July 24, 2012

Stormy with a chance of flying trees

My sister and I went for a drive this afternoon and things got a little dramatic. A dark black cloud settled over the area and a torrential rain began to fall. It was difficult to see anything through the windshield but we were on a highway so we had to keep going. We put the blinkers on and drove slowly, and the cars behind us followed our lead. But we were the first car and had no idea what lay ahead.

Suddenly the winds picked up and branches were flying around and soon covered the road. A moment later, we began to encounter downed trees. We were able to drive around the first few but we finally encountered The Big One. Traffic stopped dead and I was sure we'd be stuck there for hours. But then Local Magic Guys in Police Uniforms appeared, and they brought heavy equipment with them. They pulled that tree off the road in no time. I couldn't believe how quickly they accomplished this feat. In under an hour, we were on our way again.

By then, the sun had come out and it was all over. What was particularly strange was that on the way home we drove through patches where no rain had fallen and not one leaf was disturbed. And a few miles later, we saw areas that were soaked, with trees down everywhere. This kept happening -- wet, dry, wet, dry. It seems the storm was highly localized.

Let's face it: weather is a crap-shoot, especially these days. The guy on the teevee said another derecho plowed through the Midwest today -- and I hear it was 105 degrees in Annie-land! Whew. When my sister and I got home, there was no power but everything's back to normal now. Strange drive, strange weather. How are things in your area?

2 comments:

writenow said...

A wry sense of humor is always the best way to beat the heat. That water walk sounds so inviting. Enjoy.

cm said...

Wow, that sounds like a wild ordeal. I'm glad you guys made it out unscathed. Those pop up storms can be treacherous. I remember driving blindly in one of them to get to an area with no trees so me and the family wouldn't be squashed. I had to guess when I was in a clearing. Cars are the wrong place to be in those storms.