When Will the Sun Shine in 2012?

For a bride the weather means a lot more than just which shoes to wear on the day. The location of the ceremony, reception and photography all hinge on whether the sun shines or the day is dampened with downpours. Then of course there are the worries of soggy gowns, wrecked hair and strained spirits of everyone attending. All good reasons why many couples aim to hold their weddings in months which promise to deliver drier and milder conditions.

Yet for so many Australians at the moment the weather isn’t as it is ‘supposed’ to be, with rainfall typical of a late summer/early autumn month hitting some cities in less than twenty four hours. Checking in to the nightly weather reports for those on the east coast isn’t comforting either, with illustrations of clouds and rainfall all they seem able to show us.

What is the explanation for this? Apparently eastern Australia is experiencing a La Nina cycle, which is in layman’s terms a period of wet weather which follows a dry, or even drought, period. La Nina is great for the farmers. Just not that great for the couples wanting to get married on the farm (or to spend any part of their wedding day outdoors).

But good news has just arrived from our friends at the Bureau of Meteorology, who have recently posted that the 2011-12 La Nina cycle looks to be nearing its end:  see http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/enso/ (the typical La Nina lasts for approximately twelve months but they are also known to extend for many years – you simply cannot depend on the weather). So while those with a wedding in the coming weeks may not escape the rain, hopefully those with winter and spring/summer weddings later this year will enjoy sunshine.

If all this uncertainty about the weather bothers you the best thing to do is research, research, research. For although you cannot control mother nature the more you know the better prepared you’ll be. At one wedding I attended recently the guests were handed paper parasols as they left the church, which saved many of us from arriving at the reception looking like we’d been through a carwash. The best place to go is the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) website (http://www.bom.gov.au/index.shtml) which will give you accurate information on both the short term weather patterns and also historical information if you are still deciding when to hold your wedding.

Find the BOM site with all its charts and wild weather warnings a bit overwhelming? Give the friendly staff at the BOM a call, as they have team members who will be happy to assist you in both finding and translating the necessary information. Once you are comfortable navigating this site it’s also good to become a regular visitor, or at least make a note to return three months before the day your wedding is scheduled, to check in with the seasonal report, and then again in the weeks and days beforehand. This way if you are planning to say your vows or make your toasts in the great outdoors and the forecast is really threatening you can be sure to pack a truck load of brollies.