Thursday, March 24, 2011

It Was a Dark and Gloomy Night

I love the drama of spring!  Even if none of the weather bureau's hyperbolized prognostications materialize...

 Not that I would wish a tornado on anybody, but the dire warnings of "SEVERE" and "GOLFBALL-SIZED HAIL" and "60 mph winds" do get the blood racing in my arteries. 

Fortunately for us, our farm JOTOLR is mostly protected by the undulating landscape.  We have never seen a "real" tornado, despite the rapid-fire warnings coming across the airwaves that always include our county and surrounds.  This time there were no corpulant cumulus clouds.  It was a front that blew in, fueled by the clash between the visiting 75 degrees and the univited 25 degrees barreling down from the Canadian Arctic.  It's that 50-degree gap that gets Mother Nature all stirred.

The "golf-ball" sized hail had me a bit worried.  So, I suggested to MM that we park the van under cover.  The drumbeat of terror from the Weather People, seemed to intimate that taking cover in the basement would be a good idea, too.  We'd be OK, there.  Lots of canned good to eat!  But that, as far as I was concerned, was carrying things a bit too far.

The movement of the front was apparent.

It crept across the northern sky like a line of greedy little mouths, nibbling our summertime termperatures until they were pared back down to a reasonable level.  I saw one flash of lightning.  Heard one clap of thunder.  That event sent MM to the basement to pull the plug on the pump.  Yes, we have a breaker at the house.  However, the last pump meltdown occured when we were depending upon the breaker's sensitivity.  So, from then on, the equation is THUNDER=3 P's:   PULL THE PLUG ON THE PUMP.

But everything quieted down right after supper, and that was it for the "SEVERE" warnings.  No tornados.  No golf-ball sized hail.  A few strong wind gusts followed by a precipitous drop in temperatures, with our tropical weather-guest sent packing.


Still, this morning, except for the afterglow of moonlight, it was a dark and gloomy night....!! 
 

5 comments:

  1. That looks so dramatic, glad though it didn't get too ferocious on you. Will they ever get weather forecasting to be reliable? I'm just wishing all thos days of rain that have been forecast for the last 2 weeks for us would actually happen - still very dry here. Tried to comment yesterday and the day before but it kept disappearing so hope this one sticks!
    Julia x

    ReplyDelete
  2. Elora, we had the same weather forecast and the same weather result as you. Yes, those weather folks can get the heart rate up but so many times it's just a passing parade of dark clouds with a little wind. -- barbara

    ReplyDelete
  3. Beautiful pictures, Elora! We had much the same forecast but only got a good rain. Temps have dropped, alas, and I fear a bit for the blooms...

    ReplyDelete
  4. We missed the "fun" while we were Down South this week. But please don't count on the "undulating landscape" to protect you. When the funnel got into the cove at Mossy Grove a few years ago it did Oklahoma-style damage anyway.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Julia! Thanks so much for sending a comment. I've been so delinquent about emailing lately. With all the other world events, we still keep New Zealand in our hearts. We know recovery for your tiny country is going to take awhile, but we never cease to think of your situation and hold your needs in our hearts. Love you, girl!
    Barbara, It's amazing how we parallel each in weather. It's almost as if we live next door to one anothers (which I wish we did!!)

    Thank you, Vicki! Your weather, too. Same like Barbara's comment. We had a bit of snow last night, but nothing serious. It's all gone now. And it wasn't very cold. Flowers are OK.

    Wayfarin' Stranger! Thanks for the heads-up on the inadvisability of benign thoughts! I've felt so safe up till now!! Thanks to your warning we will not lapse into complacency!!
    Elora

    ReplyDelete