Like my fellow New Englanders I grew up claiming the most changeable weather on earth. We New Englanders like to bemoan our erratic weather almost as much as we complain about our sports teams letting us down. But New England has nothing on Switzerland for changeable weather.
In fact, the weather in Switzerland is not at all what you'd expect. Let me guess... you're picturing sunny springs with wildflower covered rolling hills, cold snowy winters to put Boston to shame, Alpine peaks rising sharply white against a crisp blue sky, and a dreamy mild summertime where temps don't get much past 80. Nothing could be further from the truth.
I was interested to discover that summer can be brutally hot here. I moved here in June 06. That July was one of the hottest on record with temps almost every day in the 90s. But here's the thing. On August 1 the temps dropped to 60 and rainy to the surprise and frustration of my poor sister who came to visit that day for 2 weeks vacation in August with only tank tops, shorts and bathing suits in her suitcase after my warnings that she would need to try to stay cool. Off we went to the store to buy her a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt in which she sulked for the next 2 drizzly overcast weeks.
And I was prepared for winter. I mean, I'm a Boston girl! I had the heavy coat, the snow boots, scarves and gloves galore. I was prepared for whipping winds stabbing me during my 15 minute walk to and from work. By December I was tired of waiting for the cold to arrive and left layers at home so avoid getting to the office sweaty and red-faced. My snow boots 4 winters later have never been used - the most snow I've ever seen on the ground is maybe 3 inches and that is usually gone by morning latest. Temps hardly ever dipped below freezing. 40 degrees is pretty much the norm every day November till march.
While the winter temps were a happy surprise, gray skies were not. It's amazing to me that you can go weeks and even months and pretty much never see the sun. I had no idea how clear and sunny Boston winters are. Frigid, but sunny. Here it's like November in Boston all the time - gray, drizzly and raw.
And now the crazy unpredictability. Yesterday I walked to work and my AC worked hard to keep me cool in the 90s weather with the sun pounding through my floor-to-ceiling windows. Just as I was leaving work, a charcoal colored cloud rolled along one side of town and the rain started falling. I barely made it home when the sky opened up and the rain started coming down sideways. Wind howling, rain pelting. Pretty soon it exhausted itself and I got my AC going and fell asleep only to be woken up hours later by a violent lightening storm and more pelting rain. Today it's hot and sunny. You learn to carry an umbrella even if there isn't a cloud in the sky. And at least once a summer here, there is a hail storm with blueberry-sized hail.
So, you might be surprised to hear that summer in Switzerland can be just as hot as Boston and winters are never as cold. But whatever the weather, if you don't like it, just wait a minute and it's bound to change.
