Rain Forecast Was Flawed But I Got My Shopping Done Early

Saturday's Weather Radar Was Just a Little Outside, But No Big Deal

Photo by Bob Benenson

I have great respect for meteorologists. I've been a weather junkie since I was a child, and I might have pursued a career in weather forecasting if it hadn't been for my unfortunate proclivity for sucking at math and science.

My hometown of Chicago bears special challenges for meteorologists. It's a flat place influenced by cool Canadian air, hot and humid Gulf of Mexico (yes, Mexico) air, weather fronts racing west to east across the Plains, and Lake Michigan, often described as an inland sea. Sometimes at intervals, sometimes all at once.

That can make weather shifts very difficult to calculate exactly, and forecasts of, say, rain, can be off by a little, or a lot.

This preface is to explain why I raced to Green City Market in Lincoln Park and arrived several minutes before its 7 a.m. opening time on Saturday (July 26).

There had been spotty but intense storms in some parts of the region on Friday, and the atmospheric conditions appeared to be setting up a reprise on Saturday morning. The weather radar forecasts when I awoke predicted rains, some of them heavy, beelining toward the city and arriving as early as around 7:30.

So I threw on clothes, grabbed my rolling backpack, and even took an umbrella, which was awkward but I managed to not lose it. As the photo above shows, the sky did look pretty threatening. I only needed a few things, so I played Farmers Market Sweep, and off to the bus stop where I checked the radar again and... the rain forecast had been pushed back to later in the morning.

Not to drag things out, the rains finally settled mostly well south of the city, and here by the lakeshore we only experienced a couple of light passing showers. Lucky us and lucky me: Being philosophical, I got my only outside chore out of the way super early, enabling me to catch up on some writing and exercise my cooking jones in the kitchen.

Here's my haul:

Photo by Bob Benenson

From left (obviously): Eggs from Finn's Ranch (Buchanan, Michigan); cantaloupe, sweet onions and field tomatoes from Nichols Farm & Orchard (Marengo, Illinois); and peaches, blackberries, golden plums and SunGold tomatoes from Mick Klug Farm (St. Joseph, Michigan).

Wishing you and our Sunday farmers markets a sunny day.

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