Thursday 4 October 2012

That Annual Storm.


There is no question that our weather patterns are changing.

It used to be 'carved in stone' that in mid-August we would have a hum-dinger of a storm, which heralded the end of high-Summer.

They were powerful affairs. Lots of noise, lots of lightning, and usually a few blown-up bits of household electrical equipment. I've lost a fax machine, most of a stacking music centre, and several spot bulbs. I've also had streaks of lightning (probably 'static') running round the sitting room floor. Being without power for a day or so after a storm used to be common.

The bad side of these storms was loss of life. Not only were humans killed but also farm animals. We've had dead cows in the fields, as well as tall trees snapped in half.

But we haven't had these storms for several years. This year they were forecast quite regularly, but they never materialised. 

There was something quite reassuring about our mid-August storms; they were almost as welcome as Christmas. You knew where you were with them, and they didn't let you down.

OK, they were quite frightening at times, and they occasionally left devastation in their wake. But like most meteorological extremes, they were pretty awesome (in the correct meaning of the word).

19 comments:

  1. I agree we don't seem to have 'electric' storms any more which were frightening but wonderful - yesterday we had a hailstorm - glad I wasn't out in it - ice balls the size of marbles.

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  2. We were fortunate not to have any storms of this type this summer either. Instead, we have had quite a few storms that had dangerous winds that in some areas became tornadoes.

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  3. I agree - we didn't have them in the Gers over the last few years a bit further south than you either. Or maybe they were later - we had a few in September certainly this year.

    Looking at the forecast it's 28, 29 degrees over the weekend which isn't exactly shabby for October. Huzzah!

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    Replies
    1. There might even be a few Cepes around!

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    2. That would be great. Happy foraging Cro!

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  4. If it's not too personal a question, how are your walnuts this year? We have a glut, but friends in the Haute Pyrenees report that they are scant this year

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    1. Some of the early trees have nothing, but otherwise OK. They have just started dropping.

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  5. I do worry about the climate. The long term effects, but also what will happen in my lifetime. We have had four, or is it five, lousy summers in a row in the UK, the latest being the worst of the lot. More than coincidence.

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  6. We usually have those but ours involved high winds and rain shooting off the roof of the house and blowing in sheets down the street...(hurricane weather). We didn't get one this year either. We didn't get much rain at all this past summer. I read somewhere that if, in the next 50 months, we don't make a serious attempt to repair the damage we've done, we are doomed. That's not a very long time.

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  7. Even though the terrible rage of tornadoes we had on April 17, 2011 left a scar on my heart, I still love a good electrifying thunderstorm!

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  8. I love storms. Once in the worst tornado of Central Illinois with my six year old sister cowering in my lap she peed all over me out of fear, To this day if we are with her during a storm we all keep a goodly distance.

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  9. We don't get many t-storms here, although some terrific ones occurred with unfailing regularity at my last location.

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  10. Hey Cro, Just to answer your question about the fish we catch; Yes, they go into the freezer and we eat them about twice a week. We are also saving up a big batch for a fish fry when the kids come home in November. We filet all the fish, of course unless they are plate size, as they taste so much better cooked on the bone. I want to thank you so much for all your comments. It keeps me going to hear from followers.

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  11. Hmm interesting you should say that. We used to get storms and power cuts in Bucks, which was a long way from the coast, but here in the south west, thunder and lightening is rare.

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  12. Really handy when you want to re-animate a corpse too!

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  13. It will be interesting this year here to see if the summer storms appear.Usually at the end of endless long hot days the skies seem to open up and a magic light and noise show starts and a welcome downpour.We sit on the verandah and watch the light show but last summer storms were rare...seems to be change everywhere.

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  14. I hadn't really thought about it, but you're right. Ferocious storms that make your adrenaline pump don't seem to happen with nearly as much regularity as they used to.

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  15. I don't think it's so much weather patterns changing Cro, as human and earth's timelines being different. We just don't live long enough to witness Mother Nature's cycles of climate change.

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