Hello all-
I know I’m posting twice in one week.
Last night, we had a round of severe weather. Today is another unseasonably warm day here in the Flint Hills. This warm weather often leads to unstable weather and severe storms.
Tornadoes are a part of life. I’ve spent many hours sheltered in various places to wait out the storm. Last night, I was fortunate and only had to watch the radar.
A cluster of thunderstorms moved across Kansas, dropping rain. The unstable air mass was conducive to spawning severe weather.
I knew something was brewing because the air became still and heavy. It’s Kansas and when there is NO WIND or any air moving of any kind, that means something is going to happen weatherwise. Last evening was no exception.
My warm, gentle east breeze stopped. Lex, our couch potato dog, started to get anxious. He was whining, grumbling, wanting outside only to go back in again immediately. In preparation for the severe weather, I closed most of my windows, turned on the local weather, and made sure the animals inside and out, had their water bowls and tanks FULL. (If we lose electricity, we lose our water pump.)
A large thunderstorm developed to the west and north of me, growing into a bank of ominous clouds. This swirling mass of energy dumped some wind-tossed rain over my farm. The unstable energy held together enough to give me winds, pea-sized hail, and rain all while the sun tried to shine through from the west.
The storms moved off to the north and east of me. Throughout the evening, the storms damaged trees and buildings, dumped rain, and flung hail. Thankfully, no one was severely injured.
We had a smattering of hail on the ground. There was no tornado in my area, so I captured a few moments of the storm on video. For the rest of the evening, I kept the local TV station on, and one eye on the map and crawl on the corner of the screen.
I know I will spend many more evenings like this in the coming spring and summer. Having lived all of my life here in Kansas, it’s all I know. I’m thankful this series of storms was not as nasty as it could have been.
until next time.
You should share some pics and your video!! 🙂