Oh, storms
6/21/07

As you probably know well by now, I love storms.

Daytime storms, that is. I don’t like storms at night near as much, mainly because you can’t see what’s headed your way near as well. And you can forget photographing a night storm, unless you want to focus on the lightning.

Wednesday morning’s storm was a prime example of a bad night storm. In the first place, it had no qualms about waking you from a deep sleep at 2 in the morning.

Second, the wind was more than a little feisty. Everytime I stuck my head out the door to see what was up, I was blinded by lashes of wind-driven rain. Even under the usual safety of the carport, the rain was running in horizontal lines and in no time I was soaked. Plus I was slightly worried about projectiles. Funny how that fear ratchets up a notch when its too dark to really see.

What did fascinate me was the flashes of green light. I’m really at a loss here, and better men than me know what’s up during these times. Is a transformer blowing up? Are high line wires tangling up?

I saw about a dozen of these light up the sky one after another around the south part of town. They looked like lightning strikes, but with green light. Kind of like looking at explosions during Desert Storm with night-vision goggles.

I remember a similar storm hitting Fort Worth some years ago, with the same type of straight line winds and the same green flashes.

I was on the phone with Mom at the time, and maybe filled with a slight dose of dread. That can happen when you see the tops of good-sized trees touching the ground, the wail of the wind, and explosions of green light.

Come to think of it, I remember green flashes during the Wichita Falls tornado as it passed by some 50 yards from the ditch I was becoming one with at the time. It was the only true color except for a mass of swirling black, and a few bright specks that were flying cars.

Last night, those green flashes made my stomach tighten with memories of those earlier storms.

Though there was a substantial amount of damage done in town, it could always be worse. It’s a blessing no one was hurt.