in the afternoon or evening.

Hurricane winds never reach the DF, but the rain associated with tropical storms sometimes does. Due to the hurricane season, some of the heaviest rains may come in September, even when the frequency of rainfall is no longer daily. In 2005, Tropical Storm Stan came inland and defied the pattern of morning sun, afternoon rain, bringing the DF 3 days of unceasing rain (not to mention the devastation that Stan's heavy rains wreaked in rural areas and several Central American countries).

Through September and October, rain begins to diminish; from daily, to a few times a week, to occasional. Come November, rain is unsual.

[MO39]

[Linda T.]

Hey, thanks Melee for your response to my off-topic clothing inquiry. I gotta say that I've been EXTREMELY impressed with the effort put forth by those of you already in Mexico to answer the questions of those of us hoping to be there soon. It makes a HUGE difference in bridging the gap between the known and the unknown in such a way that the unknown becomes more exciting than scary.

Which brings me back to our topic . . . while I have no experience with incredibly intense thunderstorms other than my experience of them in Mexico . . . I find that the degree to which I am frightened matches exactly the degree to which I find them exhilerating. Amidst the screaming and ducking, I'm saying to myself "WOW . . . this is WAY cool!!!"

[jfurgers]

[jillford64]

Man, this has got my inner mexican wishing I were still in Morelia for the rainy season.