I'm sure I'm not alone in enjoying a good noisy storm.
Imagine, then, that we were promised a belter on two successive days, and nothing happened (as was the case this last weekend). I almost felt like suing the French Met' office.
I would rather they said nothing than get my hopes up, and, anyway, the Western sky will always tell me if a storm is imminent. It didn't.
Noise and water do little damage, unless on a gargantuan scale, but large hailstones at this time of year can wreak havoc. I remember experiencing a serious hailstorm in mid-May a few years back. The ground was thick with golf ball size ice cubes, and I feared for my young plants at Haddock's. In fact nothing was touched; not even one hole in a courgette leaf. St Fiacre had done his work.
The anticipation of a good storm is always exciting; its failure to arrive is dire.
p.s. Meanwhile in the USA, I hear it's tornado season in certain states. HOLD ON TO YOUR HATS!
41 comments:
We had 3 hours of a magnificent storm in Lviv. I watched from my hotel room. The streets ran like rivers.
Yes, I read your description of it. I'm quite a fan of storms.
My granddad used to turn the mirrors around to face the wall and hide all the knives and scissors when there was a storm.
We could do with some rain inSomerset to be honest. Fantastic rain in Thailand at the right time of year, good thunderstorms too in RSA and the southern USA.
I can't say storms are my favourite things.
My mother accepted storm force winds, teeming rain and lightning but the minute thunder was heard turned into a shaking mess in the cupboard under the stairs. WW2 did a lot of mental damage to those at home
I like storms too, but not really strong, medium.
I've heard about turning the mirrors, but not the others. I wonder what their logic was behind these myths?
My youngest is living out in Thailand for the moment, and he confirms your rain report. He's had a few belting storms recently.
I absolutely adore them, as long as they're not TOO violent.
Oh dear, that does sound like memories doing long term damage. Not quite the same, but my last dog, Bok, was the same, only in his case I have no idea what caused it.
Not very keen on storms but I must say we do not get lightening like that in your photograph. But saying that things may well change with the way the weather is changing at present. We are still very dry here.
Yes, they're best kept to below 8/10.
Kimbo took that picture here, a couple of years ago. It had been a beautiful hot summer's day, which ended in storms. It was all rather nice.
I have a nephew living in Texas. A keen storm watcher, I suspect he moved there on purpose.
We had that storm on Sunday night. It was quite a show and the lightening lasted for hours. It was magnificent! Meanwhile in the Midwest of the US, raging storms with many tornadoes are causing havoc and destruction, and death. Those poor people are going through a terrible time. I haven’t heard of any hurricanes yet though.
It's probably the best place to be, if you're that keen.
I really meant Tornadoes rather than Hurricanes. My knowledge of meteorology is sorely lacking.
He is. An Earth Sciences PhD.
I understand that Frankenstein's Monster was also partial to violent storm so you are in good company.
We experienced a pretty good one last month when visiting Athens. Lightning struck the Acropolis right above us. There was unfortunately some damage and a few injuries but the flash and crash was certainly awesome.
I love a good storm, too. We need some rain in any case but I don't think it's in the forecast for the next week. As for hurricane season, I've never seen a real one get cranking until the end of summer. But with climate change who knows what the future holds?
I agree. And it is not just storms that the bureau promise that come to nothing. Downpours that don't happen. Flooding rains. Even strong wind alerts that turn out to be a gentle breeze.
Wire me up!
Our house here was struck by lightning about 30 years ago. It blew all the light bulbs, a stereo unit, and my Fax machine. I was in the house at the time; there was a very big BANG.
'Global warming' seems to have reduced the amount of storms we have. We used to have regular big storms in mid-August; now nothing.
We were promised rain for this lunchtime.... nothing!
nothing better and free too
Son et lumiere, from the front seats.
I witnessed a great storm on the pennine moors one night. When the storm had subsided and all was quiet and still a luminous electric blue disc or ball about the size of a basketball glided silently past me just above nearby terraced house chimney pots. Then as if by magic just when I thought it was going to hit one of the house across the end of the street and curious to see what would happen it vanished in the blink of an eye. A rare sight indeed.
I had a similar experience in our first post-college home in Wales. It was an ancient granite house, and one night, after a storm, I woke to see a football sized ball of blue light hanging in the corner of the bedroom. It was a very bright light but shone no light around it. After watching it for a few minutes I went back to sleep. Later people told me that it was not an un-common experience, and that it was some form of static. I wrote about it years ago on this page, but I can't remember the title I used.
"it was a very bright light but shone no light around it"
Yes, my sighting was exactly the same!
I, too, enjoy a good thunderstorm and have managed a few photos of lightning but nothing as spectacular as the on above.
I always love the smell of the air right before a thunderstorm or right after. It always relaxes me during that time hearing the rain hit the ground. Thanks for the share. Have a wonderful day.
World of Animals
I too used to love storms... there's something about the power and majesty of it that inspires awe. And we lived through many hurricanes in Louisiana growing up. They didn't frighten me. But tornadoes here in Texas are another matter... (or maybe it's due to age) but they unnerve me.
Pure luck, I think Graham. Unless you have an electrically run camera, it could hardly be otherwise.
It seems to refresh the air, and clean away any pollution. I agree; very relaxing.
Well, I suppose if like Dorothy and Toto you find your home flying through the air; then it would be a bit disconcerting.
The worst bit was being told later that it was quite common. It wasn't for me!
The piece I wrote was under the title 'Ball Lightning'. You will find it through the search strip, top left.
Flying through the air like Dorothy and Toto might actually be fun... but exploding into a million tiny splinters - not so much.
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