EXPAT REVELATIONS: The Seasons

Weather and the seasons, that age old tradition that us Brits love, love, love to talk about. As you might have noticed, it does frequently feature on my blog. Which is why I enjoyed putting together this topic for the Expat Revelation series with Holly. I didn't consider the seasonal differences before moving here I will be honest. Maybe if I had, I would have been mentally prepared for the differences between South East Michigan and East Yorkshire. 

Michigan is both warmer (yey) and colder (boo) than Yorkshire. Average temperatures hit a high of 82F (28C) in July to a cold 17F (-8) in January. It seems in the last three plus years that America has been home, all averages have been smashed. Especially the average cold temperature, -8C would be a pretty warm seeing I've spent most of 2015 in -20C. Luckily, Michigan is a lot dryer than good old Yorkshire, not that that's at all surprising it does like to rain in Yorkshire. Less rain, more snow, I can't win. 

So let's start as we mean to go on with the season right out my window, winter:

PHOTO: NOAA via The Detroit News

Right now i'm covered under that super cold whiteness. Yes it's that cold and wintry.  

I have to admit, I have never seen as much as snow as I have until moving here. In winter you're guaranteed a good foot or four or snow throughout the season with -20C becoming the new norm this year. In fact in 2013 we hit about 100 inches in total of snow. Around here winter is measured by how much the Great Lakes freeze over. Currently that stands at nearly 85% of the Lakes being covered by ice. Which is pretty awesome when you consider the Great Lakes is home to 21% of the worlds fresh water by volume (ta wiki for that fact). Unlike the UK, Michigan doesn't grind to a halt and just gets on with it. Wearing four layers becomes the norm, -8C feels warm, and snow shoveling is a nice winter work out.

Spring brings hazy days but not until late April and May. Temperatures are much like a warm British summer day. As  far as seasons go, it's pretty uneventful but lovely all the same. 

Oh summer with your long hot days around the high 20's into the 30's (C). Still a little hot for this Brit to fully enjoy. Sometimes we get a tornado watch or warning when it's the season (late spring through early summer). Sometimes one passes through, although rarely. Long warm days lead to stormy nights. The thunder is eerily loud and threatening enough that it use to scare me the first year or so.

And what's the result of those warm spring days, lovely summers and a mild autumn with it's colder nights? A beautiful colorful colourful autumn finale. The fall colours Michigan has to offer because of it's seasons is one of the reasons I love calling the mitten home. Burnt oranges, to crisp reds and dazzling golden yellows, the Michigan landscape comes alive. By the end of October the trees are naked and Thanksgiving always rolls around with a snow shower or three.

We're lucky in Michigan that we actually get to enjoy all four seasons with their quirks and charms. According to all the seasonal information out there, Michigan is more cloudy than the norm. It's one of the affects of being surrounded by all the Great Lakes. Many leave the mitten and it's surrounding northern states for the warmer climes of the south to retire, it certainly tests what you're made of. But those fall colours, having those of your doorstep, that makes it all worth while in my book.

LIFE: The Great Detroit Flood of 2014

Source

Man what a crazy week we've just had weather wise. If you follow me on twitter you might have noticed me talking about the endless amount of rain we had on Monday evening - the second amount of rainfall ever on record for this area - second to such an event back in 1925. It has come to be known in the world of hashtags as the #DetroitFlood event, and being British well I like to chat weather.

It started raining around 11 in the morning as just a really grey, dull Monday morning. But the four hour deluge didn't start until around four in the afternoon. Deluge to say the least we got about 4.57 inches. Combine heavy rain and overworked water pumps which then broke, and you end up with freeways flooded 14 foot deep with water. Yes 14 feet of it - like in the first image. That junction (the meeting point of I-75 and I-696, probably one of the busiest junctions in Metro Detroit) became the Great Lakes region newest lake. 

Main roads (8 mile, Woodward) to pretty much all the freeways had junctions and mile upon mile under water and closed, with Detroit and pretty much all the lower Oakland and Macomb counties affected. There's so many photographs and tales of people being rescued from the roofs of their cars - over a 1000 were abandoned they reckon, water flooding basements, buses filling up with water and people boating along the freeways - many of which are still closed, two days later, and sadly three people lost their life. 

While half a mile down the road we had a flooded freeway, luckily we came out the other side okay although we did get some funky looking water bubbling up into our basement sinks. But thanks to a very overworked sump pump in our basement we came out fine unlike some of our neighbours who have around 3" of standing water below. Now it took me to moving to Michigan to know what a sump pump was but it's pump used in basements where flooding is regular and where the water table is higher than the foundation of the home - it's basically a fixed feature in these parts and they automatically kick on when the water level gets too high. Still it was a little touch and go - having just brought the house and not knowing how well the pump or if there were foundation issues, we were certainly blessed on Monday night to come out the other side okay.

 
Trying to go about our normal routine on Tuesday was a bit of a challenge, not only with all the main routes Joe could take to work being closed but just being able to get anywhere. With freeways closed, driving over their overpasses to see a deserted freeway at rush hour is super surreal. The above picture was taken at the Dequindre overpass over I-696 on our way home, normally at 4pm on a Tuesday that road would be packed out. Ya know, Detroit is the Motor City, we don't really do public transport, this area is all about cars. Those freeways never stop, yet to be replaced with soil covered roads and cars abandoned here and there, it's eerie to say the least.

The forecasts for thunderstorms and heavy rain on Tuesday didn't luckily add any further issues. It just liked to look menacing as we drove along 9 mile. Doom and gloom. After the great freeze of January and now the great flood, Michigan certainly likes to throw extreme weather at you.