I think it's one of the more interesting things about living in The States. Everyone has their own weather to deal with. In the Midwestern section, it's tornadoes. In the East, hurricanes. In the West, just the Total Wrath of God in various forms. Droughts bring wild fires; constant rain brings flooding. Up here in CT, we've had hurricanes, wild fires, droughts, a few tornadoes, but nothing "constant." When I lived in The Tidewater area of VA, I had to ride out a number of hurricanes, but survived all of them. Now I have dreams of living in Japan, but the idea of earthquakes sends shivers right now.
When I was growing up in Northern Virginia they weren’t tornado sirens, they were air raid sirens, and if they went off anytime other than the second Tuesday at 1030AM you knew the ICBMs were on the way in. By the time I was 12 I knew where all the primary targets within 5 miles were.
In my yute I can remember the tornado drills and crouching under the desk, feeling OH so safe. In my adult years it was in OH that I actually sought shelter from the "monster" twister, a farmhouse in the middle of nowhere south of Toledo. We visited the house a few years ago, many years after leaving, and it had burnt down. I could still see the outline of the basement and remember the shelter from the storm.
I blame that movie "Twister" for all the fools who run after tornados, wanting to post something cool on whatever social media page they happen to haunt. LEFT TURN ... RIGHT TURN ... uh oh.
I tend towards fatalism regards things the earth wants to do. The planet is the biggest machine we know of, and unless God has your back, it can step on you and grind you into itself whenever it wants to.
"and a cow just flew through the air, plaintively bleating"... so, it was so scared it forgot what species it was? What about a sheep that went MOooo!
I live in Iowa, so we have tornadoes in the state almost every year. Fortunately, most of them occur out in country, not in towns and cities. Like James, I always want to see them, so I run outside, cautiously, and watch. If it it gets really ominous, I'll head to the basement. But I wait as long as possible. I have personally seen only one tornado. I lived out in the country. It was about a mile away. The wind was so strong I had to hold on to a porch pillar. That's something I will never forget.
Radar overcalls tornadoes nowadays. That vague little hook echo on the radar and they are calling out warnings. When I was a kid, a tornado had to be on the ground and observed by human before a warning was issued.
Up here in Saskatchewan, we are more likely to experience "plow winds" which are brief but intense downbursts at the leading edges of thunderstorms. Seldom any real warning besides the fact that, as he says, it's summertime, on earth, but they can knock down a nice swath of forest in an instant. Ten minutes later, you emerge from your idyllic lake-front cabin and wonder how to safely remove all the aspens reclining on your roof. Don't turn your back on nature.
My great great grandmother was born in eastern Ontario in 1826. She and her family moved "west" about 1840, i.e. not far from where I now live in s.w. Ontario. They were still getting settled at their new place when a tornado struck. My grandmother recorded the story from her grandmother before her death in 1901.
I think it's one of the more interesting things about living in The States. Everyone has their own weather to deal with. In the Midwestern section, it's tornadoes. In the East, hurricanes. In the West, just the Total Wrath of God in various forms. Droughts bring wild fires; constant rain brings flooding. Up here in CT, we've had hurricanes, wild fires, droughts, a few tornadoes, but nothing "constant." When I lived in The Tidewater area of VA, I had to ride out a number of hurricanes, but survived all of them. Now I have dreams of living in Japan, but the idea of earthquakes sends shivers right now.
Yes, the TV meteorologists love this stuff. I call it a "weathergasm" when they go into full-blown, everybody-panic-now mode.
When I was growing up in Northern Virginia they weren’t tornado sirens, they were air raid sirens, and if they went off anytime other than the second Tuesday at 1030AM you knew the ICBMs were on the way in. By the time I was 12 I knew where all the primary targets within 5 miles were.
In my yute I can remember the tornado drills and crouching under the desk, feeling OH so safe. In my adult years it was in OH that I actually sought shelter from the "monster" twister, a farmhouse in the middle of nowhere south of Toledo. We visited the house a few years ago, many years after leaving, and it had burnt down. I could still see the outline of the basement and remember the shelter from the storm.
I blame that movie "Twister" for all the fools who run after tornados, wanting to post something cool on whatever social media page they happen to haunt. LEFT TURN ... RIGHT TURN ... uh oh.
As we say in Florida, O GOD it’s hurricane season, the Weather Channel can not wait! Husband and I call it “storm porn”
The Churchill quote reminds me of Meriwether Lewis's description of being shot at. "Being bareheaded, I felt the wind of his bullet distinctly."
I tend towards fatalism regards things the earth wants to do. The planet is the biggest machine we know of, and unless God has your back, it can step on you and grind you into itself whenever it wants to.
"and a cow just flew through the air, plaintively bleating"... so, it was so scared it forgot what species it was? What about a sheep that went MOooo!
I live in Iowa, so we have tornadoes in the state almost every year. Fortunately, most of them occur out in country, not in towns and cities. Like James, I always want to see them, so I run outside, cautiously, and watch. If it it gets really ominous, I'll head to the basement. But I wait as long as possible. I have personally seen only one tornado. I lived out in the country. It was about a mile away. The wind was so strong I had to hold on to a porch pillar. That's something I will never forget.
Radar overcalls tornadoes nowadays. That vague little hook echo on the radar and they are calling out warnings. When I was a kid, a tornado had to be on the ground and observed by human before a warning was issued.
Up here in Saskatchewan, we are more likely to experience "plow winds" which are brief but intense downbursts at the leading edges of thunderstorms. Seldom any real warning besides the fact that, as he says, it's summertime, on earth, but they can knock down a nice swath of forest in an instant. Ten minutes later, you emerge from your idyllic lake-front cabin and wonder how to safely remove all the aspens reclining on your roof. Don't turn your back on nature.
My great great grandmother was born in eastern Ontario in 1826. She and her family moved "west" about 1840, i.e. not far from where I now live in s.w. Ontario. They were still getting settled at their new place when a tornado struck. My grandmother recorded the story from her grandmother before her death in 1901.