We have been living in Egypt for one year only. Still a clear picture of what to expect from each season of the year has not been formed. Sudden change in weather caught us unprepared. Within just one hour from the start of the first December storm the temperature inside the apartment dropped to plus 17-18 Celsius that was too cold for me. In Egypt, buildings do not have any centralized heating system. Some people install AC with dual function – cooling and heating. Some people buy heaters that can be easily moved from one room to another. But what we really had to do was to seal the windows (they are single pane windows, by the way). Just a minor wind allows airflow to come inside the house reducing temperature immediately.

Anyways, a sudden winter made me wonder: if December was chilly what will be in January? February? I found on the net some very interesting info with monthly averages for Alexandria. According to it January will be colder than December. The same pleasant warm temperatures as there were in November we will reach only in April. Sad… From the same source: in December, on average only 6 days are rainy. Taking into consideration that the first storm lasted three days and there were also couple days with light rains – the monthly norm has been completed. That is a good news.

The first storm of this winter

Up to the middle of December the weather was lovely: sunny and warm. I could venture into long walks wearing just a light cotton shirt. Meanwhile, hearing about extreme precipitations and cold elsewhere I was wondering when and what we shall expect our portion of misery.

Finally, past weekend the storm struck us. It started on Friday with strong wind. The wind had been howling and screaming for three days. The rain showers were hammering on windows. In fact, rain lashed so strong that the wall of one of our room got soaked in water. We will need to repair it in spring. All the first night I could not sleep: pounding and pulses of wind, falling and banging of chairs and flower pots on our balcony.

Next morning – the second day of the storm - the wind was still strong. So, I was confined to my apartment. I went out to see what was left of my plants. Luckily, thorough preparation for winter paid me back and the loss was not too bad. Only two plants – mint and basil - were softened by the wind. But they are both easy to grow and they will recover soon. After this brief inspection happily I went inside. And then I heard a sudden horrible bang followed by loud metallic rasp. I thought that our building was about to collapse and run to the balcony to have a look. Guess what? Somebody’s satellite 2 meters in diameter dish landed on us! Luckily, it did not make any extra damage.

Well, this was our first winter scare. What to expect next?

Below is the video of the first day of storm in Alexandria.