Author's note: I write this post against the backdrop of a major thunderstorm.
They have a phrase here in Indiana: "if you don't like the weather, wait five minutes."
As with many other things in this state (and indeed the rest of America), the climate - a very popular topic of conversation in the Hoosier State - seems to be a lot bigger and vastly more extreme than that of the fair British Isles.
My first brush with Indiana's ever-changing climate came on the day I first arrived at Indianapolis Airport - November 10, 2008. I was greeted, that day, not just by friends and members of my new family; but by a painfully under-temperate gust of snow, whose idea of a good time was to turn people's faces into a ghastly shade of red.
Thank goodness, then for April (or not, as the case may be). Peppered with rainfall and tempestuous thunderstorms, Indiana - compared with England - becomes more of a war-zone than a quiet Midwestern state, leaving one wondering whether he or she will wake up to find his or her house still standing. When you add in the extra threat of tornadoes, a phenomenon to which I have yet to bear witness, you realize - in my case - that you're not in London anymore.
However there begins a brief period of rejoice - usually owing to the emergence of the sun - which is followed by further misery, brought on by the evil machinations of the month's thunder clouds. But, loud though the thunder is, it cannot dampen the otherwise beautiful spring in Indiana. Indeed, as the temperatures rise up into the seventies, Hoosiers - for once - finally have little to complain about.
Until the summer.
As with many other things in this state (and indeed the rest of America), the climate - a very popular topic of conversation in the Hoosier State - seems to be a lot bigger and vastly more extreme than that of the fair British Isles.
My first brush with Indiana's ever-changing climate came on the day I first arrived at Indianapolis Airport - November 10, 2008. I was greeted, that day, not just by friends and members of my new family; but by a painfully under-temperate gust of snow, whose idea of a good time was to turn people's faces into a ghastly shade of red.
Thank goodness, then for April (or not, as the case may be). Peppered with rainfall and tempestuous thunderstorms, Indiana - compared with England - becomes more of a war-zone than a quiet Midwestern state, leaving one wondering whether he or she will wake up to find his or her house still standing. When you add in the extra threat of tornadoes, a phenomenon to which I have yet to bear witness, you realize - in my case - that you're not in London anymore.
However there begins a brief period of rejoice - usually owing to the emergence of the sun - which is followed by further misery, brought on by the evil machinations of the month's thunder clouds. But, loud though the thunder is, it cannot dampen the otherwise beautiful spring in Indiana. Indeed, as the temperatures rise up into the seventies, Hoosiers - for once - finally have little to complain about.
Until the summer.
American vs. British Climate
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