Walking in Heavy Rain
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Walking in Heavy Rain

Byrichard

I knew that it would rain heavy yesterday (at the time when you read this) so I considered running so that I would spend less time in the weather. The issue, at this time of year, is that if you run you need to do so before the sun sets but you also want to wear lighter clothes, for running to be easier.

Ready for Rain

For these reasons I went for a walk instead. I rolled up the trousers to avoid contact between the socks and trousers. I wore waterproof trousers, and a good rain coat. I walked for an hour and a half in the rain and crossed almost no one. In this weather even the dog walkers stay home. That is what I want. I like when the paths are empty of people, when I can enjoy my solitary walks in solitude, without being reminded of my isolation.

I wore barefoot shoes for this walk. They get wet almost immediately as they are not waterproof. Within 200 meters my feet were drenched. That’s what I expected. That’s what I planned for. That’s why my trousers were rolled up. I didn’t want the humidity to creep up my socks, and then my trousers, and into my t-shirt and fleece.

It worked. I stayed dry.

The Inconvenience of Touch Screen Phones When Wet

There is one challenge in such rain. When you get to the end of one podcast you need to find an underpass, or a lending library, or some other shelter. You need to dry the phone screen and your hands enough to use the phone to select the next podcast. After that you can keep walking.

For many it would seem to walk in the rain, but that’s because they don’t walk the same path every single day, for weeks or months, or even years in a row. Changes in weather are like changes in crops, changes in seasons and more. When it rains I see a different landscape. I see where the land is low, and where it is higher. I see where the water flows heavily, and where your feet remain dry.

Golden Hour

The greatest paradox is that despite the heavy rain, and the uncomfortable conditions you can still notice golden hour. As I walked today I saw that the light became more yellow, despite being under the rain. Despite the bad weather there was a discernable golden hour.

As I walked through one village I saw people burning wood in a barbecue. I don’t know whether it was to actually have a barbecue, or just to burn wood. If they were going to cook with it then it shows that the English are not the only people to barbecue in the rain.

As if that wasn’t surreal enough I also saw two children walking with someone dressed in a Santa costume. They all carried umbrellas to protect themselves from the rain. It’s not every day you see Santa walking in the rain with an umbrella.

In the end I wasn’t the only strange person out this afternoon, walking in the rain, as the heavy rain fell. If I was that type of person I would say that this walk was magical. Today was surreal, like Godard’s 1967 film, Weekend, where we see strange things as a car drives through a traffic jam.

And Finally

For many rain is an excuse to stay in. I don’t see it that way. The familiar landscape becomes unfamiliar. The rivers that were barely a trickle are now full. The water that is transparent when the rain has just started has become brown. We can see rivers of muddy water flowing from the Gravière into the river. We can see where the road is low, and water flooded onto a road, and left mud and other detritus. In another location I saw apples strewn about. The rain had made the apples float, and transported them into nearby fields where other crops were growing.

Walking during the rain is unique, and worth doing, when equipped for the weather.

Running Through Ankle Deep Water
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Running Through Ankle Deep Water

Byrichard

Yesterday I went for a run, despite the rain being heavy. I wore a proper rain coat and waterproof trousers. I should have also worn waterproof shoes. I didn’t so I ended up soaked once again. What made this run special is that the rain was heavy from the start.


The rain was so heavy that water running from fields and hills was creating deep rivers that ran downhill along roads, filled with muddy water. Normal people would postpone their run for the following day, especially since we knew yesterday that the weather would be good for several days to come.


I got into the habit of walking and running in all weathers so the weather doesn’t affect whether I will go out or not. If it’s raining dog walkers and normal people are usually not out, so the paths we walk and run are free for us to enjoy.


I ran uphill for the first part and it felt hard. It always feel hard to run uphill but there isn’t much choice. If I run downhill I run along the roads where drivers have no respect for pedestrians. I walk and run uphill because that’s where I feel that the roads are safer from cars.


