February's departure and March's arrival made it clear that winter's wild side is still with us in our slice of the Greek Peloponnese where we make our expat home.
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| Windblown lamp post on the way to the village |
When we decided to move from the U.S. Pacific Northwest among the factors that helped drive the decision was getting away from ice, snow, cold and the long dreary winter that seemed to stretch from November until April.
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| The highest waves we've seen here. This is Agios Dimitrios below us. |
We succeeded in leaving the snow and cold behind. But we still have winter. And while winter storms in our area don't strike often or stay long, they are wild.
Our signature storms bring near gale-force howling wind, thunder so loud it reverberates as if bombs were falling in the grove and lightning strikes that turns the sky into an electrified kaleidoscope. The sea becomes a boiling cauldron of angry waves. And sometimes we even get a blanket of African dust!
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| This is dust - from Africa - heading our way |
Even though the storms are often short-lived, they are so ferocious that we understand how ancient ones developed beliefs in mythological gods. Some days we are certain that Poseidon, god of the sea, and Zeus, commonly thought of as, the god of the sky and weather, are having one grand war between their respective worlds.
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| Our municipal parking lot flooded from waves and weather |
The storm that came with February's end hit with such power and force that it left many of us newcomers shaking our heads in wonder at the destruction left in its wake. In our village, Agios Nikolaos, waves flooded the municipal parking lot - a lot where fishing boats had been moved to from the harbor to keep them safe from the storm. One boat was washed from its trailer and still sits on its side in the lot.
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| Municipal garbage bins scattered by the storm |
Municipal garbage bins that normal line the street like soldiers were tossed about by the wind as if they were leaves. Rocks and downed limbs were strewn about the roadway making it impossible to drive on in places.
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| Walkway closed in town due to high waves in the harbor |
The walkway at harborside (the one we've been using since road construction closed the road above it) was also closed by waves crashing into it.
The good news about winter storms is that we have pretty accurate weather warning systems in place these days and we know when a storm is coming and approximately what its strength and duration will be. Advisories are posted on FB by emergency service and government pages.
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| The African dust that covered us recently |
We also use a weather app called Poseidon, which shows not only wind and rain but dust storms as well. Our Peloponnese in the map above is under that red circle. And did we have dust!
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| Garbage crews had bins uprighted the next day |
The other good thing about these winter storms is that local folks know how to deal with them. Cleanup was underway as soon as the waves and the wind gusts lessened.
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| The morning after. . . |
Dimos, as our municipality is called, had bulldozers out clearing roads and parking lots. Business owners were also at the ready to clear up storm debris. Our Pantazi Beach Bar's outdoor terrace - a favorite place of ours for coffee . . .
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| A February morning before the storm - Pantazi Beach Bar |
. . .was hit hard by the storm as show in the photo below. I took it from nearly the same spot. But within days debris was cleared, and we are again able to sit on the beachside terrace.
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| Pantazi Beach Bar terrace the morning after the storm. |
Road construction has resumed in the village, and we are again using the harborside walkway as a bypass.
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| Harborside bypass is open again |
Winter storm watching is popular on the Pacific Northwest West Coast (United States and Canada). I can tell you that it is much warmer watching storms here than there! The tourism folks in Greece are missing a bet by not promoting winter storm watching. Maybe those of you who like to storm watch should take advantage of the off-season lower airfares and hotel rates and head to our part of Greece and do some storm watching here next winter!
We hope that whatever season you are in while reading this that the weather gods have been good to you! Thanks so much for being with us on this walk on the wild side of winter in Greece.
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