How To Prepare for Random Downpours
It’s sophomore summer, a time of tanning by the river and reading on the Green. Of course, each beautiful Hanover day we get comes at a price: the ever-looming threat of a sporadic downpour. There’s no rhyme or reason to this crazy New England weather, and even the forecasts can’t seem to get it down. Ever since I had to dump my bag on two of my roommates I saw walking so I could finish biking home through a sudden downpour a few weeks ago, I’ve been extra paranoid about making sure I’m prepared for the all-too-common swings in New Hampshire weather. Here are some tips I’ve accumulated through my own rainy experiences to avoid getting caught unprepared in the rain.
1. Move your bike under cover or indoors when you’re not riding it, or it will start to look like this.
2. Always check the forecast before setting out for the day… not that it will be of much use. Don’t be fooled by the sunshine—those storms roll in fast. If there’s the slightest chance of rain, bring a rain jacket.
3. On that note, bring an umbrella too, just in case. In fact, bring two, so you can avoid the awkward huddled walk with your unprepared friend that will end in the both of you getting wet anyway.
4. Make your rain jacket your fracket. It may seem grim to have a fracket in the summer but sometimes nights here get rather cool, and a lot of times they can be rainy. Plus, extra pockets.
5. Just as there are warm cuts in the winter, there are dry cuts in the summer. Make dry cuts a regular part of your routes across campus so you always have a go-to building to run into when it starts pouring.
6. Embrace the rain-boots-with-shorts look. This is what Dartmouth fashion looks like. As in, this is exactly what I look like when I go fishing.
7. Sometimes, you’ll just have to accept the fact that you’re going to get wet.
8. And when in doubt, just play in the rain.