In this day and age everyone is trying to make towns and cities pedestrian friendly but when I lived in London, when I walked in Paris, London, Florence, Geneva and plenty of other cities I never felt bothered by cars. It’s in between villages and towns that cars behave cruelly towards pedestrians and cyclists. To me roads should be dedicated to cycling, running and walking, and there should be a requirement for dogs to be on leads.


I run up the hill because I know that where I am exposed to traffic the roads are wide and I have space to move away from the sadistic drivers speeding by pedestrians. I also walk along those roads because they’re wide enough for cars to avoid us, when no other cars are coming the other way. Where agricultural roads are used by normal cars, where they are wide enough for a car but not two, drivers drive too fast.


If I was driving I would slow down to walking speed as I pass pedestrians and cyclists. They don’t. They almost never slow down.


Yesterday, in the heavy rain I could have gone downhill and stayed dry. I didn’t. Every single time I walk along those roads I yell abuse at cars being driven too fast, too close to me. Words about wanting people to walk rather than drive are empty when you make it impossible to walk between villages and towns safely.


That’s why I went uphill. That’s why I went to the farm roads that flood when it rains. The fields get saturated in water and that water runs downhill, onto the road, and when it hits the road it runs down the road. Yesterday it rained so heavily, for so long, after several days that the roads were now deep rivers. The rivers were now ankle deep. I put my foot down, and the top of my shoes was underwater for a few steps.


I went to the side, I went to avoid the deep water, but I couldn’t avoid it all the time, so I ran through the river running down the road. My shoes and my socks got wet, and it wicked upwards, onto my trousers, up to my t-shirt. I was soaked from the shoes upwards.


I didn’t feel cold. I wasn’t bothered. It’s only rain and muddy water. I ran for 37 minutes in this rain, before I walked the rest of the way home. When I got home I put my shoes on an empty cardboard box, and hung the socks on the same box, to dry. If the box gets wet I don’t mind. It will be recycled anyway. So will the shoes I used.


A few months ago, or last year I frequently said that I was impatient for rainy weather, to have a rest day. Recently I have found that I will go out in all weather, whether we’re in a heat wave heavy rain or other. The time when I really would think twice about going out is on a cold and windy day. I find that rain is fine. It’s the cold wind that is unpleasant.


In circumstances like yesterday’s there are two choices. The first is to wear quick drying shoes, like I did, or to wear hiking boots, that reach above the ankles. The drawback to such shoes is that they are not good for running. Quick drying shoes, in yesterday’s situation were the best option. Feet get wet but we just change socks when we get home.

The Léman Rose by Seven Centimetres Overnight
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The Léman Rose by Seven Centimetres Overnight

Byrichard

With the weather system that we have had over Europe a lot of rain has fallen. So much rain has fallen that it has swollen rivers and flooded plenty of regions. In Switzerland, because almost everything is on a hill flooding might be noticed in some parts of certain cities, but in theory it is easy, within meters, to be safe from the flood.


  • Boats in Nyon
  • Boats in Nyon
  • Visible flooding in Nyon
    Visible flooding in Nyon
  • Boats in Nyon
  • Boats in Nyon


Today in the port of Nyon you can see that the boats are much higher than usual. Normally they would be one to two meters lower than they are in these images. According to a conversation I overheard the lake rose by seven centimetres overnight, i.e. enough for the lake to be level with the access platforms.


In some images, you see that the petrol station is now partially immersed in the lake. I don’t think that there is a risk of pollution when it is at this specific level, but I am not certain. What is certain is that the lake is at an interesting level compared to usual. Flooding is occurring for properties that are close to the lake, or below lake level.


Some cantons have banned access to the water, probably due to silt, sediment and other detritus found in the water. In contrast, the water from the Léman, in so far as I could see, looked clean. This is positive. If properties are flooded by this water, they will find clean up and drying easier than if the opposite is true.


