So I've lived here nearly 2 years already, and have yet to encounter my first tornado. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that's something I'm EAGER to have happen; in fact, I told Bucky that if there ever IS a tornado situation where we have to go hide, I will be freaking out.
What brings this to mind is that my brother had a tornado near his city tonight. Their area was not affected, though they DID get golfball-sized hail, which his car didn't like getting pelted with. A few people were actually killed by this tornado, and others were hurt.
My brother has a tornado shelter buried in the floor of his garage. Here, Bucky and I live in a 3 story apartment building which is on top of a garage. The management tells me that if there were a tornado warning for this area, we should go down to the garage to wait it out. My car's parked down there - wonder if it would be a good idea to get inside the car also? Would be a nice little shelter for us two and the cat away from all the neighbors and screaming, terrified kids.
The tornado sirens go off here every Wednesday around noon. To me, they are spooky and sad-sounding. They scream, WARNING, WARNING, DEATH IS COMING! The first time I ever heard them was when I went to visit brother in his state in '05. I thought they sounded creepy then.
What concerns me is that I'm afraid I won't hear it if I'm sleeping. I have to sleep with earplugs (Bucky snores), but even without them, it's not that audible.
Though tornadoes do not happen as often here as they do in the middle mid-west or Texas/Oklahoma (is that still the midwest?), here is scary proof that they DO occur:
http://climate.umn.edu/doc/historical/tornadic.htm
Yeah, not looking forward to it!
Showing posts with label weather. Show all posts
Showing posts with label weather. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
THUNDERSTRUCK!
I have always been an avid fan of storms. Living in the Pacific Northwest, we didn't get them as often as I would have liked. Sure, we got the rain, but hardly ever the booming and flashing accompaniments.
One time I was at the beach at night when a storm came, and it was AWESOME. The waves were pounding the shore as the thunder was pounding the sky, and the lightning was showing off.
So I move to Minnesota and my first storm here was like "WHOAH!!!" I was quite impressed.
Storms happen more often here than in WA (along with tornadoes - EEEK!). Rain doesn't happen here anywhere near as much. It's strange to me that a lot of the storms here do not include rain.
There was one storm where my husband and I and his relatives were driving home from a trip out of town. This particular storm DID have rain to go along with the flashiness and noisiness of the sky. The windshield wipers could hardly keep up.
A few months ago, I awoke at about 4 am to what sounded like an infinite piece of sheet metal, being shook across the skies. This thunder was a near-constant rumbling, it was really cool and lasted for several hours. It was accompanied by freakishly bright flashes of lightning.
My cat runs and hides under the bed when she hears the thunder. :) Poor baby.
One time I was at the beach at night when a storm came, and it was AWESOME. The waves were pounding the shore as the thunder was pounding the sky, and the lightning was showing off.
So I move to Minnesota and my first storm here was like "WHOAH!!!" I was quite impressed.
Storms happen more often here than in WA (along with tornadoes - EEEK!). Rain doesn't happen here anywhere near as much. It's strange to me that a lot of the storms here do not include rain.
There was one storm where my husband and I and his relatives were driving home from a trip out of town. This particular storm DID have rain to go along with the flashiness and noisiness of the sky. The windshield wipers could hardly keep up.
A few months ago, I awoke at about 4 am to what sounded like an infinite piece of sheet metal, being shook across the skies. This thunder was a near-constant rumbling, it was really cool and lasted for several hours. It was accompanied by freakishly bright flashes of lightning.
My cat runs and hides under the bed when she hears the thunder. :) Poor baby.
The winters
Yeah, so I've been slacking off quite a bit on posting. Got busy with coursework.
Where I'm from, the weather is mild and the air is moist, due to being near the sea. It rains a lot, which bothers some people who live there. It snows maybe twice during the winter and if it gets down to 15 degrees F, that's considered SO COLD.
Where I've moved to (the Great Frozen Northland of Minnesota), the air is bone-dry in winter. In summer, it is the opposite. This is due to the plethora of lakes present here. In winter, they're all frozen and a chill wind comes down from (blame) Canada. In summer, they're liquid and grow algae and let their moisture evaporate into the air, making it quite humid.
The winters, OH, the winters! It is not unusual to see -20, and that is WITHOUT the windchill factor. With windchill, -30 is possible. If you've never experienced this kind of cold, it's really hard to understand just how it feels. My first winter here was eye-opening (and bone chilling), and my second winter was still shocking.
One evening I was leaving my night class and the wind was freezing and blowing. I tromped across the snow-covered parking lot to my car, my eyes nearly shut against the cold. Particles of hard, frozen snow (the snow is lightweight here and blows around, not like WA where it stays on the ground) were pelting my face like BBs. I learned to not have my mouth open, or icy cold wind would blow straight down my throat, making my lungs tighten uncomfortably. I learned to jam an unflattering knit cap upon my head before stepping outside. I realized that unless I wanted my hands to look like an elephant's skin, I needed to start wearing gloves before venturing out. I bought a humidifier to counteract the horridly dry air that comes in through the heating system. These are things I never had to think about before moving here.
I'd rather have the rain.
Where I'm from, the weather is mild and the air is moist, due to being near the sea. It rains a lot, which bothers some people who live there. It snows maybe twice during the winter and if it gets down to 15 degrees F, that's considered SO COLD.
Where I've moved to (the Great Frozen Northland of Minnesota), the air is bone-dry in winter. In summer, it is the opposite. This is due to the plethora of lakes present here. In winter, they're all frozen and a chill wind comes down from (blame) Canada. In summer, they're liquid and grow algae and let their moisture evaporate into the air, making it quite humid.
The winters, OH, the winters! It is not unusual to see -20, and that is WITHOUT the windchill factor. With windchill, -30 is possible. If you've never experienced this kind of cold, it's really hard to understand just how it feels. My first winter here was eye-opening (and bone chilling), and my second winter was still shocking.
One evening I was leaving my night class and the wind was freezing and blowing. I tromped across the snow-covered parking lot to my car, my eyes nearly shut against the cold. Particles of hard, frozen snow (the snow is lightweight here and blows around, not like WA where it stays on the ground) were pelting my face like BBs. I learned to not have my mouth open, or icy cold wind would blow straight down my throat, making my lungs tighten uncomfortably. I learned to jam an unflattering knit cap upon my head before stepping outside. I realized that unless I wanted my hands to look like an elephant's skin, I needed to start wearing gloves before venturing out. I bought a humidifier to counteract the horridly dry air that comes in through the heating system. These are things I never had to think about before moving here.
I'd rather have the rain.
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