Friday 13 June 2014

Getting Hot at the Arctic Circle










Well, they are only human beings, after all… Who? Meteorologists, of course. No other species on the planet can be wrong so often without consequences. (OK, maybe politicians…) They promise sunshine, we get rain. Hey, that was just an unexpected low pressure system riding in! We dress up in shorts and T-shirt, and it’s bitterly cold outside - listen, pal, the winds have turned to East, couldn’t know that, could I? And when by weird coincidence reality meets the forecast, then it is a triumph of modern science.
But there is that one other scenario: The forecast is wrong and everybody is happy about it.


This morning the bridge announced a partly cloudy day with 8 degrees, so just ok weather for the many things we had in store for Sisimiut, the second largest Greenlandic city. City touring, tasting of Greenlandic food, hiking, taking a boat ride to the scenic island of Assaqutaq, or, later, watching the amazing skills of the local Kayak champion.
And of course for the crossing of the famous line, the Arctic Circle. King Neptune and Captain Hårvik gave everyone the opportunity to sample Arctic ice water - down their neck, during the famous baptizing ceremony.
On arrival in Sisimiut the clouds dispersed almost immediately, making way for the most incredible blue sky. The temperatures rose to surprising degrees, and suddenly the word of the hour was - sun protection. They are not going to believe this at home…
So every activity was blessed by the weather, only the hikers felt a little too hot sometimes and were happy to finally reach the snow on the top of the mountain.
And nobody thought about meteorologists anymore…