In Neuchatel, due to the waters rising so much, they intentionally flooded a parking. Les images de La Maladière inondée. I find such events interesting. It’s interesting to see how high the water can get. It’s interesting to see how people respond, and it’s interesting to see what curiousities result from the excess of water needing to be dealt with.


It would be interesting to see the Pont Des Machines in Geneva, to see how high it is, and to see whether all the sluices are open.

Rain and Water Tables
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Rain and Water Tables

Byrichard

There is an article on Swiss Radio and Television that discusses the positive impact that the flooding has had on the water tables. For several years not only have we had warm weather but we have also gone with very little or no rain for months at a time.


During some weeks we were told “The water reserves are so low that we will soon need to switch to retrieving water from the lake rather than our reservoires. Underground water is great for when there’s a drought above ground, but the problem is that underground water is finite, and as a result if it is not replenished then it will eventually run out.


The fact that we have had so much rain over the last few days is excellent for the water tables, as I have tweeted or written here. As that water gets down to the water table, it will remain, until the next time it is needed.


Après plusieurs années de canicule, les eaux souterraines avaient, en certains points, fortement baissé, notamment dans le canton de Vaud.

Source: Les fortes précipitations ont un impact positif sur les nappes phréatiques

It’s easy to see the human tragedy of mass flooding, and people losing everything. We must also understand that nature has a way of balancing things out. That’s why this planet, and these latitudes, are inhabitable. It is normal, after a period of drought, for a lot of rain to fall, to replenish water tables, and then for another period of drought to come back.

This amount of rain has not fallen in seventy years. What makes this year unique is that it is spread across the whole of Switzerland.

Chaque ville a déjà connu des débuts d’été particulièrement arrosés. À Sion, ce fut l’année 2007. À Genève en 1997, à Lucerne en 1993. La particularité de cette année 2021, c’est l’étendue du phénomène. Toutes les stations montrent un pic des moyennes quotidiennes de précipitations.

Un niveau de précipitations inédit depuis 70 ans en ce début d’été

And for your intellectual curiosity, if you understand French. The phenomenon of the “Cold Drop”.

Les faibles températures et les violentes précipitations qui s’abattent sur la Suisse sont dues à un phénomène météorologique appelé “goutte froide”. Il désigne une poche d’air froid qui est abandonnée par la calotte du pôle Nord.

Cette masse est ensuite “étranglée” et “attaquée” de part et d’autre par un air plus chaud. Elle se met alors à tourner sur elle-même jusqu’à former une dépression, donnant lieu à des orages et de fortes pluies.

That’s it for today.

Switzerland: From Arid to Flooded

Switzerland: From Arid to Flooded

Byrichard

Switzerland and Europe are currently experiencing flooding. All the major Swiss lakes are close to breaking their banks. A few weeks ago, you could read about how Switzerland had been so dry that it had started to register on the aridity index. Now it’s flooded.


Cloudy and rainy Switzerland
Cloudy and rainy Switzerland


Some people are bored by the rain, and wishes that it would go away, but I don’t feel that way. We had years with very little rain, so to finally get some rain is welcome. At least now we know that all the hydroelectric dams will be full. We hope that all the water tables and reservoirs will have recovered as well.


Although this weather is bad and unpleasant, and it limits what we can do it is seasonal. This is the type of weather that is normal in Switzerland. This is precisely the weather that makes us grateful for nice days. That’s why I personally welcome it. I don’t want Switzerland to become an arid country. I like that we have rain, sunshine etc. I like that we have seasons.


A solitary bee on a Sunflower
A solitary bee on a Sunflower


The Sunflowers are out now, which is good, as it means that bees are able to get plenty of nectar to make honey. It also means that fields should be the usual yellow and green that we would expect at this time of year. Now is the time for people to take their token “this is me with a sunflower” images.


I looked at the landscape as I walked, and I did not see much evidence of flooding. Fields are not flooded. Walking paths are not flooded. Neither are fields. One river I checked was flowing at a relatively low level today. The rain around here has been gentle.