What’s the weather like? It is probably one of the most commonly asked questions. I am writing about weather in my hometown because weather is Sandy’s last prompt for Friendly Friday challenge.
Let me tell you about weather in my hometown. Rijeka is a port town. It is a town with rich and complicated history and a town that boasts interesting traditions such as an annual International Carnival parade. RIJEKA is also known in the rest of Croatia for its changeable weather. I could even say that my hometown is referred to as the rainy city because it rains a lot here. As a matter of fact it rains here more than in London. Surprise, surprise! The average rainfall in London is 690 mm while Rijeka gets 1704 mm. However, it doesn’t rain more often in Rijeka than in London but when it rains it rains more ( in quantity).
Despite wet autumn we enjoy long, hot and mostly dry summers. In recent years temperatures rise to + 30° C more often than ever. As a consequence draught is also more present as are wildfires in summer. Climate change means that Croatia as the rest of the world is experiencing more severe weather. Unfortunately, Croatia was hit by two devastating earthquakes in last two years ( earthquake in Zagreb and earthquake in Petrinja).
There are two main winds in my region called Jugo and Bura. Jugo blows from the southeast and it often brings rain. When it rains and jugo blows it can raise sea level and cause floods in the area around the port and the main open air market in my hometown. Jugo is also a culprit for bad mood and grumpiness, headache and various other ailments.
Another specialty of my hometown is a strong wind called Bura. Bura is a dry, cold wind blowing from the northeast. It occurs mostly during winter. Sometimes the wind is so strong that it stops traffic. The bridges and roads get closed, ships can’t sail out and trees are ripped from the ground. No matter how many layers of clothes you have on, if bura blows, you freeze. But bura also brings beautiful bright, sunny days when the sky is crystal clear. In 2013 at Krk bridge near Rijeka bura blew at 221 km/h. The strongest gust of bura recorded in the city center was 97 km/h.
La Bora nasce a Segna , si sposa a Fiume e muore a Trieste.
old italian proverb
/The translation of the proverb: Bura is born in Senj, she gets married in Rijeka and dies in Trieste. Fiume is an Italian name for my hometown Rijeka. Senj is a town 60 km south of Rijeka and Trieste is an Italian port city only 75 km away from Rijeka. /
Bura is said to be a healthy wind because it clears up the air. It is also responsible for the great taste of pršut (prosciutto) because it is left to dry outside when bura blows. I like it when bura blows because it clears my head and helps me to be in the good mood.
It rarely snows here but sometimes the wind brings snowflakes and sometimes it snows in higher parts of the town and the snow stays on the ground for a couple of hours only. The photo below is from February 2013 when we got at least 20 cm of snow which stayed on the ground for a couple of days. But there are snowy mountains only half an hour from my hometown and a small ski resort Platak.
We have many sunny days but if you come to Rijeka don’t forget your umbrella 😉. Just in case!
What’s the weather like in your part of the world?
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the Red Phone Box travels 
Ahh, fascinating! I didn’t know about the rain quantity and your floods. My first boyfriend was from Rijeka back in… 1990. 🙂 I visited often. His father was from Punat on island Krk. We get bura (which we call “burja”) also in Piran on the Slovenian coast. I remember jugo from our summers on the Pelješac peninsula. Every year it came our last week there, the last week of August, and made a mess. Do you know the book Vježbanje života by Nedjeljko Fabrio? I loved it very much. Thank you for the memories. 🙂
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And since comments are closed under your Trieste post from 2017: I was in Trieste one year later with my father and we also found the Ginger tea and cakes fully by accident and we loved it very much. Here is my post from there: https://manjameximovie3.wordpress.com/2018/08/27/cffc-components-of-a-photo-week-5/
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Really?they have nice cakes.I will have a look at your post too
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You are welcome. So you are familiar with Rijeka.cool!😍of course I know that book.
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What an interesting post, Tanja! ❤ How odd that it rains more there than in London – that made me think I should check how much it rains here (googled: unable to find that info – hmm… one site said 649 mm on average annually. Do they count just rain or also sleet and snow, I wonder?) Also interesting that your winds have names and that you are able to tell which one is blowing!!!!!!!! Living in a super windy place, this never even occured to me!!
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Thanks. No,I think rainfall is just rain because they also measure snowfall. I am sure you have names for winds too but maybe they are not so present in your folklore and daily lives.Winds here are very important because of ships,sailing, etc. We have other winds too but these two are most important and very easy to differentiate,since jugo blows from the sea and bura from inland to the sea.
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so fun to get a small glimpse of your hometown 🙂
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Thanks for reading this post
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We always think of heat and sunshine when we think of the Croatian coast but I guess that’s because most Brits visit in the summer months! I like the sound of the Bura wind clearing heads and skies 🙂
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Yes, we all like Bura wind and dislike Jugo because then it is humid and rainy and everyone feels blah
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👌👌👌✒📷🌹
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Thanks for sharing the beauty of your hometown! Here in Los Angeles, it’s touted as having beautiful, warm weather all-year round, although honestly, there can be many overcast days especially in May and June. We barely get rain, as we’re currently in a drought, and it’s also been causing forest fires from time to time. Despite all of it, Los Angeles is truly lovely when it has blue skies, and weather is pretty temperate (consistently 20-25°C)!
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Those are nice temperatures,no need for a coat
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What a marvelous introduction to your home town. It looks and sounds like a great place to visit!
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Thanks Sandy
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Melbourne is a very dry city and sees less than 50mm of rain a month on average. I must admit I knew the Croatian coast received long dry summers but surprised to hear about it being so wet in the winter!
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That is just my area,the southern coast doesn’t get that much rain
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