Thunderstorms...

[arwalden]

[Book Lover]

1. You just don't get many

here in the SF Bay Area ... a friend of mine was in DC last weekend when you all had T-storms, and he said how lovely, in that way, they were (he's from Georgia, so he knows from violent weather...)

[lapfog_1]

5. One of the few things I miss

I live here in the Bay Area too, and I miss the view of distant
thunderstorms sweeping down the plains of Kansas (my childhood
home). Makes you feel very insignificant.

[Book Lover]

11. Although we *do* have sweeping

views of the Pacific Ocean to make up for it - think of it as pre-thunderstorm water...

[terrya]

2. Hate 'em. I'm still kind of scared about them. A remnant of my childhood.

[Book Lover]

3. You know, people with the

DaVinci avatar are a cut above, don't you think?

[terrya]

4. So I've heard.

:-)

[arwalden]

6. Oh Puhleeze... Get A ROOM You Two!

-- Allen

[terrya]

7. You know what they say about matching avatars...

[Book Lover]

18. Ok, I'll play the straight guy

What do they say about matching avatars?

[arwalden]

20. (I wasn't going to do it.)

[Book Lover]

22. I wouldn't put you

in that position, Allen :-)

[terrya]

21. They get along SO well on threads about thunderstorms....

Lame, I know...

:-)

[Book Lover]

23. Ah, well

at least it's accurate!

[Book Lover]

8. Didn't mean to hijack the thread, dear (nm)

[arwalden]

9. LOL!! This Lame Old Thread?? Your Messages Make It BETTER Actually!

It needs all the help it can get.

-- Allen

[arwalden]

10. There's A Doozy Of A Thunderstorm Brewing In The DC Area...

lots of rumbling in the distance... an occasional flash across the sky.

-- Allen

[Book Lover]

13. Radar view

http://www.weather.com/outlook/driving/map/USDC0001?from=LAPmaps

[arwalden]

16. Yep... there I am. Here it comes!!!

HEAD FOR THE HILLS!

-- Allen

[arwalden]

25. TORNADO Warnings/Watch For The County Next To Mine

Auntie Em, Auntie Em! It's a twister!

[Deja Q]

12. They're romantic...

Of course, with the social life and love life of a skunk on bourbon, I'll relegate thunderstorms as a lost love, best captured on film... (I wouldn't be the first, but I've got some good gear... eh, good photography gear. The "special" gear is pretty decent too, but it will remain unused, it seems.)

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

14. Awe inspiring pic Allen

I love thunderstorms..in fact, there's nothing I love more than driving the desert between California and Arizona during monsoon season around the middle of summer.

[arwalden]

17. What's Really Cool Is The "Quiet" Lightning. It streaks across the sky...

jumping from cloud to cloud... not making a sound. Weird.

-- Allen

[youngred]

27. called heat lightning

used to happen at least once a week in august back home.

very beautiful

[arwalden]

19. I'm HOPING That The Photo I Found Was A TIMED Exposure

rather than just ONE massive strike that hit every building in town at the same time.

-- Allen

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

24. Lol...I thought that same thing when I looked at it

[texas1928]

40. Probably not,

I have seen 7 or 8 strikes at one time. I was a storm spotter and I have witnessed some great storms.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

15. "Wild nights are my glory!"

--A Wrinkle In Time, by Madeline L'Engle

(The only story I know that actually begins with "It was a dark and stomy night."...)

[Pithlet]

30. One of my all time favorite books as a kid.

I should have told my husband to pick it up; he just left for the bookstore, dammit.

[youngred]

26. Thunderstorms and Snowstorms are amazingly fantastic

*scuse me while I run outside to play in the rain*

[Pithlet]

28. What a great picture. I love thunderstorms.

Except when they get too severe. We had one so bad last year that they called it Hurricane Elvis (I live in Memphis). Winds almost to 120 MPH. Much damage all over the city, no power for a week (more some places) and a few deaths :( So, I watch the weather more carefully. Edited to add that kind of storm is extremely rare, so as not to scare anyone to death.

But the common summer storm is wonderful and relaxing.

