Severe Weather
Just as I was getting ready to leave work yesterday, NOAA weather issued a tornado warning for my county. This was followed a few minutes later by a second tornado warning. I decided to stick around until the storms had passed, so several of my coworkers and I stood at the door and watched it rain and blow with such force that it resembled something that the Weather Channel shows during a hurricane.
Later, after the storms had passed and I made it home, Alan found a photo on the website for our local news station that showed this bizarre looking cloud. The scary thing is that we only live a couple of miles from where the picture was taken. I’ve thankful that I didn’t see it with my own eyes, as I would have certainly dropped dead from a heart attack.
To say that our weather has been strange lately would be a huge understatement. Last week, we were hovering just above single digits, but this week we’ve had temperatures around 70 degrees. In January. It seemed inevitable that the clash between all that warm air and the arrival of a strong cold front would trigger severe weather.
Being a big fraidy-cat when it comes to storms, I have always looked forward to the arrival of winter as a welcome respite from the turbulent weather that we often experience in spring and summer. Global warming seems to have destroyed any opportunity for me to relax, unfortunately.
Sing with me… “O Canada, our home native land!”
How’s your French, Brian :)
Global warming…time to head north, eh?
Isn’t it WEIRD? January in Ohio, and I’m walking around outside in a sweater. It’s 50 degrees today. Tornados in the winter just seems bizarre. Arkansas (where my kids live) just had one.
We had the same weather here in Central Illinois. a tornado touched down just north of my city. It’s frightening to get this kind of weather in January. We kind of expect it in April or May.
@ jimthomp87: My French isn’t good, but I should be fine if I land somewhere around Toronto!
@ MBMQ: Tornadoes are weird in January no matter which state you reside in.
@ Accountable: I have to psychologically prepare myself for the official storm season (April-June), but this caught me off guard!
We don’t get any tornados here in Jersey but the weather has been just as strange. It’s 70 degrees here too and beautiful. It feels like it’s late spring outside. I might be able to enjoy it if I can forget long enough that that means there are polar bears without homes. :-(
I was so scared Tuesday. The kids were at my granny’s and J couldn’t go get them on time because the place he works at was on lockdown. I was torn between going to get my kids to relieve my elderly grandparents, thus risking my life, or staying home and worrying myself sick about all of them. I eventually decided to stay home, but was worried the whole time. I’m finding myself more scared of the severe weather the older I get.
@ Stephanie: I enjoy the warmer weather, too, but like you, I know it’s a scary sign that things are changing.
@ Alyson: I know that must have been terrifying! Some of the wives of my coworkers were frantically calling their husbands because their kids were on school buses when the warnings were issued. Some of the schools were vigilant enough to keep the kids in place, though.