As Wild Weather Approaches ...

As February scoots by, some of us who are certified "weather nuts" begin to anticipate what's around the corner - SEVERE WEATHER SEASON. When I was a kid, I hated thunderstorms. When one came through at night, I'd bury my head under the covers and stick my fingers in my ears just as hard as I could, trying to shut the thunder out. Tornadoes were a nightmare.

As I got older, storms began to fascinate me more than scare me, and now you can't keep me from checking out the sky and clouds as a storm brews up. What makes matters worse is, that my husband is also a "storm freak," so two of us in the same family is either good or bad, depending on how you look at it!

Summer can be stormy, but in a laid-back way, compared to wild spring. Of course fall and winter are a sort of break from all the bad storminess (excluding blizzards). But then March comes along, followed by April and May, and you have the worst months for severe weather and tornadoes.

I never saw any real tornadoes until I was older, and the few I saw were small and far away. Thankfully! One summer day Dad came home honking, I could hear him a block or more away. So I ran out back, and he pointed out a tornado south of town, just a small one, that had descended out of a small thundercloud. It didn't seem to be moving fast, and we watched it for a long time.

Dad had been sitting in the restaurant at the north end of town, enjoying the afternoon coffee break with his buddies. He had looked down south out of the window, and said, "Boys, there's a tornado forming down there." They all pooh-poohed him, and thought he was crazy. But before long, it became obvious he was right, and that bunch cleared out of there fast! Dad had headed south on the highway, headed out to our house. As he went by a small service station towards the south end of town, some guys were sitting out on the curb, relaxing and visiting. As he went by, he honked to get their attention and pointed off to the south. He said they casually got up and sauntered out to get a better look .... then they saw that tornado and boy did they scatter!

When I was in 5th grade, we had a spring storm move through one afternoon while we were at school. I remember that storm hit and the west windows of the classroom all fogged over. A bush outside the window was blown by the wind so hard that the top was clear to the ground. We were all ready to dive under our desks if need be. Rain poured. Finally the storm passed. When school let out, Dad picked me up as usual, and he said a tornado had gone to the north of town. So we went out to see where it hit. The sun was out, and the storm clouds were all over east. But the wind was still blowing like mad, strong enough to blow water out of stock tanks out in the fields! Also, there were weeds up in the telephone wires. We got to the farm just a few miles north of town, and the trees along the driveway were all leaning. Thankfully it missed the house, but it really messed up a nearby garage.

We were visiting relatives in Wichita, KS when the Hesston, KS tornado happened (March, 1990). And later that evening at our relatives' house, we got our own round of storms and had to go to the basement. The TV station we were watching was only a couple of blocks south, and at one point they went off the air. We thought that was it! We were all praying in a circle. The bug man happened to be down there, doing some inspection, and he came out of the basement "wall," and said, "Hey, I'm a Christian, too, let me in on this thing!" So we all prayed and waited, and eventually that storm passed. But we sure got the hail! Tons of tiny hail, and it made drifts all by the house from running out of the gutters.

The next year (April 1991), a bad tornado hit Andover, KS. Then there was the Oklahoma City tornado (May of 1999). Then more recently, a tornado wiped out the town of Greensburg, KS in May of 2007. Thankfully, they are rebuilding, and making a comeback.

Even though I find clouds and storms interesting and exciting, my main priority is SAFETY for anyone where there's a storm. So as March marches nearer, I want to make sure we have a plan for taking cover, and basic necessities on hand. Storms can be exciting and interesting, but they also need to be respected. Whether it's tornadoes, lightning or floods, extreme caution needs to be used at all times. Have a safe, happy spring!