Rain?!

Well folks, with the rainy season still officially two months (at least) away, we enjoyed a full on thunderstorm last night. We've had hints of its coming for about two weeks - some mornings have begun with a cool gray breeze that taunts with the hint of moisture before dissolving into the blazing heat of the day, or in the evening a rumbling of thunder over the horizon that never marches any closer.

Yesterday the gray set in in the mid afternoon, the clouds sinking ever lower, beginning to rumble suggestively. The air became thick with moisture, but still the clouds would not break, and I began to dread a week of 99.9% humidity. Then finally, at about 8:30 pm, just as I was approaching home, the first slow fat warm wet drops fell to the dry dusty earth. Welcome glorious shower! It built to a steady rain, the warm slow comforting kind, accompanied by gentle rumbles and distant flashes of light, but none so fierce or close so as to alarm. It rained for hours, well into the night, and this morning has as well greeted with a gray, moist, and misty dawn.

The forecast calls for the same until Sunday, with daytime highs plunging into the upper 80s. Ah! Delicious respite!

On a more somber note, there is deep hope that these showers will also water the Delta region of Burma. Water supplies damaged by Cyclone Nargis have still not returned to full functionality (many wells are still salinated, many reservoirs were contaminated with dead bodies and debris, and so were not able to collect water last rainy season). International aid has substantially decreased, though significant need continues in many areas. Latest estimates are that water supplies will run out in late March in the neediest areas. That leaves two months before regular rains can be expected to replenish supplies. Even temporary showers like this currently can provide temporary reprieve.

A few more unseasonal showers could make the difference for those communities, and I don't think Thailand would complain too much for a few more days of cool rain.