Forgive the yelling, but the National Weather Service is all about the caps, and I am just copying and pasting.
Just yesterday I was telling people that one of my biggest phobias is fear of bad weather. Driving in a thunderstorm can reduce me to tears. A tornado warning puts my blood pressure into the stratosphere. So this is what I just read.
…A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 330 PM EDTFOR CENTRAL WORCESTER COUNTY…AT 252 PM EDT…NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR CONTINUED TO INDICATE A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING PENNYSIZE HAIL…AND DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH. THESE STORMSWERE LOCATED ALONG A LINE EXTENDING FROM CLINTON TO WORCESTER…ORALONG A LINE EXTENDING FROM 7 MILES SOUTHEAST OF LEOMINSTER TOWORCESTER…MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH.SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE NEAR… BOLTON…NORTHBOROUGH AND BERLIN BY 300 PM EDT…A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 600 PM EDT WEDNESDAY EVENING.
This is part of the the current warning for Leominster:
IN ADDITION TO LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS…CONTINUOUS CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING IS OCCURRING WITH THIS STORM. MOVE INDOORSIMMEDIATELY! LIGHTNING IS ONE OF NATURES NUMBER ONE KILLERS.REMEMBER…IF YOU CAN HEAR THUNDER…YOU ARE CLOSE ENOUGH TO BE STRUCK BY LIGHTNING.
Well now, that’s just what I needed to hear!!!
Actually, I was on the phone with Mr. Dump (he was using a cordless). He’s working from home and told me that right before one lightning strike that seemed VERY close, he felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. I would need a lot of medication right now if I were at home. I would also be in the basement, crouched in the corner, wimpering.
I was just commenting to a co-worker that I wish I were home so I could sit on the porch and watch the storm roll through. Although a funnel cloud would probably convince me to go inside.
Stay inside or next to someone taller than you, or someone carrying an unbrella with a mean spike. Seriously. This could be the Gods raging over the elimination of Doolittle.
Well, if you read today’s entry, Lance, you’ll see why I won’t sit on a porch during a thunderstorm.
And anonymous, does it matter if the person is going to shriek every time there’s a flash of lightning? Cause that doesn’t help.
I live a few blocks from the house that caught fire and was home for that bolt. There wasn’t “that” much lightning, just that there was two “out of blue” bolts. One that hit that house (and locked up my wireless router even though it’s on a surge protector/ups) then a second one that put the lights out on our street when it hit a pole. So to celebrate I broke out the battery operated lights and setup the camp stove outside under our umbrella and heated up some dinner.
If you are interested in cool lightning do a search on youtube for lightning hitting a car. Someone was filming the heavy traffic in Florida during a storm and a bolt hit a car right next to them (radio antenna). Interesting to see the sparks come off.
CU Jerry
Re: Shrieking. I have no proof that it works, but I dare you to prove that it doesn’t. Shrieking, I mean. One day physicists just might find that high piercing sounds deflect certain types of electric energy, creating a local (very small) black hole. When they do, I will make a fortune of recording my cat, Misha, on the way to the vet. He could then chip in towards dewormers and rabies shots from his proceeds as rent-a-shriek severe-weather protection-critter. I will stop shrieking if I get hit by lightening. That’s a promise. Until then.
That house that caught fire? One of my neighbors. Major scary stuff.