MICROCLIMATES.

MICROCLIMATES. A book by the great historian Fernand Braudel introduced me to the idea of a microclimate: each square mile (or smaller area) of the earth has its own climate, often distinctive. Weather forecasts are usually for relatively broad regions. (I have been told that in San Francisco the variations in weather from block to block are so great that the forecasts are highly particularized.) I grew up in a notably flat area of the Midwest so that local variations in climate were not so apparent. Where we live in Connecticut, there are usually more snowfalls near I-95 than near the Merritt Parkway, only three miles away. I suppose it’s not surprising that a citizen of France, where the climate for individual vineyards is so important, should think in terms of microclimates.