Word: weatherly
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...leaden, dripping skies they'd fled just weeks before. The annual post-holiday "rentrée"- or September return to work and school - is always bad enough, but many of the Parisians setting off on that initial commute Monday looked oddly ashen under their tans as they cursed autumn weather that has plagued the capital all summer. "This had to be the crappiest summer in the history of weather," spat Lionel Martin, a 33 year old salesman taking the last drag of a cigarette before darting into the Metro to escape the chilly drizzle. "Look at this - more clouds, more...
...Little wonder the Seine-side version of a Potemkin beach - the annual Paris Plage - drew less people and shorter visits per person this year, or that its food, drinks, and ice cream vendors shut up shop reporting disappointing sales. And these weren't the only merchants affected by the weather...
...Vincent says visitors to the shop frequently asked whether the dismal climes were usual for Paris - a question he ironically heard not solely due to the weather. Interestingly, by mid-August, tourism officials were already reporting the highest number of foreign visitors to Paris since 2002, and hotel occupancy rates were also above normal. The area is expected to get an additional boost through September and October, meanwhile, as rugby fans flock to France to watch matches in the sport's World...
...while it won't do much for Parisians bundled up against the early September rain and low temperatures, they may take some consolation in knowing the summer was just as bad in other parts of France. Normandy and Brittany experienced wet, cold weather, while the Atlantic coast from the Bordeaux region down to the Spanish border was doused by record-setting volumes of rain. The impact of that went beyond slumping tanning lotion sales. Between cold demis of beer that never got ordered to ice cream that stayed unscooped; from crops that didn't ripen enough to cultivate into summer...
...Keeping operators happy will be a challenge. CEO Kallasvuo is optimistic. Extolling connectivity, he told a story about how in the middle of a rainy golf outing he fetched an Internet weather report on his cellphone, indicating the showers would soon cease and allow him to resume playing. His impressed golf mates asked, "What do you have in that thing?" Long time business partners are now probably asking the same question, but not necessarily in the same approving manner. Nokia will manage, but it can expect a few storms along...