They call it part of 'New England' because it gets British-style climates, even though it's on a latitude with the Algarve. *Yeah, riiight.* _Details to come._ *Spring: * what spring? Update from our NewYork correspondent as of 7th April 2003: Two to three inches snowfall predicted by the end of the day. Is there a barometer in this city _without_ tennis neck? Well, that was exceptional. But still not a season to be relied upon. *Summer: * all right, perhaps I just arrived at a bad time, but there is a possible reason why New Yorkers want to get out of the city during this season, being the insufficiency of air conditioning to cope with the oppressive heat. 100 degrees Fahrenheit and near-100-percent humidity were not unknown while I was there in the long vac. *Autumn: * rain. Lots of it. Rather British in style. Until it gets colder, and the gales come in, and you're threatening to blow away at every intersection. One weakness of the grid system in Manhattan... *Winter: * every day seems to turn into a Shackletonian expedition if it's snowing - and although they do use snowploughs on both the roads and the pavements, you have to proceed through three-foot drifts if you want to cross the road. Even when not snowing, _it is C__O__L__D._ Especially in months that ought to be seeing the first fruits of spring... 17/02/2003 saw an unusually awful blizzard, wherein even those used to snow in February (in Minneapolis) got about a month's worth of snow overnight. _Yes, but at least there are four seasons, and it's never boring.-- SDN_