As promised, the hot humid air of the eastern seaboard mixes with the cold fronts coming off the Atlantic to create some *wicked* thunderstorms. This one, on Saturday the 25th of August (2007) generated repeated severe weather warnings and sundry cries of "Auntie Em!!" from local government and public safety types.
The Overture had just started as I was leaving the library and Act One was closing in on Hayattsville when I stepped off the metro and headed for home. Though I was supposed to be going straight back to studying I just had to interrupt it a few times to run out and document the progress of the storm as the clouds piled up and the lightning developped from flashes to great forked arcs. I like the area already, but talk about value added!
Perhaps the novelty will wear off (probably next time I'm in dress clothes) but as it is, I get a kick out of the warm, steamy air combined with the cool rain. The lull and rush of the cicadas as the wind picks up and the rythym of the rain as it's driven in waves across the tree branches is so perfect it seems surreal. It's all terribly atmospheric and sensuous; to walk out into the beginnings of the storm after the quite, air-conditioned sterility of the library makes me feel invigorated and alive.
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4 comments:
I have to say, when it comes to fantastic T-storms, you can't beat the eastern sea board.
Although it was rather unfortunate to have extended summer visits as a child with Brontophobia (seriously, ask me about it next time), every time I go back to see relatives and whatnot I find myself more and more fascinated as the bottle-green clouds roll in.
Bravo for delivering poetic praise for such a mighty force of nature.
Uh, you LIKE humidity? You are so weird...there shouldn't be rain in the summer!
Actually, I think mid-western thunderstorms are even worse/better. I was in one several years ago, and man, that was freaky. It had sheet lightning like that for miles and miles, and several funnel clouds, so I was freaking out that there was going to be a tornado. It kinda went past the point of being fascinating to just being scary. But yeah, thanks for the neat videos!
You're right Anja; the east coast doesn't have the corner on the market of good thunderstorms, it just has one "flavor" of good. I haven't seen any midwestern storms for to compare, but I have seen New Mexico storms. I think part of the reason they're so scary is that out there, as they say, the sky comes right down to the ground. To hear those thunderclaps come rolling down the canyon like a stampede while watching the lightning *actually hit stuff*... wow.
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