This little weather badge may not mean much to those in the states dealing with snow and temps in the teens, but for those of us who have acclimatized to the tropics, we’re suffering through a real cold snap! For the past three days we’ve experienced temperatures that have struggled to get into the 70’s during the day, only to plummet into the low 50’s a night. (The low this morning was 49!) On top of that rain, clouds, and high humidity have made everything feel that much colder.
For those of you who are ready to pack the trunks and come down for a swim let me give you some perspective. Mérida has yearly average high temperature of 90 degrees and an average low of 70. For further clarification, we go through 339 days of the year with a high temperature above 80 degrees, 238 of those above 90. (You can check out these and other weather statistics at the Mérida Weather Review.) That means that for the past three days we’ve been 20 degrees outside the norm for both the high and low. So you can imagine the complaints that we’ve been hearing. Last night, our pastor’s wife let us know that it is never this cold, and she’s not off by much. The record low, according to my research is 41!
So while you’re scraping the ice of your windshield to go to work, remember those of us in the Yucatán who are suffering with you. Boy am I glad we got our hot water fixed this weekend!
Update 2/26/07: Proving Mexico can indeed get chilly is this article from Jim over at his blog: Finding Direction. It was submitted without coercion.
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sounds like you’re suffering for Jesus! You poor poor souls!
I just tried to post a picture of all the snow here and bundled up children…but guess I can’t.
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Granted, the cold that we’re feeling is definitely not what you have in the North, but imagine being used to the 70’s as a low and having to deal with the 50’s without heaters in the house. It’s not record cold, but pretty close.
BTW, I think you can post an image here if you host it somewhere else. You have to know HTML to do it though:
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Actually, I understand what you’re saying. The no heat thing drives home. When we lived in Alaska…we were seriously bitter when it reached 50 degrees and the military housing had no air condition. It felt like an extreme heat wave after temps of -20 –40 below! So I’m sure the opposite is cold. Our temps here in Cleveland have been below freezing for something like 20 days in a row. It was 42 degrees outside and nobody put their coats on and it did wonders for our spirits!! Are you loving all that warm weather or do you miss the diversity here?
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You’re right. I think that it takes living in another environment for a while in order to really understand that 50 can be cold or hot depending on what you’re accustomed to.
As far as the changing of the seasons, I think that the holidays are the hardest. The kids miss playing in the snow, and I miss the ambiance that the snow can bring to the Christmas season or what the dry leaves and crisp air lend to Thanksgiving. It’s also been difficult to mark the passing of time well since we’ve been in these tropical climates. The pace that the seasons bring to life is totally lost here where we basically have two seasons, hot and unsupportable!
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Whaaaaa!!! Pobrecito! I was braving DC’s ice covered sidewalks, you have to wear 2 layers and use a blanket. I’m still bringing my swimsuit when I come.
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Again, for you and the team, this is going to feel like summer, but for those of us who have come through the 90’s and sweating through the night, this cool down has us looking for our woolen mittens and space heaters. Both of which, by the way, are not available here.
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It is so good to hear that things are going well for you. We are having some nicer weather now here in south MO. I am quite sure that winter is not over yet though. I would love to find out what the tropics are like sometime. I am happy for you that you got your residence visas. Praying that God does great things there with and for you all. In His Service, Carol Brown
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