November

Somewhere over the rainbow(s)

November is traditionally the wettest month of the year here; 

back in November 2009 when hubby & I made our

first joint house hunting trip we arrived in 20+ degrees 

& brilliant sunshine - we were not to see the sun again

for 10 days.

Sunshine & showers

But for the past 2 years, we've not had those November rains - in 

fact, they've been very mild & we've even been able to go to the 

beach for the afternoon in summer attire (not quite bikini 

weather, but wearing a short skirt & t-shirt in November is still somewhat a novelty).

November showers in the Gulf of Salerno

However, those mild Novembers have both been followed

by harsh winters; 2010/11 was the first time we saw

snow on Il Molare, above the Amalfi coast, & that was

something we had not expected to see -  Amalfi's a

sunshine destination! And we had snow on the

mountains close by but not actually on Leila's Mountain.

Then last winter was the coldest for 40 years & we DID

get snow at Il Sogno.

February 2013 & we have snow!

 This first week of November has been mixed so far - Friday

was very summer like & we sat at Marina Piccola with our

gelati, basking in the sun. Saturday saw a mostly

sunny day, with a shower in the afternoon that gave us

the double rainbow in my photo at the top of this blog post.

Then Monday & Tuesday were both stormy days; 

Monday's storm lasted for over 5 hours & as I sat here

on my laptop, I saw a lightning bolt strike in the back garden -

yet another 'first' for me.

A cloudy dawn sky made intense blue by sheet lightning above

There were torrential floods down in San Marco

& we've just heard from Angelo that several houses

in Giungatelle were damaged in the storms.

Maybe that means that this November will revert to

the expected pattern & winter won't be so harsh - 

here's hoping!

Beginning of a November sunset