View across the Outer Harbour of Stornoway

Monday 21 May 2012

Monday 21 May

Well, spring appears to be here at last. Although we saw little of the sun today, the mercury managed a creditable 15C / 59F this afternoon, and for the first time since that warm spell in March, I could do without a scarf on going out. The evening is very calm, with not a ripple on the water of the harbour, and the lights reflecting in the sea as darkness falls. It will not get completely dark until close on midnight. We are one month away from the summer solstice, and sunset time is around 10pm.

The northern hemisphere hurricane season has come to life, with three tropical cyclones around. Alberto is fading off the coast of the Carolinas in the Atlantic; a tropical depression is making threatening noises to the south of Acapulco, with a hurricane likely to hit Mexico later this week; and another tropical storm is just south of Guam in the western Pacific.