A while back I plugged freemeteo.com as the best Dili weather report on the internet.  Up ’til then, all I ever heard was the daily Radio OZ report which told me 30+/-3 degrees every day.  Then it would tell me “cloudy all day” when it wasn’t, “thunderstorms” when there was no rain at all.

I just can’t see the point in telling me the temperature here.  I know it is going to be 27 to 34 degrees every day of the year and the temperature is not going to have any effect on what I wear or do.   The key differentiating features are humidity and whether it is going to bucket down rain or not.

When it comes to predicting rain, Dili is a bit of a forecasters nightmare.  It sits in a little bowl just between the sea and some steep hills.  At this time of the year, the clouds will often creep over the hills after lunch, look ominous then fall back again.  This can go on for weeks and it is the time that the weather reports predict rain over and over again and nothing comes even close.

Just like betting on the Melbourne Cup which had Dili Club, Dili Beach Hotel, One More Bar and others hopping on an otherwise quiet Tuesday afternoon in Dili.