I'm revising the book, 101 Questions Answered on Cuenca. I've uncovered so much material that it really can't be considered a revised edition any longer, but rather a second edition. And my commitment is to keep it updated every month because I never want to go through this much work ever again.
Also, since it's been raining all day in Cuenca, it's perfect writing weather (for me anyway). I gain a lot of inspiration when it's pouring outside because I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything. When the sun is brilliant with blue skies and fluffy white clouds, who wants to stay indoors and write?
Not me!
Anyway, next week we're taking off for Salinas (we've never been there before) and it's supposed to be beautiful and sunny all week, while it rains its little heart out in Cuenca.
That leads me to the question of weather in Cuenca, which is one of my favorite subjects. Cuenca is very forgiving in that regard. You forget about the rainy weather when the sun is shining; it's like Cuenca casts this spell of amnesia over us.
Rain?
What rain?
Ha!
Before I get into specifics about the weather, I'm going to share with you the truth. I don't know anywhere else you can live in the world with an average temperature of 68.5 degrees for a high and an average of 48.6 as a low. You can tell I'm working on the weather question in the book, can't you?
All these years when everyone has been saying Cuenca's highs are in the 70's and lows in the 50's; they really mean to say that the average yearly high is 68.5 degrees and the average low is 48.6 degrees with an average yearly rainfall of 34.57 inches. The city that compares to that perfectly is Camanche, Iowa (34.57 inches of rainfall). The average number of rainy days in Cuenca is 179.
Why am I going into such detail?
Well, mainly because there seems to be so much controversy about the weather. Highs in the 70's and lows in the 50's have been thrown around for so long, I think we've come to believe it.
Today I'm setting the record straight: it's an average high of 68.5 degrees and 48.6 degrees for an average low. From now on, I will refer to the weather in Cuenca as high 60's and high 40's. That has a slightly different ring to it -- doesn't it?
This is what Cuenca's weather looks like this week: You can check it out for yourself at www.wunderground.com. For rain it's 90-100% likely through Tuesday, March 24th and only 60% chance of rain through Sunday, the 29th (Palm Sunday). That's why we're leaving town (sunny days in Salinas all next week).
I was going to write out the entire year of highs, lows, sunshine and rain, but I thought it might be better if you took a look. Click here and scroll down to the bottom of the page. I realize that nothing is 100 percent accurate, but I've been recording daytime highs and lows in my calendar for the past five years and I've gotta say it's pretty spot on.
So what's the big deal? It's only a couple of degrees here and there. Well, it is a big deal to me. I've been throwing out average temps of 70's and low 50's since we moved here because that's what I've been reading since we checked out Cuenca in 2009.
I realize that we live in the subtropical highlands near the equator, so our temperatures would be downright hot and humid if it weren't for the elevation of Cuenca (approx. 8,300 feet and 8,200 feet in some areas), but I intend to be more accurate in my weather reporting. In fact, I just might blog about the weather forecast every day (how boring would that be?). Then again, I would have a year of accurately reported weather from a boots on the ground source.
Today weather looks like this from Wunderground.com; the most accurate place I've found for the weather in Cuenca.
Until next time...your Cuenca weather correspondent is taking a break!
Light Rain
13.7 °C
Feels Like 13.7 °C
N
3.2
Wind from SE
Gusts 0.0 km/h
Gusts 0.0 km/h
Today is forecast to be MUCH COOLER than yesterday.
Today
High 13 | Low 10 °C
60% Chance of Precip.
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