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If you would like details of the current weather conditions in the area, please try this link: WEATHER.COM. You know we love to help you as much as possible with Symi information, but please try not to email us with requests for weather updates, as we get rather overwhelmed! :-) |
| Monday, 30th April 2001 |
| "Symi
is basking in Spring sunshine and we had a very warm weekend with
temperatures in the thirties on Sunday. This morning brought a few
mudshowers and there is a low pressure system heading this way so
opinions are divided as to what May Day will be like. One thing is
certain - it is unlikely to be cold! It may, however, be windy if the
local forecasts are anything to go by.
There is no shortage of flowers for the traditional nosegays, posies and wreaths with which the Greeks decorate their houses for the first of May - roses, geraniums, wild cornflowers, daisies, wild sweetpeas and vetches - the gardens and verges are vivid at this time of the year." Regards,
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| Friday, 27th April 2001 |
| "Those
who came over on the excursion boats on Monday had a dramatic time
and only made the return trip to Rhodes early on Tuesday morning. That,
we hope, is that in terms of wild weather, until October at the
earliest. Since Tuesday, Symi has been all it should be - warm, sunny
and windless with blue skies, chirruping birds and happy visitors with
sun burned noses. This idyllic state of affairs should last a few more
days as there is a big high over the Eastern Med. Early next week we
will see more clouds again and there is the possibility of showers - we
usually get one good rain early in May to last us until October but this
year has been so peculiar so far, anything is possible. The vegetation
is dying back quite rapidly now and the island is taking on its brown
summer livery. As it was a warm winter, the sea temperature is already
around 20C and even warmer in the shallows. The evenings are a pleasant
13C. As long as there is no wind, sitting outside in the evening is
perfectly feasible with a sweater or shawl. The roses now start to come
into their own and the Persian lilac trees started to flower this week,
adding their perfume to the evening air. The oregano bushes are covered
with flower buds which should open in the next few days and the wild
hollyhocks, covered with big pink floppy flowers, lean drunkenly against
stone terraces in Pedi. My tomato plants are covered with developing
fruits and we'll be planting out the aubergines and peppers this
weekend.
Have a good weekend!"
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| Monday, 23rd April 2001 |
| "The
anticipated windy weekend resulted in cancelled ferries and stranded
travellers once again. On Saturday the wind howled from the South and
low orange-grey clouds blotted out the sun. Dust flew once again ,
accompanied by showers that dried as soon as they hit the ground,
dirtying everything on which they settled. On Sunday morning we had
thunder showers too. One big boat managed to dock in the afternoon, en
route to Piraeus, but it did not linger long as the wind had swung round
to the North and was blowing hard down the harbour, making it difficult
for her to maintain her position. (The larger ferries don't drop their
anchors when they come into Symi; they hold their positions with their
engines and stern lines. If there is a strong cross wind hitting the
slab side of a large ship, it soon starts creeping crabwise.)
No post has arrived or left the island since before Easter which is quite frustrating for those of us waiting for items. It drizzled mud all of Sunday night, culminating in a short thunderstorm at about 8 o'clock this morning. Since then the air has cleared considerably and as a northerly trend continues, the clouds are once again white against a blue sky. The excursion boats came over today for the first time since Friday and there was, of all things, a large cruise ship anchored in the white chop off Harani early this morning. Those who made the crossing from Rhodes this morning said it was an experience they would not care to repeat. The forecast remains variable and unsettled and temperatures are still in the high teens and low twenties but expected to rise later in the week."
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| Friday, 20th April 2001 |
| "The
sandstorm on Wednesday proved to be very disruptive all round. Not
only were all the ferries stopped but Rhodes airport was closed so even
if those stranded here had been able to leave Symi, they would not have
been able to leave Rhodes. The upshot of it all was that everyone
finally left on the big boat to Pireaus overnight on Thursday and will
be flying scheduled flights back to the UK this afternoon. Quite an
adventure! I found quite a good graphic of the storm on the website put
out by Poseidon, the marine research unit at the University of Athens.
The focal point was definitely Rhodes! Their website address, for those
of you interested in that sort of thing, is Poseidon.ncmr.gr.
