It’s the rainy season here in Florida and that means it rains almost every single afternoon, like clockwork. Since moving to Florida six years ago, we have remained in awe of these monsters that seemingly come out of nowhere, build over the coast, rumble, roll, flash, and then give us a deluge.
When I was a reporter several years ago, I considered becoming a meteorologist. I’ve always been quite a weather nut and the power of Mother Nature fascinates me. But, alas, becoming a meteorologist required a great deal of knowledge and talent in the mathematical arts. Since I’ve always had a hate/hate relationship with math, I pursued writing instead.
On Monday, we all received weather warnings on our phones that a bad line of storms was approaching. Winds kicked up to about 40 knots. The (fraidy) cat, Rambo, went into hiding and we all stood outside, watching the front of the storm roll in. Coco the dog LOVES storms and she stood outside with us, enjoying the wind in her fur.
On Tuesday afternoon, our phones all beeped simultaneously again. It looked like Mother Nature had hit the repeat button as another squall, looking about the same as the first, started quickly racing across the horizon. The winds weren’t quite as high but we once again received tons of rain.
On Wednesday afternoon, I heard Rambo the cat making a loud screeching noise in Max’s bedroom. Thinking he’d gotten his collar stuck on something, I quickly went to investigate. As I approached the sound, he raced past me, crying loudly, and dove into his favorite hiding place. Rambo senses pressure changes long before the weather service can notify us so he usually provides the first sign that something ominous is approaching.
At that moment, not only did our phones beep but they also rang. You know it’s gonna be bad when the weather service calls with a recorded warning message! After I put my phone back down, I heard something odd, turned, and saw an orange bucket flying past the window.
We all raced outside, and looked up in amazement. The winds were so strong that, had Rambo stepped foot outside, he might have been blown as far as Kansas. The energy in the air was mesmerizing and we looked up and all around the horizon, anticipating a waterspout or tornado nearby. None came. Oddly enough, we received just a few large splats of rain from that one.
Can’t wait to see what this afternoon will bring!
Hugs to all!
Angela
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Angela Hoy lives on a mountain in North Georgia. She is the publisher of WritersWeekly.com, the President and CEO of BookLocker.com and AbuzzPress, and the author of 24 books.
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Those clouds look scary to me! Stay inside!
I totally relate to your weather experiences. My son wanted to be a meteorologist, but circumstances prevent his getting the degree. He worked with NOAA and their scientists, however and when we decided to leave CA we ended up in a tornado state. He has been a weather chaser for the local TV and a spotter for NOAA. Our house is rigged with alarms, connections to NOAA and things I don’t even know about. My cats ears perk up when the TV sends a signal, heads come up at the warning on the scanner. When the cities tornado sirens go off, they line up at the top of the stairs and wait for me. We troop down the stairs in single file. It was 4 cats – two went immediately to the back bedroom and waited for me to shut the door. the third (a loner) went to the bathroom, and the blind one follows my footsteps, waiting to be picked up and put in her cage. I don’t have to close the door, she simply lays down and we all wait. We now only have two cats (one died of cancer and one of old age, 21 yrs). The two remaining come to me when the TV warning goes off – the healthy one sandwiches the blind one between her and me and we go downstairs. My son? He’s out chasing.