July 13th, 2004 WILD WEATHER.
We have a severe weather warning this afternoon. The clouds build and gather, the winds blow more fiercely and we sense that a REAL storm is coming. The clouds get thicker and darker, inky blue-black, an ominous color. At around 4pm it’s as dark as dusk, with an eerie purple quality to the light.
The winds lash and whip the trees, jagged lightning bolts crack down, and the thunder is so strong that windows rattle and vibrate.
The tornado sirens go off---whee-whee-whee---and we all head for the basement, or appropriate safe place, wherever we happen to be at that moment. Dood and I were in the Urbana Library, and Rod at the lab: luckily both have a basement.
When we get the tornado all-clear and it’s safe to try and get home, we drive in pelting rain, getting drenched just running to the car. Thunder rumbles and lightning really does illuminate the sky. The wind seems endless. Pretty scary stuff.
But, around 7pm the storm moves off and the sun comes out. Suddenly there is blue sky and sunshine in clean, clear air, the storm almost just a memory. Until we walk to the Illini Grove, just over the road. This won’t be a passing memory for the trees around here: some are totally uprooted, some have whole huge branches snapped off, some have the top ripped off, and smaller branches are scattered around like pick-up-sticks. In the next few days the city arborists are very busy cleaning up. Awful what a couple of hours of wild storm can do.
We have a severe weather warning this afternoon. The clouds build and gather, the winds blow more fiercely and we sense that a REAL storm is coming. The clouds get thicker and darker, inky blue-black, an ominous color. At around 4pm it’s as dark as dusk, with an eerie purple quality to the light.
The winds lash and whip the trees, jagged lightning bolts crack down, and the thunder is so strong that windows rattle and vibrate.
The tornado sirens go off---whee-whee-whee---and we all head for the basement, or appropriate safe place, wherever we happen to be at that moment. Dood and I were in the Urbana Library, and Rod at the lab: luckily both have a basement.
When we get the tornado all-clear and it’s safe to try and get home, we drive in pelting rain, getting drenched just running to the car. Thunder rumbles and lightning really does illuminate the sky. The wind seems endless. Pretty scary stuff.
But, around 7pm the storm moves off and the sun comes out. Suddenly there is blue sky and sunshine in clean, clear air, the storm almost just a memory. Until we walk to the Illini Grove, just over the road. This won’t be a passing memory for the trees around here: some are totally uprooted, some have whole huge branches snapped off, some have the top ripped off, and smaller branches are scattered around like pick-up-sticks. In the next few days the city arborists are very busy cleaning up. Awful what a couple of hours of wild storm can do.
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