Storm warnings

The radio keeps cutting in with emergency broadcasts from the Weather Service. There are a lot of thunderstorm and flood warnings. Looks like the worse of the storms will be to the south of me. Good thing, as I've just had a new windshield installed in the van and hail could really mess that up.

I never used to pay too much attention to them, but storms appear more powerful in recent years. We are also getting actual real tornadoes. Growing up I was told we didn't get tornadoes in New England. I guess we did, but they were few and weak. Maine just had 5 tornadoes in a single day. Some of them did major damage to property. Fortunately nobody got hurt.

When I became a sailor I became a lot more aware of the weather. Wind direction, strength, and potential storms are critical to life on a sailboat. Wind direction alone can make sailing dangerous. For example, a north wind blowing against the Gulf Stream generates some nasty waves. Wind can blow the water out of Florida Bay, influencing water level more than the local tides.

Just south of me is Mt. Washington, home to the worse weather in the world. It can be shorts and T-shirt weather at the trailhead, but near winter conditions above tree line. People have died because they were not prepared for the harsh conditions.

I keep foul weather gear in my vehicles year round. You never know when the weather can turn nasty.

-Sixbears