I had a premature wake-up call this morning at 5:30, a 6.0 earthquake. The epicentre was about 80km as the crow flies. I’m from British Columbia, so earthquakes never bother me, but my fridge teetering and bouncing certainly did. I had to hold it or it would have fallen over. This quake had a lot more lateral movement than most that hit Taiwan.
Tonight we get a typhoon warning, the government closing classes and government offices on Friday. Yay, an unplanned three day weekend. Typhoon Lekima won’t hit with full force, but the rain and winds are already bad enough. Last year the government stopped forcing people to work an extra Saturday to make up the lost day. Yes, they used to do that and we didn’t have a choice.
Does this mean I’ll be staying home tomorrow? Hell, no, a friend who works as a flight attendant is flying in tomorrow for a dinner with friends. She comes in once every two months. The day off means I have time to see her.
There was weird rain yesterday, the “plum rains”. In the span of ten minutes it went from clear skies to torrential downpour and a centimetre of standing water. Then within an hour it was clear again.
How often do these plum rains come?
I used to live in Mobile, Alabama, for a few years, and it would have similar rain behavior on some summer afternoons, generally around 2-3 pm. I think it may have something to do with being a high humidity location on the coast.
Prior to the change in weather patterns over the last few years, plum rains weere a constant every spring from April to August. Then typhoon season kicks in until November.
This year’s rains and typhoon are the closest to historical norms in almost a decade.
Also, I’d advise people being careful if attempting to stabilize a refrigerator in an earthquake. If the quake is stronger than expected, it could crush you.
If it were a huge double door thing, I wouldn’t dare. But around these parts, only the wealthy own those.
Mine is a 100 litre fridge, only 150cm tall and 50x50cm of floorspace. I can lift the thing by myself when it’s empty. I bought it years ago because most apartment fridges here are camp size fridges, barely a metre tall.
Is your friend going to be able to fly in during a typhoon? oO
Nope. This one was overrated. And the airport is on the west coast, shielded by the mountains. The east coast got hammered.