For all those naysayers who still deny the effects of global warming, I present to you the weather in St. John’s this past weekend.

In Newfoundland, May 24th weekend is looked upon as winter’s last chance to bite us in the ass.

The tradition goes like this:

1. You take the tent out of the basement, dust it off, and pick up a case of beer.
2. Head to Butter Pot Provincial Park.
3. Get drunk, (insert stupid activity), go to sleep.
4. While you’re sleeping, a nasty mixture of wet snow and rain falls.
5. Wake up in your moldy tent, freezing cold and soaking wet, with a head pounding hang over.

But not this year. OK, so I didn’t actually go camping – haven’t for a few years now. Not even any beer for me. But I can tell you this – there was no snow. What? No snow?!

It was the most beautiful, warm May 24th that I can ever remember. Almost unnatural. I mean this is so out-of-the-ordinary that Al Gore could use it in his presentation – There was No Snow in Newfoundland on May 24th Weekend – he could wedge it in right between the bit about the hurricanes and the heat waves (volume warning on that link btw).

In fact, here is a case in point:

9:30pm Saturday Evening:
We drove up to signal hill, and, as I opened the car door, clinging on to the handle in anticipation of it being torn from my hand by the wind… nothing happened!

Not a breath of air. I cautiously stepped outside the vehicle, as if sneaking into a mine field. But the only thing to strike me was the warm moist air. There was no struggling against the current… no hair whipping into my eyes… no yelling and sign language to communicate with someone 3 feet away. What was going on?

I took the opportunity to use my tripod (which would normally jiggle in the wind, resulting in a mass blur) and got some interesting shots. You can see St. John’s in the background.

The second picture required me to dangle off the side of the Bowring Building – outside the safety rail – the minion clinging to the leg of my pants for fear that I may fall. Although I was more fearful of being striped of my pants while plummeting down onto Water Street.

Well, now that I think about it, a half naked semi-unconscious body on the sidewalk downtown is not that rare of an occurrence on the weekend. May have made a good shot too.

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