Storm News & Commentary

Last Tuesday night me, my 11 year old and two dogs were camped out in the most interior room of our house (which happened to be our laundry room) for a scary evening. Although we wandered around a bit to check the TV weather reports (when it was receiving a satellite signal) and looking outside at the sky, for the most part we were doing our best to stay calm and gather up needed supplies for the sudden Tornado Warning we were experiencing. I managed to find some candles, matches, peanut butter crackers, water, a few bottle of Gatorade and dog food…..Oh, and my id.

I discovered how unprepared I truly was for this Tornado Warning.

If you’ve seen the news lately, you probably heard of the terrible tornadoes that swept through Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi. The damage left thousands without power, devastation for many homeowners and several lives were lost.

I spoke with a mil-spouse friend of mine about how to prepare a “72 hour disaster kit” for each of us, plus the dogs. I really felt terrible I hadn’t already done this, so I’m determined to get this taken care of before the next scare. I’m not used to tornado warning sirens, they are not fun. I am used to Hurricane Warnings, where if you are evacuated you have at least a days notice and can drive to a four star hotel or the nearest military base TVQ/ Lodge.

I imagine I’m not alone in not having one of these 72 hour kits. So, I thought I share my endeavor to put one of these things together. I’m doing my research and have already discovered they have fold-able dog crates that I can keep in my trunk…..who knew?!

In the meantime I’ll be reporting on what exactly is supposed to be in these kits.

For my pets my friend suggested:

Shot records, fold-able crate(s), dog food, 2 bowls, leash, towel, tie down

and thats just for the pups….

I have a bunch of pictures from old events that I’ve been finding archived in directories on our network storage. Yeah, I know "Network Storage" sounds ridiculous. My husband is a big computer nerd (that’s the understatement of the year). Anyway, I’m going to be pushing them up to flickr or over to the gallery in the upcoming weeks.

Here are some old pictures of the Hurricane/Tropical Storm Agnes Flood (circa 1972): (opens in new window)

I need help labeling some of the pictures, as of right now they are all unlabeled. My Dad’s parents took the pictures from Hanover Township/Lee Park, which I have most of the info for. The Wilkes-Barre pictures that my Mom’s parents is what I need the most help with adding labels. I’m not familiar with where some of the pictures were taken. I’m looking for street names mostly. By the way, all of these pictures were physical pictures…I had to scan each one in by hand which was a huge pain in the ass.

So for you Local Yokels, any help you could provide would be greatly appreciated. For the rest of you, enjoy the pure destructiveness of mother nature.

Bad weather has been the cause of death, destruction and mayhem since the beginning of time. It is an ever changing constant in our lives. It is amazing and terrifying, mysterious and mystifying. The one true thing about weather we can surely count on is its unpredictability.

Below are 16 weather facts about weather that may surprise you…

Courtesy of flicker.com/advanced By Allspice1

  1. The speed of which lightning travels is around one hundred million feet per second or seventy million MPH.
  2. While lightning can go in any direction including side ways, the lightning we usually see looks like it comes down to strike the ground but, it actually travels from the ground up.
  3. When powerful lightning hits the ground it is hot enough to melt sand turning it to a glass-like substance. This substance is called fulgerite and is known as fossilized lightning.
  4. The heat of a lightning bolt is five times hotter than the surface of the sun. The sun’s surface is 6,000 degrees centigrade.
  5. Women are six time less likely to be struck by lightning than men. While no one knows for sure why this is, the reason could be that men are often taller and more likely to work outdoors.
  6. The Oak tree is struck more often by lightning than other trees. One Oak tree needs 300 to 500 gallons of water a day. That and the fact that lightning hits trees whose crowns hold more branches such as the Oak tree, seems to be the only explanation.
  7. A “bolt from the blue” phenomenon is when a lightening bolt jumps from its parent or anvil cloud sitting above a thunder storm. The bolt can travel up to 25 miles on a clear day carrying a positive energy charge ten times that of a regular thunder bolt. “Bolt from the blue” lightning is also called “positive lightening” because normally caused lightning usually carries a negative charge.
  8. Astraphobia is the fear of lightning and keraunopathology is the study of lightning.
  9. The hurricane, typhoon, and cyclone spin counterclockwise if they are north of the equator and spin the opposite way when south of the equator.
  10. The word hurricane is derived from the West Indian God of storms whose name was Hurricane.
  11. Dirty snow melts faster than clean snow. Dirty snow contains dirt particles that absorb heat from the sun causing it to melt faster.
  12. When it contains ice crystals, a heavy winter fog is called a Pogonip. The name Pogonip is the Shoshone word for cloud.
  13. Red maple, silver maple, and poplar trees show the backs of their leaves during low air pressure just before it rains.
  14. The channel of electrical current from a lightning bolt is much smaller than we think. It is only about as big around as a pencil.
  15. Lightning can, and has, struck people sitting on the toilet.
  16. Snow is actually colorless ice flakes. When light reflects off the icy crystals, the reflection makes it look white.

Bonus Fact:

If you are struck by lightning, the heat will dry the sweat on your feet so quickly that it can cause the air between your skin and socks to expand. This expansion happens rapidly and is strong enough to blow your shoes and socks off your feet.

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