Watching

We’ve been very fortunate around here lately. The line of strong storms that raced through southern New England today was all bark (thunder) and no bite (severe lightning, hail etc.) for our immediate area . It brought a brief swirling downpour, but not the steady soaking rain we had been hoping for. As is common to that sort of storm, we had sunny, sticky weather all morning, which contributed to its intensity when it arrived. As the warnings went up and the rain began to pelt down, I couldn’t help but wonder what our summer might be like.

An alarming number of states have had severe tornadoes very early this year. Sadly, it seems as if this will be a record breaking year for such storms. Here in Massachusetts we get a fair number of tornado watches and warnings throughout the summer. Back in June 1953, a terrible tornado formed which killed at least 90 people as it swept across Worcester county. Fortunately, we don’t have anywhere near the frequency and intensity of storms as they do in the so called Tornado Alley. But it is still an underlying worry of the summer season. That’s when local meteorologists, The Weather Channel on cable television and NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) weather radio and NOAA on-line, provide invaluable services.

I would never want to go back to the time before there was such sophisticated weather forecasts and warnings.