Unfortunately it does not give historical information. Which brings me
to the subject of those of you who ask what sort of weather to expect at
various times of the year. If you go to 'About
Symi' (the first item on the menu on our home page) you will find
two little weather icons on the left hand side of the screen. One is a
temperature indicator and the other is a sun. The first, if you click
onto it, gives you wunderground.com and the second gives you Yahoo.
These sites give advance forecasts but also carry historical data so you
can look up exactly what the weather was doing on Rhodes at any given
date you choose. Of course, although Symi is only 25 miles from Rhodes,
our weather has its own quirks and foibles but it should help to answer
those questions!
Meanwhile, back on Symi, we've enjoyed two hot days with plenty of sunshine breaking through the haze. This is unlikely to last, however, as further sandstorms are still active in North Africa and, with a high pressure system over Turkey and a low over Italy and Greece inbetween, it looks as though we may be in for a windy weekend. Some optimists are forecasting rain on Monday and Tuesday - if it does, let's hope it is not the muddy stuff we've been having lately. Sales of window cleaning gloop and sponges are booming and cleaning seems to be self-defeating at the moment, particularly in a place as short of water as this one. The electronic equipment on the island is suffering from the dust too and we've had several breaks in the telephone service, including mobiles. This, by the way, is not a totally unusual phenomenon at this time of the year; it's just not normally this bad so far north. May you all have an enjoyable weekend. More on Monday."
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| Wednesday, 18th April 2001 |
| "Good
Friday had a certain Biblical ambience - howling southerly gales and
scudding clouds culminating, that evening, in a violent thunderstorm
that hurled torrents of muddy water at bedraggled churchgoers and left
bemused visitors wondering what they had let themselves in for. Easter
Saturday was a definite improvement as scattered showers played cat and
mouse until midday, finally giving over to sunny conditions in the
afternoon. Of course, all that mud had to be washed off in time for the
Easter Sunday festivities so there was a lot of scrubbing and mopping of
steps and terraces. The evening was dry and clear for the midnight bangs
and fireworks. Greek at Easter time is not for the faint hearted as
dynamite plays a dominant role in the celebrations!
Easter Sunday started with ominous banks of low cloud but remained dry and the aroma of roasting lamb soon filled the air, as did the sounds of increasingly fuzzy Greek songs as the afternoon wore on. Another flurry of bangs and fireworks marked the burning of the effigy of Judas at dusk. A heavy silence devoid of ambient human noise hung over the island on Monday morning. A thick cloud blanket contributed to the somnambulant air. The population started to stir late morning and the sun broke through although the day never really warmed up much. Today we are in a fug of pink dust once again and it looks as though there is a mud shower pending. Apparently Corfu logged 115mm of rain in three days over the Easter weekend so, on the whole, Symi fared quite well with 20mm on Friday night (all of it red) and a few drops on Saturday morning and Sunday night. Apparently this unsettled weather is being caused by cold air from continental Europe meeting the warm air above the Adriatic/Mediterranean which is spawning a succession of depressions. As Europe warms up, the temperature difference won't be so great and this phenomenon will cease. I will keep you posted. PS Stop press. I'm sending this through early Wednesday and at the moment the dust storm is so strong the ferry couldn't leave this morning. They are hoping the wind will drop later this morning so they can pull out about 11 am but at the moment this doesn't look promising."
