CLEVELAND — If you watched the Opening Ceremony for the Paris Olympics, you probably noticed a lot of extra water that had nothing to do with the Seine. There were rain drops on camera lenses, ponchos on athletes, wet bridges, and a gloomy look to the sky. Rain can and will put a damper on any occasion.
There was a lull in the rain leading up to the start of the ceremony at 7:30pm Paris time, but rain was looming to the west as the program began.
Within an hour, the rain had arrived and was going to be sticking around.
The temperature hovered around 70° for the event, which is below average for Paris this time of year and rather comfortable for a city without a ton of A/C. The wind was very light, which is ideal for boating and currents on the Seine.
But the rain was certainly a main point of notice. There were no major thunderstorms or severe weather that would have potentially cancelled the event. It was just a steady rain of annoyance. The rain was especially heavy towards the end of the Parade of Nations as the United States came down the river. It was easy to see on many camera views and the athletes were already pretty soaked.
The rain could not damper everything. Despite the soggy weather, the athletes were in great spirits and full of excitement!
The timing of the rain wasn't great for the opening, but the forecast for the rest of the Olympics looks much nicer. After a chance for showers on Saturday, the forecast looks much drier. There will even be a couple of days early next week that try to push towards 90.
As a fun contrast, the weather was much nicer on the other side of the world where surfing is taking place. Teahupo'o, Tahiti was enjoying sunshine and 70s as the rain was falling in Paris.