[SarahB]

29. Love 'em

[Lizz612]

31. Oh yeah!

The way they rumble and quake! The way the sky looks right before. Ever seen the sky actually pale mossy green, just looming? And the way they just take the humidity right out of the air. Oh oh and the smell! Thank Arwalden, I needed a smile.

[LDS Jock]

32. love Love LOVE them

I love thunderstorms, thunder, lightening. Love all kinds of severe weather.

[Wcross]

33. I have been hit by lightning- still love the storm!

I was knocked on my butt by a bolt that hit a tree next to me. I was burned on my toes and buttocks, For a while I was wary of storms, now I love the low rumble of an approaching storm.

[arwalden]

35. WoW!!! That's amazing... and frightening.

I think I'd be a little nervous about storms too.

WHAT WERE YOU DOING NEXT TO A TREE IN A THUNDERSTORM??? Ya nut!

-- Allen

[Wcross]

46. Boy scout camp....

I was in the middle of a forrest sitting at a picnic table eating lunch. All I remember is a big flash and smoke- then looking out a tent that was 15 feet away. I was sitting on a bolt that held the seat to the steel frame of the table. It was a perfect loop from my foot to the bolt on the seat. It didn't hurt at all- it just felt like I was lifted up and thrown into the tent. It freaked the other guys out- four or five of them were crying from the shock. (We were all 12 and 13 years old at the time)

[ulysses]

34. love 'em, as long as the sky doesn't fricking turn green.

You can take the boy out of Oklahoma...

[arwalden]

36. What Causes That??? For The Longest Time I Thought I Was Imagining It...

It honestly does look like it's turning green!! Someone once told me that it was "chlorophyll-inversion phenomenon"... it sounded technobabble bullshit... but one never knows.

-- Allen

[ulysses]

45. oh, you weren't imagining it.

I suspect that it has to do with the debris in the atmosphere (green sky says "tornado" to me), but I'm not sure.

[DemoTex]

37. Love 'em and hate 'em.

Love them in a safe warm place with my ham radio equipment disconnected. Hate them when flying a B-737 or MD-80.

[arwalden]

39. Voltage Spikes... GRRRR!

Every TV, stereo, VCR, PC and monitor in our house in on a battery-backup surge protector. Only the microwave is on a mere inline surge protector (no battery backup).

-- Allen

[DemoTex]

41. I'm in the #2 county for lightning strikes in the US. Transylvania in NC.

The #1 lightning-strike county is Hillsborough County in Florida (Tampa). My airline had two ramp workers killed at TPA from lightning strikes.

I carry insurance on all my ham gear and computers. I pay the extra $6/month for equipment protection from DirectTV. I do worry about my well pump. A neighbor (higher elevation on the mountain) told me he had lost 12 pumps in 10 years to lightning strikes.

[arwalden]

42. Interesting... Is it an underground pump, or above ground?

And were his pumps being struck through the power lines or by the surge traveling through the ground (groundwater)?

That's something that I would have never thought of.

-- Allen

[DemoTex]

44. I'm not sure about his. Probably in a well house.

My well pump is in the basement and it is well-grounded and surge-protected. Anyone who would continue to buy well pumps without making some attempt to rectify the situation is, well, stupid. That fits this guy well. He is a stupid, right-wing, religious nut. I'm sure he prays for his well pumps survival during thunderstorms.

Also, I didn't name our mountain place Dalat for nothing. That beautiful mountain resort in the Chaine Annamatique of central Vietnam hosted (in the summer) the "Dalat Weather Monster," a huge, daily tropical thunderstorm with tops nearing 60,000 feet. That was why Dalat was so cool and pleasant.

[ScreamingMeemie]

38. Confessional time. I am frightened to death of them. I got caught in

a thunderstorm that turned into a tornado as a grade schooler and now I am hypersensitive when I hear that first crack. Got caught in a flimsy tent once while camping too.

[doc03]

43. Love 'em

Was out in my boat fishing this afternoon in one. I get a little nervous when the thunder vibrates the boat.

[toddzilla]

47. I miss the thunderstorms in florida

i used to go to the beach just to watch/listen to them.