Okay, I'm impressed

[gerisullivan]

The weather has been remarkably pleasant for the last couple of days. I heard of heavy rain and a tornado warning down in New Jersey on Friday afternoon, but it seemed unlikely that harsh weather would hit here.

As I was finishing my desk-cleaning post, an exceptionally strong wind came roaring down my driveway. The Zeppelin Hangar is protected, down in a hollow. The wind doesn't roar much around here. I don't remember hearing anything like this before. Very sudden, very strong.

I closed my office window and walked quickly to the back deck where I'd left the patio furniture uncovered this week. The wind was still roaring, carrying lots of leaves and debris in its fury. It's a good thing the vinyl cover was near at hand -- right behind the wind was rain.

Back inside, I checked the weather forecast. The "partly cloudy" pictures were topped by a

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
1129 PM EDT FRI AUG 17 2007

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAUNTON HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...

SOUTHEASTERN HAMPDEN COUNTY IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS...

* UNTIL MIDNIGHT EDT

* AT 1127 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. THESE STORMS WERE LOCATED ALONG A
LINE EXTENDING FROM WARE TO PALMER TO 7 MILES WEST OF STAFFORD...OR
ALONG A LINE EXTENDING FROM 14 MILES SOUTHEAST OF AMHERST TO 13
MILES EAST OF SPRINGFIELD TO 11 MILES SOUTHEAST OF SPRINGFIELD...
AND MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH.

Here's the part that really impressed me:

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE NEAR...
WARREN...BRIMFIELD AND STAFFORD BY 1135 PM EDT...
WEST BROOKFIELD AND WALES BY 1140 PM EDT...

The wind came through right about 11:30; it was raining by the time I saw the warning at 11:41. Doppler radar certainly nailed that one! The storm line has got to be interesting -- Brimfield is north of Wales; Stafford is directly south.

Back to the desk cleaning for real now.

Comments

[malibrarian.livejournal.com]

I was watching CT NBC and saw storms there and thought nothing of it until I turned on our local station for news at 11. And there it was in living color. Five seconds after the weather man started talking about it, the storm arrived. In living color. Sarah was a bit restless, and I was afraid that the thunder would wake her up, but she remained sleeping.

Are you offering tours of the newly cleaned desk? It might be an inspiration.

[gerisullivan.livejournal.com]

Rarely do storms arrive with such precision. Wham! I'm glad Sarah slept through it.

One of the blessings of my own childhood was sleeping through thunderstorms. On the rare occasions they did wake me up, I'd merely think, "oh, it's a big thunderstorm" and fall right back asleep without parent or sibling help. It took until my adulthood -- living in a mobile home for 2 years, to be precise -- to be bothered by them. Thunderstorms in a rental mobile home built in the '60s were awful.

I'm thankful that my sister-in-law helped me discover the "wow, neat, strong" aspects of thunderstorms a few years later.

Oh, yes, do come visit! I'm not promising the desk will stay clean or clear, but the new arrangement in the living room will provide ample inspiration for organizers not-so-anonymous, and knowing you're coming might help me forge on ahead with the other flat surfaces here in my office.

Does Sarah eat chicken salad? Or grilled cheese sandwiches? What's next weekend like? We could have a picnic lunch on the deck if weather permits, and I have a couple of music DVDs and videotapes I think we'd all enjoy watching. Are you familiar with Trout Fishing in America's kid's tape?