Cold! And dry…

We’ve been here four years now, and while we know that’s not enough to make us experts on the annual weather patterns, we’re not alone in noticing that the weather this winter has been much different than the past few years.  In each of the other years we’ve been here, December has been relatively wet, with the rain lasting into January and the beginning of February.  This year, the rain stopped in the end of November, and we had six very dry weeks before we had a few days of showers, but now the rain seems to have stopped again.  Plus, it’s been cold, at least by our standards, with nighttime temperatures in the 50s, and daytime temperatures frequently not getting out of the low 70s.  We’ve had this weather in past years in January and February, but it seemed to arrive at least a month early this year.  The locals say the dry season is starting early, and it certainly seems like that to us as the ground is starting to crack, and the leaves are drying up and falling off the trees, making it feel very much like autumn here.  This has been bad for many of the farmers who planted crops in the end of November and beginning of December, expecting a couple of months of rain, but who are now either working to irrigate their crops or watching everything grow very slowly.  The tourists have loved the daily wall to wall sunshine, and they like using blankets instead of air conditioners, but for those of us living here who rely on the rain not just for crops but in order to keep our water supplies flowing, it’s a little frightening.  We will keep you posted…but in the meantime, feel free to do a raindance.