Thursday, July 23, 2015
Anniversary
Today is the anniversary of the Big Wind, a gustnado or microburst that ripped up this neighborhood.
Looking back at the night before it, I notice this cranky item complaining that the Weather Bureau didn't see the nice rain approaching. Clearly my mood was responding to the severity of the approaching delta.
Here's the radar that I posted to accompany the crankiness:
Yes, there's rain in the picture, but there's also at least three FUCKING MICROBURSTS in the picture, WHICH I DIDN'T FUCKING NOTICE. Sorry, Weather Bureau. I was cranking at the mote but missing the LITERAL LOGS that were about to fall.
Next day, a few hours before the blast, I felt the need for solace and prayer, so I posted this item, showing the colors of the Russian America flag. Invoking the only moderately sane place on Earth.
And then it happened. I'll reprint part of the description, which was written a few days later after power and web were restored:
Yes, there's rain in the picture, but there's also at least three FUCKING MICROBURSTS in the picture, WHICH I DIDN'T FUCKING NOTICE. Sorry, Weather Bureau. I was cranking at the mote but missing the LITERAL LOGS that were about to fall.
Next day, a few hours before the blast, I felt the need for solace and prayer, so I posted this item, showing the colors of the Russian America flag. Invoking the only moderately sane place on Earth.
And then it happened. I'll reprint part of the description, which was written a few days later after power and web were restored:
DAMN. That was BAD. The Weather Bureau has more trouble forecasting in continental-influenced years like this one. And they missed this purely continental storm. They were warning for strong thunderstorms, so I was ready for that. Unplugged the computer, closed the doors and windows, cooked supper early to avoid possible power outage. But they didn't warn for 75 MPH wind. It came without any natural warning. I heard a few THUMPS before I heard wind. Those THUMPS were, of course, trees dropping. The wind came all at once, step-function style. It roared, punctuated by more THUMPS. I opened the front door to see what in the holy fuck was happening, because it didn't sound like wind. Stood there transfixed, which was not smart; I should have taken cover. Watched the nearest stand of trees thrashing and bending as they always do in a big wind. The wind kept getting stronger, and then it was full of hail and rain, which made its force unstoppable. One of the trees bent 90 degrees and fell as I watched. THUMP. Just like I'd imagined it would. And then it was over. Maybe 5 minutes. My house is okay. The only damage is a piece of metal siding popped loose. Back in 2011, after another continental year, I had the trees removed from my yard. They would have squashed me this time if they'd still been around. In that same year I had the fence braced, and it remains stubbornly vertical. Also thanks to the neighbor on the west, who removed several trees in that same year. One of those trees would have been directly aimed at my house if it had still been around. The people who didn't go for Zero Problems in previous years have Big Problems this year.Those Big Problems, roughly 10 squashed houses and garages, took several months to repair. Now the neighborhood looks about the same as before, except for several trees that remain broken and unremoved.
Labels: Heimatkunde, Zero Problems
¶ 3:52 AM
