Everyone seems to be stumped about what in tarnation is going on with our weather. I’m one of those people.
We’ve always had thunderstorms. I can remember as a little tyke sitting on my grandmother’s glider that faced down valley as storms approached, watching the lightning strikes and listening for thunder to follow.
What’s puzzling is how violent they are these days. It seems, when conditions are ripe, you can expect a tornado touching down somewhere and in the most unlikely places.
Many tornadoes happen in the mid-west, including Texas and Oklahoma. As a matter of fact, along with Texas and Oklahoma, there is an area in the U.S. called Tornado Alley that includes Kansas, North and South Dakota, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, Minnesota and eastern Colorado.
All of those states are flat and I can understand how easy a tornado can form and travel long distances.
What I don’t get is, we have mountains that I thought would stop tornadoes from occurring here.
I only took a semester or two of meteorology in college and I’m sure someone reading this will dispute my theory about mountains, but too many tornadoes have touched down in NEPA and Greater Pittston lately.
One I can think of was when a tornado touched down at Lake Carey on June 2, 1998. When I drove by the lake on Route 29, I could clearly see the path the tornado took, cutting a line right to the lake. That was crazy to see.
What was crazier than that was the tornado that hit the Wyoming Valley Mall area last year. I was called at 6 a.m. by the Times Leader to get up to the site and shoot what I could.
I was shocked when I got there. Police security wasn’t quite clamped down so I had a bit of freedom to wander around.
It literally looked like a bomb went off — not that I’ve been witness to bombs going off — but I can imagine what destruction from a bomb must look like.
Cars were tossed like toys, buildings were shredded apart, signs were tipped over, roofs were caved in and debris was everywhere.
I saw car parts, sign parts, roofing and fiberglass insulation — and glass all over the place.
It was complete devastation that I never witnessed before in my life. I was awestruck.
Later that afternoon, I went back to the site when Gov. Wolf paid a visit to witness the damage himself. This time we walked closer to the damaged storefronts and, again, what a sight to see.
Not only was the visual of the buildings dangerous looking, we had to be very careful as to where we walked. That wasn’t easy for me since I was trying to stay ahead of the governor by walking backwards and shooting photos at the same time.
It’s nearly a year since the mall tornado struck and it’s a completely different landscape now. Many of those devastated buildings are gone; some businesses took months to repair damage to reopen months later and some businesses, like Ashley Furniture and Kurlancheek Home Furnishings, relocated.
An entire row of stores where Panera Bread and Tovon & Co. once stood, was eventually leveled.
Everyone was amazed when, right in the path of destruction, a flower tent that had been erected in the parking lot in front of Ashley Furniture was completely intact.
Local TV news stations break in to programming as station meteorologists track the path of possible tornado activity. People not in direct path of a possible tornado complain about having programming interrupted but, if you’re in a possible targeted area, it’s no laughing matter.
We’re lucky that technology has come so far that we can see weather happening right before our eyes or that scientists can predict weather before it happens.
Doppler radar is one of the biggest science advances in the last 25 years.
I can recall a time when the only people who had access to Doppler radar were government and TV stations that could afford it.
Being a semi-weather geek, I was ecstatic when weather information was offered online.
Now, Doppler radar is on every cellphone, making it accessible to everyone. It’s such a great tool and it makes all of amateur weather specialists.
I bet anyone reading this has looked at a weather app on his or her phone several times this past week. I have.
I can’t tell you how many times I’m out in the field shooting a photo job where bad weather is imminent. If a storm is approaching, I will check my favorite weather app to see how long I have before I have to hightail it out of the venue.
And, if bad weather is approaching, I know how to dress, what to take weather gear-wise, or even to go to the site at all.
Thankfully, we can depend on technology for many things from science to medical to aid us in our daily living.
It seems we are getting used to afternoon showers. That’s one area I wish science could do something about.
Quote of the week
“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” – Maya Angelou, American poet
Thought of the week
“Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about. Be kind. Always.” – Brad Meltzer, American novelist
Bumper sticker
“Every failure is a step to success.” – William Whewell, English scientist
