As some of you know, I will be leaving to return to live in England at the end of this month. I came out here in September 2004 with no knowledge of Ohio weather...and over the past 2 years I've had so many people on this board help me understand the weather patterns in this part of the world and I've learnt a lot of ohio weather, (though I'm sure there is still a lot more that i haven't seen!) so i wanted to pop in before i go to say thank you!
I've seen some very different weather to what I'm used in England while I've been here. most notable is some of the high temps in the summer and some of the cold temps in the winter. also the way hot and cold spells can be much more prolonged than they are in England. Anyway, weatherwise, my top 3 months have been:
3rd place: November 2005
A bit of everything during this month. Severe thunderstorms, snow, warm sunny weather....it was all here...and the quick changes in temperature was pretty impressive too.
2nd place: December 2005
The first 3 weeks really. Two decent snow events, freezing rain, prolonged cold spell and made the build up to xmas feel very festive. Shame it was gone by christmas itself...and wasn't to know how awful the rest of winter would be. So this month gets 2nd place because it saved what was overall an awful winter...meant we didn't go entirely snowless!
1st place: Easy one this! January 2005
Mainly because events this month were quite new experiences for me. From the very mild and record breaking rainfall in the first half of the month..then that sudden flip with a very exciting cold front to very cold and snowy conditions that dominated the 2nd half of the month. This was the first month that I got a taste of what Ohio can really do! The day we went from 69F to 28F with that front was a very new thing for me! And exciting too!
So, my worst 3 months for weather were:
3rd place: November 2004
Cant actually remember any weather from this month except a snow flurry on thanksgiving!
2nd place: January 2006
so much promise....so much let down. One day of snow...the rest of it zonal!
1st place: February 2006
even more promise, and even more let down...i didn't think it was possible to cancel so many winter storm warnings at the last minute. If the forecasts had come off, we could have had a lot of snow on the ground...but the total accumulation for the month was a big fat zero inches!
And May 2006 is heading towards 3rd place right now!
On a more personal note. I've had a great time out here in the US. the people are very friendly and I'm pleased I've come out here and found out that Americans are genuinely friendly, nice and helpful people. I've been overwhelmed by how helpful people can be out here....my only criticisms are that you dont have roundabouts on the roads and you hang traffic lights in wires above the road so you cant see them when you have the sun visor down in the car!
I've had some very tricky moments getting used to a new country and a whole different culture. But its been worth it. there is a lot I'm going to miss out here. Everyone on this forum has been friendly and helpful to me and i will continue to check in to see what is happening when I'm back in England...and maybe reporting whats going on over there while i'm at it. Kind of fitting that the weather here has turned more British!
Anyway, thank you again, particularly to the Ohio people, particularly Ms Mary who helped me through my first winter here understanding what is going on! And thank you to those who were wishing for a big snowstorm before i go...shame it never came off!
Never mind, when the Atlantic shuts down, England should get more snow anyway!
