Many an eye was cast heavenward during the summer of 2009 here in Edmonton. I recall watching with a combination of fascination and a bit of fear lest the dreaded tornado should actually descend upon us. There were tornadoes in nearby areas, mostly to the west of us, but we did not see any here. We saw funnel clouds, experienced hail and windstorms, and heavy rainfall.
I don't recall seeing skies so ominous with low dark clouds threatening overhead.
We were fortunate that summer. We did have one really bad storm one evening with high winds during which we succumbed to the seclusion and safety of the basement and watched, of all things, "Final Destination"! My husband called that evening. He'd been driving home when a flash of lightning lit up the road right in front of his van, temporarily blinding him. He couldn't see a thing, barely escaped an oncoming vehicle, and was quite shaken. He arrived home safe after midnight, when the storm had let up some but not until he had pulled off to the side of the road to collect himself.
We went out the next day to survey the damages. Many homeowners had large limbs and sometimes trees downed on their property, littering the roads and occasionally collapsing roofs. It was a bad storm but we were all so fortunate it was not a repeat of the tornado which went through here the summer of 1987.
Thankfully the summer of 2010 was free from events like this, though it was horribly cold and wet for us. I think I shall just count my blessings.
What is in the skies? See
http://skyley.blogspot.com/ .
5 comments:
Storm clouds are great to look at but a big storm is not much fun to live through. Glad you had a quiet summer even though it was cold and I know how much you appreciate the sunshine.
Ominous storm clouds! I always feel so helpless when I see a large storm approaching, all you can do is take precautions and hope for the best. I'm glad your husband did not have an accident. Let's hope for calm weather!
Arija, you are right. I do prefer the sunshine.
Karen, thank you. I am very glad he arrived home safe. Quite a frightening experience for him and us (when he told us about it).
Ewa, it's odd there's a fascination in the sheer power of such storms and yet fear of that same power just knowing the damage it can wreak. We were blessed that day for sure.
I was so surprised with there were three tornadoes here in western NY last summer....it is scary...
That is scary. I'll never complain about our summers again.
Post a Comment