Where did the seasons go?

Colombia is a big country with a mix of climates. Bogotá itself sits on Latitude 4° 38′, which means it is not far from the equator. You’d never know that from the climate here, no doubt due to the height above sea level of the city, 2,600m up in the Andes Mountains. The mix of locations means that there are no real seasons up here, just fluctuations in a climate that is cool and typified by afternoon clouds, often bringing rain. The wet(ter) season is in October and November, distinguished by very heavy rain and thunder storms, sometimes accompanied by falls of hail; The Bogotá streets can get to look like rivers, and across Colombia there can be some pretty dramatic – sometimes fatal – floods. When I am feeling a bit chilly under a cloudy Bogotá sky I sometimes wax lyrical about the warm summers in Geneva. Liliam is doubtful about this, probably as the two summers she experienced there were ‘unusual’ (my claim to her!) in that they were cooler than the norm (Switzerland is losing it glaciers which suggests it is getting warmer). But now I have ‘proof’! I just found my little Lufthansa booklet from 20 years ago that I always used to consult before my travels, before on-line weather reports like Weather Underground were the norm. So I’ve copied the details here. It shows I am right about the summers – Geneva is several degrees warmer in the summer and significantly drier, but definitely colder in the winter ! And there are four definite seasons, which I like as it shows the passing of the year in a clearer way than by measuring how many centimetres of rain fell the last week!

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