The Summer That Keeps Going

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According to MétéoSwiss, as the app is called, if you have your iPhone in English, it is currently 34°c in Nyon, that 16°c hotter than the norm for this time of year. After the summer of heat waves the heat persists at least until the anticipated storms this evening.

The storms, yet again, may be torrential. Cycling earlier today around the Vallée de Joux saw me fighting a wind from the west on the way back towards the car. It was strong and persistent.

Years ago I would have loved this summer that never ends. Years ago when I watched Natural History Unit documentaries I couldn’t understand people being impatient for rain, waiting for the rainy season or even monsoons. Due to weather weirding I understand that desire. Who wouldn’t want rain, and who wouldn’t want a drop in temperature after a month of six or more canicules (heat waves) and as a result of life in a Minergie building that was built before the 26.5°c temperature maximum.

In theory this is fantastic for summer sports. If you cycle then this summer was great, especially if you had a cool place to escape to once the ride was over. Some people spent every evening by the lake. This was a fantastic summer for swimming, when lakes didn’t have cyanobactéries, or other forms of health hazards.

I see that the cycling friends are happy to have a long summer of cycling. The advantage of cycling is that it creates a cooling draft, and you can go up the Jura, and through forests, and in so doing find some fresh air, either because of forward motion, higher altitude or evapotranspiration.

A few weeks ago I went from the lake side around Nyon up towards St Cergue, and when I got to the top I actually felt cold, and was impatient to get back down, but every time you cycle down the Jura there is a point where you are hit by a thermocline of heat. When you’re above it you’re cold, and longing for heat, and when you’re beneath it you think “Time to find an ice cream shop.” That’s when you stop at a petrol station on a Sunday.

When it’s hot running, walking, rock climbing and via ferrata become potentially lethal. If it’s 34°c and you’re on a via ferrata then the rocks quickly become hot, and the heat becomes unpleasant. With running, more than once I splashed myself at every fountain I passed, and within a minute or two I was warm again.

I saw that one cycling friend sat in fountains to cool off, during the hottest part of the heat wave. This is a rational thing to do. You lower your body temperature enough to continue.

I suspect that I would be as happy and enthusiastic about the heat this summer if three things were different. The first is that I can’t escape the heat, this summer, so I begin already warm, and I finish without being able to cool properly. The second is that because I live in a village with never-ending construction noise I can only aerate before the noisy people wake up. The third reason is that I know this weather is a sign of global warming, so I can’t enjoy it, like I would have, a few years ago.

In theory the long summer will end tonight. In theory rain is mere hours away, as is a drop in temperature that is in line with normal Autumnal norms. We will see whether the forecast is right.