Severe weather in the North Country
I’m watching the weather from my apartment in downtown Burlington, Vermont, where it’s pouring heavily on and off and thundering loudly every few minutes. It looks like we’re in for an afternoon and evening of severe weather, with thunderstorm warnings, flash flood watches, and tornado watches in effect. According to the National Weather Service, a tornado watch is in effect for the entire North Country — almost all of Northern New York and Vermont — until 9 p.m. That means that weather conditions are ripe for producing tornados.
Growing up in North Texas, tornado watches — and warnings — were par for the course. We’d be at the public pool in early summer when lifeguards would blow the whistle at the first sign of lighting or a funnel cloud. Then my mom, sister, and I would beeline home and and set up shop in the closet under the stairs with our transistor radio, extra batteries, flash lights, and snacks. The other destination of choice during a tornado: in your bath tub, with a mattress pulled over your head. what memories do you have of severe summertime weather?
As today’s storm progresses, we’d like to know about what’s happening in your region. Feel free to post below or call the station (315-229-5356, or toll free 877-388-6277) to report severe weather.
It’s raining. Some thunder. No big deal. Just keeping the forest safe.
Getting very dark right now in West Glens Falls. This should become interesting….
Growing up in Ohio, I know what a good thunderstorm is. The sky would turn black to the northwest and we all knew that we had exactly five minutes to run like hell, close the windows, tie the dogs, get the laundry down and close up the outbuildings. It would rain so hard that you couldn’t see the street, the lightning would make us crazy, and in fifteen minutes it was over…rainbows and everything. We’d go out and pick up the branches and carry on until the sky turns black tomorrow.
Big summer thunderstorms are just not typical in Hawaii, where I grew up.
The occasional hurricane watch – or even actual hurricane – yes. Minor earthquakes? Of course! Tsunami alerts now and again? Check. Massive thunder clouds with lighting? Not really. Tornadoes? Nope. (But islanders see waterspouts, now and then.)
The first real afternoon thunderstorm I encountered swept in on a sweltering day while I was an enthralled tourist on the mall at Washington DC. It blew my mind! Happily, the Aviation Museum provided shelter and a good view.
Golly, it was just like the movies! Crackle! Boom! Followed immediately by gusts of wind and sheets, no torrents, of rain! Seriously, I’d always thought those things (in such short order) were a Hollywood pretense – like fake movie snow made of soap flakes. It didn’t really happen that way, did it?
The real thing is amazing and fascinating to watch. That display of natural power is a bit sobering though, considering these storms are not always harmless.
Stay safe… and enjoy! More rain (within reason) would be a very welcome event.
Out here in Rensselaer Falls, we got nary a drop of rain. I watched the doppler radar all afternoon and watched as a ‘split in the front opened up. The entire front went all around us with only some gusts of wind as the air changed. It appeared that the Syracuse NExrad must have gotten knocked offline for an hour or two in the early afternoon as the link was unavailable and when it did come back online, there was the animation was making a dramatic skip from Rochester to Syracuse … sort of like you would see in a time lapse sequence. I took that to mean that there was a chunk missing.