Baffling Bosnian Weather

I have blogged about the weather before, and I know I will blog about it again during my time here. Maybe, it is the British'ness in me that makes me mildly obsessed by what is happening in the sky... after all we Brits love a conversation about the weather (almost as much a conversation about the state of the traffic on the roads)! However, the weather here is keeping me on my toes and still takes me by surprise.

Firstly, I want to make it clear that I am not complaining about the weather... we have no reason to complain, especially considering how dreadful the weather in the UK has been over the last month or so.

I guess coming from a temperate climate, where the temperature range is small, rain is frequent and the difference between summer and winter is minimal, it has been a shock to the system living somewhere where the seasons are vastly different. So far we have experienced a 60 degree temperature difference from when we arrived in January and it was -20, to now, when it has peaked at +40. I can assure that, that is a lot of clothes for a lot of different weather!

At 1am this morning, we were woken up by the most almighty thunderstorm and a crack of thunder which sounded like it was the room with us. Thunderstorms have been quite frequent over the past month, they normally occur late in the afternoon and last only 10-15 minutes. They have been welcome as they clear the air and the temperature drops for the evening, making it slightly easier to sleep. However, the storm last night was angry... the thunder rolled in and reverberated throughout the valley and as one left, another seemed to arrive, and then the rain came and the heavens opened. But by this morning, there was hardly evidence of this and it could have questioned if it was all a dream.

So far summer temperatures have been glorious, mid 30s is not uncommon and day after day of blue skies. The winter is the polar opposite (literally), temperatures well into the minus, meters of snow and then the fog, which arrives in November and does not rise from the valley until March. On the plus side, when the sun does make it through, everything glistens and sparkles and I can ski!

I am a big fan of defined seasons, hot summers, cold and snowy winters, beautiful autumns and springs which hold so much hope for the summer! Sarajevo is perfect for this, I get wear my whole wardrobe throughout the year, I can ski for four months and plan a BBQ/camping trip in the summer months without too much worry that it will be too cold/raining!