Monster thunderstorm last night!

Bernice H
by Bernice H
We were taking a stroll, (too hot to walk) and looked at the south sky, this was about 8:30. It got darker and darker, and we saw almost constant lightning! By 9:05, it hit ! I dont know how hard and strong the wind was, but it was scary,and awesome. Then the rain hit, and you could hardly hear yourself YELL! It was awesome. NOthing like Noah's flood I am sure, but it was very impressive, and let you know how powerful creation is.
It also cooled things off, and amazingly my plants and flowers just rolled with the punches! Chairs got blown around, we were concerned with awnings and canopies, but all is well. Poor cat just howled and hunkered down. Electric off til 2 a.m...but not a big deal , at least for most of us.
I am still in awe, today it looks like nothing has happened, at least in our mh court. But you could hear sirens for a couple of hours last night. Watching the Northwest news right now, of course Seattle gets ALL the coverage! :( But we have hills and plains, where lightning is way more impressive than over a bunch of buildings.
Hearing reports of fires now. Not good. Last year a fire destroyed so many homes on the Indian reservation, and many are still not rebuilt as was promised.......same old story.Bureaucracy!
Fires could be worse, INCREDIBLE nature show tho!
  9 answers
  • Dee W Dee W on Jul 09, 2012
    Glad to hear you made it thru safely; sounds like quite an evening/night! Plants really need the lightening, the water too of course but there is a difference with a lightening storm in how refreshed the plants become. I love the power of storms, too :>)
  • Susan S Susan S on Jul 09, 2012
    Hey Bernice!! Wow - that really sounds like a whopper - and I'm NOT making a pun or being funny!!! It's interesting that this happened in the northwest area and in our little 'burg we had a really weird storm blow up around 5:45 Sun eve. Ours came from the west but I DO NOT believe it could be part of the same storm!! It got real dark, the wind went from perfectly calm to just tearing, a little rain but then I was hearing a really strange kind of wind whistling sound, Later on we heard that a roof was ripped off a small strip shopping center and the roof landed on a man's home. Also the walls of a dance studio - filled w/young girls practicing - caved in. Thankfully, no one was hurt in any of this. They still don't know exactly what it was - weather service is calling it a microburst but it's being investigated. There are definitely some really strange, unexpected, unexplainable weather phenoms going on!!! We just exited several 100+ days in a row but after that storm temps are only going to be in the high 80's the rest of this week. Gotta kinda wonder . . . . .
  • Bernice H Bernice H on Jul 10, 2012
    Wow, now that is scary! Sounds like a lot of our storm, but no roofs or damage here that we know of except for fires, Glad you are safe too.Yep the dark , the calm , then the monster wind.., and deafening rain. The lightning was awesome to watch, as i said it was out in the hills unimpeded by tall buildings. I'll have to check and see what a microburst is.
  • Dee W Dee W on Jul 10, 2012
    @Susan- you too? Those cute little boots didn't fly off did they? Good to hear you are alright, when a storm comes quick like that it can be pretty scary. I'm sure you are happy with the cooler weather, tho'.
  • Susan S Susan S on Jul 10, 2012
    @Bernice - I think lightning is awesome to watch, just as long as it can be done from a nice safe place!! One year we were on Sanibel Is. down in Fl. and our condo was right on the ocean. My husband was hoping for one really good storm - he'd been telling me there was nothing like watching lightening over the water and he was absolutely right!! I'm sure watching it without interference from city lights & tall buildings was equally impressive. Mother Nature is to be admired and definitely respected!! A microburst, as I understand it from how our weather people explained it, is like a sudden downburst of ferocious wind that can wreak some serious havoc just like a tornado, but has not formed the swirling mass typical of a tornado. @Dee - actually every time it clouds up I have to go run out to the front porch and set the boots in a safe place plus gather up a quilt I have draped over a bench and an armful of pillows! And yes, the cooler weather is definitely welcomed. The humidity coupled w/the excessively high temps were just miserable. Didn't even want to walk out to the mailbox!!!
  • Bernice H Bernice H on Jul 23, 2012
    Just an additional thought. I had to use candles, because I forgot about the use of SOLAR lights. Dont remember where i read it, and I DONT HAVE ANY ANYWAY, but....the idea was to bring your solar lights in when you lose your power. For us it would have been a good idea because I had to watch the candles very carefully, a strong wind/breeze kept on for quite a while. And because it was so muggy I had the doors and windows open. Gotta get some!
  • Bernice H Bernice H on Jul 23, 2012
    @Susan....Do you put them safely away when you are gone for the day ...just in case?
  • Susan S Susan S on Jul 23, 2012
    @Bernice - So far that hasn't been a problem. Actually, I covered the pillows in plastic shopping bags and then used some old square bright scarves w/fringe to make the covers for outside so if they do get wet nothing will be ruined.
  • Bernice H Bernice H on Jul 23, 2012
    Ok then!