Today’s snowstorm was forecast as early as last weekend. Warnings kept coming along in the meanwhile. Although the amount of snow was to be a bit less than in mid-January, when it reached record levels for a couple of days, the snowstorm was to be hard enough. But there is not a trace of it so far. One can see a snowflake now and then, but there is a light drizzle most of the time. It is so light that most people do not bother to open their umbrellas. Which leads me to a long-term weather forecast for this part of Europe. There will be two seasons, one wet and another dry. They will last about six months each. Each season will have its violent storms, and snowstorms will occasionally come along during the wet season. In short, forget about four seasons. They are history already. The remaining question is exactly when the wet and dry seasons will meet. Lately, the dry season starts in March or April and ends in September or October. And that is all one needs to know about the weather in the long run.

Addendum (September 2, 2014)

As it turns out, this is nothing but wishful thinking. So far, this year has been wet throughout. The winter and spring were all over the place, but most of the two erstwhile seasons felt like the fall. The summer smacks of the fall, too. If the meteorologists are to be believed, it has been the wettest summer on record in Croatia. Who knows what the fall will bring, though. Seeking after patterns, we often confabulate them from the scantest of evidence. We could only wish to have two seasons no matter how defined. Instead, climate change is bringing a jumble of weather conditions that defy prediction. And this is perhaps the best way to characterize it. Unpredictable. Quantum sufficit.