Weather

The weather in Beijing is so unpredictable. At home I would love to watch the weather forecast on t.v. I constantly was watching The Weather Channel or the new to get the weather. Here in Beijing the only weather forecast I have is the one on my phone. Sometimes the girls at work will tell me if its going to rain or if its going to snow but usually I have no clue.

Recently I have been watching the weather pretty intently on my phone. I have begun noticing that the weather is not accurate at all. One day it will say its 90 degrees, I walk outside and its only in the 60's and doesn't get warmer then that. It says its sunny, its cloudy and rainy. Its so unpredictable. One second the forecast says rain tomorrow, then two seconds later partly cloudy. Apparently there are no satellite weather forecasts here.

Today the weather said rain and it did actually rain. I went out into the streets to get out of the apartment. People are so funny here in the rain. Every single person has an umbrella. If you don't have an umbrella, the umbrella sellers come out in full force. They are really cheap (1.50 USD). The drainage system is not that great here. The water just puddles up everywhere. On the subway they have service announcements about rain.

They basically state:

Don't use your cell phones during thunderstorms.
In case of a mudslide, an announcement will made over loud speakers, drums will be pounded. You need to take your card out of your window that states how many people live there...
Don't drive you car in water that is 50cm deep.
If your house begins to show cracks, call a number and they will come rescue you.
The city will have pumps that will drain water into the drainage system, drive around it.
Don't dump stuff into the gutters, in could cause backup and flooding.
If you are going hiking, watch the weather forecast. IF you don't you could get caught on a mountain and bam a landslide happens.

It was really interesting to watch. At least they are watching out for the people in Beijing!  Basically in Beijing, prepare for anything. Open the window to check the temperature. Bring an umbrella, if the sky darkens and the wind picks up its going to storm.