Friday's Brain
Sunday, August 15, 2004
thoughts on hurricanes...
So, with the remnants of Hurricane Charley having passed through, I thought I would take a moment to record some of the lessons I've learned about weather and the forecasting thereof...
Today's Weather: Thanks largely to Charley, it's raining fairly heavily here. And last night I needed a blanket to stay warm. Interesting, for August in central North Carolina.
- Weather forecasting is an inexact science. A friend with a meteorology degree has reminded me of this fact on countless occasions. Still, it is apparent that I need to be reminded more frequently, as I seem to forget. If more than two forecasters concur that something significant will happen weather-wise, I still tend to believe them. That said, I'm more than pleased that we didn't get much in the way of wind. We had some serious rains - we probably got a couple of inches dumped on us yesterday. It was still a good day to stay inside.
- Murphy's Law probably applies. It's very easy for me to invoke numerous cliches when thinking of my experience in getting ready for severe weather. Whenever I don't listen to the forecast, whenever I think, "This will probably miss us altogether," we end up with gale-force winds or 20 inches of snow and ice. When I listen, and go out to buy a two-gallon container of distilled water, replacement batteries, and non-perishable food for me and the cat, I usually don't end up needing it. My mother always says, "Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it." I suppose that she's right. Silly me, I'd still rather have things and need them. Otherwise, I've spent some money that could have been contributed to the Buy My Textbooks fund. (=
- I must be some weird sort of weather thrill-seeker. In a weird, twisted way, I was looking forward to seeing what the storm would do. This used to happen at camp too. We'd be down at the Cove or out on the river, and it would start to look ominous, and I would get pretty excited at the possibility of watching a really nice thunderstorm. My campers noticed it, and some years it even seemed to rub off on them. Then, I mostly thought that if they saw someone who really enjoyed watching a storm, even when they didn't have the degree of shelter that they were used to at home, then they wouldn't be as likely to be scared. That's the thing with teenagers - they still get scared of thunderstorms, but they're not like Brownies, who let you know it. They try to pretend like they're not scared, and it can come out in all sorts of other emotional reactions. Anyway, when I heard about Charley's Category 4 status, and when it seemed almost certain that after traversing Florida it would come up the coastline and head straight for the center of North Carolina, I went into a mode not unlike my previous Thunderstorm Mode from camp. I was realizing this last night when, after the storm took a more easterly path, I was feeling a little let down. Grateful to have my power on, mind you, but still a little disappointed. Strange.
Today's Weather: Thanks largely to Charley, it's raining fairly heavily here. And last night I needed a blanket to stay warm. Interesting, for August in central North Carolina.
Comments:
I think it was actually the remenants of Alex that reminded me most of CK. In Richmond, we had mostly clear skies for much of the day and nice sailing winds. I remembered a great afternoon of sailing that "suddenly" turned into the rainy edge of a hurricane.
Charley brought only rain to Capital City. I keep meaning to at least stock up on batteries -- because your mom is right.
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Charley brought only rain to Capital City. I keep meaning to at least stock up on batteries -- because your mom is right.
