I was given this idea by our esteemed new Hatstander Toon. At first I was a bit flummoxed by it, but then I realised that it was really quite interesting.
Toon wants to know what the weather is like all over this big troubled human-infested planet of ours. In these difficult pandemical times, with the climate crisis beginning to roll into unstoppable motion, it might help us all feel a little closer to one another. And provide a snapshot in the old online journal, which is what this is meant to be anyway.
So, the game is simple. Add a comment about what the weather is like, wherever you are in the world. Send me an email (st.chucky [at] gmail.com) with a picture if you can be bothered, and I’ll whack it up. Add a picture to your comment if you have the mad skills for it.
Short of the Internet and WordPress collapsing entirely (I read something about sharks the other day but it was mostly recycled hysteria from five years ago), this will give us something to look back on and laugh.
So what’s the weather like in Sotunki, Finland, at the end of summer? Well, the very question is typical of a person from Perth, Western Australia. My parents are always asking me the same. The truth is, in a three-hour stretch we can get all of the weather. It’s hot. It’s humid. It’s windy. It’s thundering. It’s cold. It’s raining. There’s sleet. The weather can be pretty much anything at any time. There’s no point asking.
We won’t even notice when the climate crisis happens. Last year we had like three slushy snowfalls and that was it, all winter. That was fucking weird. This summer? It’s been about the same as always.
These pictures were all taken on different days but they could have all been taken on the same afternoon.
Here’s a picture Toon sent me of the weather in Western Australia, looking out towards Wadjemup (aka. Rottnest Island). Looks about perfect to me.
As you can see, people in Perth are used to being able to see the weather coming.
So what about in your neck of the woods? What’s the weather like?
Hatboy's Hatstand 
Here’s a pic from our old chum Sharon, aka. Morelin, from the Catskills mountains – that’s at the border of “NY, NJ, and PA.” After a bit of Googling I can fairly confidently say that means New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Probably.
Yeah, looks like it.
Not to be confused with the Hamptons, which is also on this map somewhere and is where rich people go away for the weekend to have affairs or take their relationship to the next level after dating for a while in USian movies.
And here’s one from my friend Veronica (courtesy of the Frankston Community Noticeboard, Photo Credit. Sarah. @life.islikeacamera), showing sunrise at Frankston beach just this morning. Frankston is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, in the Eastern States of Australia. Frankston turning it up in honour of #WearItPurple a couple of days back.
My friend and colleague Ms. K reports a rainy day in Tapulikaupunki, which isn’t that far from where I live but a datapoint is a datapoint.
My fine upstanding associate Morgan in Bangkok reports monsoon clouds rolling in.
Ball of caterpillars and fine weather reported from my pal Jade (my pal Ilya’s far, far better half, and that’s saying something because he’s pretty good) in Oxley Reserve, which according to my research is in Wangaratta Victoria, Eastern States of Australia … which is odd because I still thought Jade and Mr. Jade were in New South Wales but there it is. Caterpillar balls!
Edit: I am reliably informed that there are multiple Oxley Reserves, and this one is right smack dab in between Mount Colah and Mount Kuringai.
My chum Lorna, somewhere between Seinäjoki and Tampere, Finland, reports 16°C and clouds.
Old Monkeyhouse alum Cass says, “today’s weather report includes fine spells, rain with possible hail at midday, a northerly wind changing to a southerly (hence the possible hail – wind straight from Antarctica). It’s nature walk day at my son’s preschool and luckily they take them no matter the weather!” As well they should.
Porirua, New Zealand.
And from the inestimable Robert “General Moral Decay (Alcohol)” E, in Yellowstone, we seem to have exactly the sort of weather one would expect. Also buffalo, or possibly bison. As many times as I learn the difference, I never know the difference.
(admitting to not knowing the difference in the hopes of getting USians to crash in through the wall and start educating the shit out of me)
bison resemble buffalo, so they were called buffalo by the euros and the name stuck.. like Indian for native Americans.
their scientific name is bison bison.
Cool, so those there are bison?
Pretty interchangeable. People will say buffalo in one sentence and bison in the next.
Did some digging and apparently the American bovine was named Bison because of it’s similarities to a European bovine also called the Bison and unlike the Asian/African buffalos… the American bovine actually looks a lot more like the Euro bison.
Of course, being the contentious cunt that I am, I’ve decided that since the American species was called buffalo by Europeans before it was referred to as a bison, then it’s name should be the buffalo.. even if it doesn’t make sense. You can’t get more American than that.
Yeah, I mean when you look at a water buffalo, there’s really no similarity aside from the number of legs.
And here’s one from Ilya – McKell Park in Brooklyn, New South Wales. Not to be confused with Brooklyn, New York.
Meanwhile, Perth is beginning to cloud over.
👍 Thanks Hatboy and thank you everyone….
Dr(r) Nick chimes in with this rainbow over New Jersey.
On this day eight years ago, this was the weather in Sotunki, Finland. Cold hot sunny dry humid thunderstorm. This is why we laugh when people ask what the weather forecast is.
If that was here I’d think the Apocalypse was coming. Just sayin’.
PS about a third of the way through Panda Egg. It’s keeping me quiet.