What is Up With the Weather?

I don't care what anyone says - the planet is changing. The weather, specifically is changing. I'm sitting here watching thick dark clouds roll in and we have a tornado watch, again. West of here, there is a warning. This seems to be the new normal, as we've had very few stormy days so far this spring that have not had the word "tornado" somehow attached to them. This is Pennsylvania, for goodness sake, not Tornado Alley.

I only remember one tornado watch throughout my entire childhood. Maybe there were more but nobody told me about them so I wouldn't freak out. My father has always been a weather buff, though, and the two of us used to actually sit and watch The Weather Channel for pleasure, so I doubt I really missed out on the tornado watches.

Throughout my adult years, I never took them terribly seriously until one day in March 2009. The storm hit and it just wasn't your "normal" storm. I can't tell you exactly what the difference was. Maybe it was a hunch or a notion more than a scientific observance. I just remember standing in front of the window and saying to my husband, "This isn't a regular storm." I grabbed the cat and we darted to the bottom of the stairs. Eventually we made our way to the apartment next-door and, in retrospect, that didn't make any sense. It wasn't any lower than our stairwell, and there were just more people for a twister to pick up and fling, but it seemed logical at the time.

About 5 minutes down the road, a trailer park was demolished. One of my co-workers at the time lost her home and had both of her ankles shattered. It hit too close to home that time and now I take those watches and warnings pretty seriously. Although, I will openly admit that when a tornado watch is issued, I do go searching for my camera. I'm the kind of person who would fly to the Midwest to take a storm chasing "vacation."

Wherever you are, in whatever kind of weather you're experiencing, be safe. I can't wrap my mind around the idea of mile- and two-mile-wide funnel clouds destroying entire towns and ripping loved ones from each other's arms. We have tornadoes here, but not tornadoes like that. God bless everyone who lives in that part of the country. They are far braver than I am. Pin It