Strange Days

Storm rolling in with some very interesting colors.

Today was a very, very strange day indeed. Not just because it was the first day back to work after a very long weekend. Today started off just fine, in fact I rode my motorcycle in to work. I work in what could be referred to as a big ass factory, tucked well away from outside contact like windows and I also get to work early, well before most. Apparently at about 9AM there had been rain, winds and hail, at least in many local areas. It wasn't until later in the day though that the true course of the weather began top unfold and we got to experience the first real taste of tornadoes, at least the first that I've been exposed to.

Blue sky turned to pink and faded to an ominous yellowish green.

The initial warnings came mid day and seemed bizarre and remote. Later in the afternoon the weather radar lit up with some very interesting, typically reserved colors. The storms were forming in the western part of the state and they were coming east. I decided to leave a little early to beat the weather and already there was a brisk wind and very active cloud cover forming. When I got home I switched on the local weather and all of the local channels were going nuts. It was coming.

Shot with a flash from ground looking up at the sky.

Cathy and I watched for some time as the initial storm developed into a tornado that struck Springfield. At the same time it looked as though there was another, twin storm forming just north of the first. One that may track a little further north-east. The two storms eventually converged and laid a path of waste eastward for the next couple hours. Later, another storm developed over Springfield and then a third. Around that time a storm cell came into focus in southern NH on the MA border. That one looked like it might just be headed for us. Reluctantly, I broached the topic of readiness with Cathy and we pulled some stuff together and made a plan. Admitting the potential for danger or even disaster was the most surreal aspect of the whole night.

The light was extremely eerie and wrong.

Luckily, where we are in the state was spared. It looked questionable at a couple of different points but we simply got some spectacular lightening, rain and hail. All in all a pretty uneventful evening, at least as far as things worked themselves out. Regardless, not really something we were expecting or necessarily prepared for, though based on the statistics found in a quick search, it appears that tornadoes really aren't that rare an occurrence in the area. For that matter, they really aren't that rare anywhere in New England, even up north thought the intensity tends to remain on the low side for the most part. Fortunately we got lucky. This weather really is crazy. Strange days indeed, though maybe not quite as strange as we might imagine.

The sky oddly matched the color of our mudroom in ME, cantaloupe.