Monday, February 15, 2010

Where The %^$# Did That Come From?

Weirdness here in the Plains, yesterday. About 9am or so, we started getting some snow. A few hours later, the snow shower was over, and we had about two inches or less on the ground. And then, the wind really kicked up, blowing in gusts of 40 mph or more. The Interstate was closed due to white out conditions, and multi-car wrecks of up to thirty cars occurred on highways all over the state. Last I heard, over the last twenty-four hours, a least a half dozen people were killed or seriously injured in accidents, or mishaps immediately following accidents. One poor soul was struck by a vehicle while walking away from his own rollover accident. Total mayhem.

It's really a bizarre occurrence, an unexpected pocket of blizzard-like weather after a small amount of snow fall. But it is a grim reminder to respect the weather. Not that we need any more reminders, after hurricanes, tsunamis, tornadoes, etc., but sometimes, we don't take this kind of weather seriously. Most of us probably think that being really affected by a blizzard (beside running out of milk and bread and toilet paper) is soooo 19th century. But it's not.

1 comment:

AMVB said...

It's often striking to me how these relatively ordinary weather events can paralyze people - either because of their severity or people's inability to function during or after, or both. Our daily lives are more fragile than we tend to recognize.

On a lighter note, during the most recent snow storm, a neighbor remarked that with everyone buying up milk, bread, and eggs, they must be eating a lot of french toast! I piped up something about toilet paper, but it fell kind of flat. :)

Anon AMVB