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| Wednesday, 11th April 2001 |
| "Rain,
wind, more rain, thunder showers, more rain, more wind... We seem to
be doomed to a very wet and blustery Easter weekend. Yesterday afternoon
alone we had 20 millimetres of rain in three hours and the river that
borders my property flowed for the third time this winter. Huge mounds
of cloud stagger over the mountain, dumping rain and hail before
lurching on. The sky is amazing at the moment. Black and purple over
Datca and Bosburun with streaks of low white clouds tearing along
beneath. Every time the sun breaks through, the tin roof of my house
steams. The monster hollyhocks and mallows that are a feature of the
landscape at this time of year have been flattened by the sheer weight
of water and anything that can hold water is now full. The hydrofoil was
not able to run this morning due to the squally conditions so, in
extremis, one of the excurision boats was commandeered to take the
returning holiday makers back to Rhodes to catch their planes. Yes, it's
change-over day! Meanwhile, Greek Easter is almost upon us. The rainy weather is not deterring the children from trying out fire crackers and squibs. The final week of Lent is taken fairly seriously so there is very little meat in the shops. The devout also abstain from eating oil, eggs and dairy products. Sales of the latter two, however, are brisk as thousands of cheese pies are baked for the feast days next week and eggs are in short supply - the traditionalists stick to dyeing them red but all sorts of other colours are also available. The bakers are working round the clock, making biscuits and special Easter breads. As few of the local ladies have big ovens for baking, it is a common sight, particularly in Chorio, to see huge trays of pies etc, covered with napkins, being taken to the bakers. Greek bakers are very obliging and, for a small fee, one can do the festive baking in the baker's oven as well as roast dishes for family parties and anything else for which the home facilities are inadequate. A sensible system in a place where houses are small and the climate often hot. Happy Easter to all of you out there. You may wish you were in Greek sunshine, eating spit roast lamb and quaffing retsina, but the chances are high that the reality this year will have a lot in common with an English Easter in the rain!"
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| Monday, April 9th 2001 |
|
"On Friday afternoon a big thunderstorm passed us just off shore and on Symi it started to drizzle. This intensified in the course of the evening into some fairly serious rain amounting to a good 44 millimetres. This has made a tremendous difference to the island as not only was it penetrating rain which refreshed the plants but there was enough of it to flow into the cisterns too. The weekend was dry and sunny but the wind is freshening even as I write this and heavy rain is forecast for tonight. The excursion boats over from Rhodes are going to be in for a fairly bumpy ride back this afternoon as the wind is from the South East. Easter is less than a week away and the lambs are being separated from their mothers and put into specially enclosed fields which have not been grazed before this season for final fattening up. Some shepherds have already started the 'slaughter of the innocents' - Symi lambs are 'exported' to Rhodes where they are prized for their fine flavour. The bleating of lambs is quite heart rending as they sound disturbingly human and we're all glad when this particular aspect of the Easter festivities is over!"
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| Friday, April 6th 2001 |
|
"The Symi drought broke on Wednesday night with 9 millimetres of rain falling more or less simultaneously with the arrival of the Symi II and the first holiday makers. Temperatures dropped to a chilly 10C - the lowest we've experienced for a while. The sun came out for a while yesterday but we've had a succession of showers today which are likely to continue until midday tomorrow when a high pressure system should give us a dry Sunday. Despite the uninspiring conditions, the day boats from Rhodes have been doing well - Symi in the drizzle is probably more interesting than looking at the rain over a Rhodian beach. The paving in the back alleys in progressing well and looks better than expected. The harbour widening project is also continuing. The pile driving has been replaced by huge lorries dumping fill in the relevant area. The Easter lambs are fattening nicely in the fields around
Pedi, there are two very happy frogs in my garden and all is well with the world ... Unless you've come to Symi for a week to get away from the rain, of course!
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| Monday, April 2nd 2001 |
|
"We received a sort of summary of the weather system that has been working its way from Italy and the Peloponnese. Instead of a three day gale, as forecast, we got a Force 10 South Easter on Saturday afternoon and evening that whistled through the harbour like an express train, blowing open the Symi Visitor's windows and scattering papers on its way. One of the larger ferries from Piraeus managed to dock shortly before things really deteriorated but then had to spend three hours standing off Rhodes before the seas dropped enough for her to enter the commercial port. Sunday morning dawned windless with odd clouds over the Vigla which gradually thickened during the day, culminating in showers at nightfall. All of 2mm of rain (less than 1/8th of an inch) according to my rain gauge. Well, at least the place looks a bit cleaner, even if it didn't put anything in the cisterns. It brought the temperatures down to more normal levels too, which is quite refreshing. The air is sparkling clean today and the water looks very cold and blue. The whitewash on the houses on the Turkish coast is quite clear against the green hills, like a folk art painting. Those new arrivals coming across on the boats should have very good views of the coast and the interior on all sides if this sharp visibility holds up. This is usually good weather for dolphin spotting too as the fish will be active." |
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© Adriana Shum 2001 [HOME] |
