Jimminy Cricket, it has been a weird couple of weeks here in the D.C. area.
Last week, on Friday June 22nd, I was smoking a couple of Fuente's and enjoying a single malt on my glass enclosed, backporch. A minute or two after 8pm, I noticed thousands of fire flies in my backyard, flitting about. It looked like some crazy CGI scene from a James Cameron Sci-Fi flick. We walked out into the yard to investigate, noting cooling temps and a nice breeze. The wind quickly picked up and in less than a minute, we had to dash back into the house to avoid falling hail and thunder.
Me and friend, Dumb and Dumber, watched the ensuing storm and windblown trees from the porch. Occasionally, one of us would suggest that it might be prudent to move into the house, but our macho ethics prevented either one of us from being the first to retreat. I did tell him that the winds looked a hell of a lot faster than the forecast 65 miles per hour. What neither of us realized is that we were at the epicenter of a micro-burst that was at that very moment twisting and splitting a five foot wide oak tree lengthwise, into three giant pieces, not fifty yard from the house. The single tree crashed into three different houses. It was also destroying 15 different apartment buildings, so severely that they were condemned, about a mile or two away. The winds ripped the roof off one of them. It was unbelievable that no one was severly hurt.
We lost power for several days and had to toss out the food from the fridge and freezer. I did move my humidor from the porch to an interior room and was able to keep the temps down low enough to avoid beetle hatches.
Here are some pics. http://www.google.com/search?q=microburst+bladensburg+images&hl=en&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=CPfyT9iJDISy2QWF3pDOCw&ved=0CEAQsAQ&biw=1163&bih=817
Wait! There's more!
The very next Friday night, another buddy and I were smoking a couple of Cubans to wind down from the week of cleanup. While watching "Standing in the Shadows of Motown, the Funk Brothers" (one of the music documentaries of all time), we noted some wind gusts and flickering lights. Sensitized to the weather from the previous weekend, I bought up a real time radar map on my iPhone and told my pal that it looked like it would blow over in few minutes. There was a very well defined, narrow band of storms, hundreds of miles long, moving in an easterly direction. I'm an instrument rated pilot and I never saw anything like it. The line looked like it was drawn down the map, in a single stroke, with a magic marker.
I told my pal that it was a good thing they weren't moving north or south because the line extended from PA all the way down the Chesapeake bay into Virginia. What I didn't know wast that I was looking at a derecho, which can spawn many micro-bursts, not to mention tornadoes.
While the storm did indeed blow over in a few minutes, this time many people were not so fortunate. Six in our area were killed and 20 across the country. Millions (literally) in the DC area lost power and some are going to endure sweltering heat for a full week before being delivered relief.
Meantime, our friends in the West are fearing for their homes and lives, possibly including BOTL Backslide. The bulk of the national wheat crop is threatened by drought. While I'm not a global warming alarmist, I do admit that I was made to wonder if we are being introduced to the predicted world of extreme weather produced by the green house effect. (This is not an invitation to debate natural vs man-made global warming or similar issues.)
I've been sufficiently alarmed that I've ordered the well regarded Practical Disaster Preparedness for the Family by Arthur Bradley, Ph.D. I reviewed the preparedness checklists and sent the author a note suggesting that he add decent cigars to the family emergency supply depot. I know they helped me weather the storms over the last couple of weeks.
Now, I've got to start replenishing my stock. Think I'm going to cash in my chit for my second Newbie Trade.
For those of you who so inclined, there are many here and in Colorado, that could use your prayers.
Pax
Last week, on Friday June 22nd, I was smoking a couple of Fuente's and enjoying a single malt on my glass enclosed, backporch. A minute or two after 8pm, I noticed thousands of fire flies in my backyard, flitting about. It looked like some crazy CGI scene from a James Cameron Sci-Fi flick. We walked out into the yard to investigate, noting cooling temps and a nice breeze. The wind quickly picked up and in less than a minute, we had to dash back into the house to avoid falling hail and thunder.
Me and friend, Dumb and Dumber, watched the ensuing storm and windblown trees from the porch. Occasionally, one of us would suggest that it might be prudent to move into the house, but our macho ethics prevented either one of us from being the first to retreat. I did tell him that the winds looked a hell of a lot faster than the forecast 65 miles per hour. What neither of us realized is that we were at the epicenter of a micro-burst that was at that very moment twisting and splitting a five foot wide oak tree lengthwise, into three giant pieces, not fifty yard from the house. The single tree crashed into three different houses. It was also destroying 15 different apartment buildings, so severely that they were condemned, about a mile or two away. The winds ripped the roof off one of them. It was unbelievable that no one was severly hurt.
We lost power for several days and had to toss out the food from the fridge and freezer. I did move my humidor from the porch to an interior room and was able to keep the temps down low enough to avoid beetle hatches.
Here are some pics. http://www.google.com/search?q=microburst+bladensburg+images&hl=en&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=CPfyT9iJDISy2QWF3pDOCw&ved=0CEAQsAQ&biw=1163&bih=817
Wait! There's more!
The very next Friday night, another buddy and I were smoking a couple of Cubans to wind down from the week of cleanup. While watching "Standing in the Shadows of Motown, the Funk Brothers" (one of the music documentaries of all time), we noted some wind gusts and flickering lights. Sensitized to the weather from the previous weekend, I bought up a real time radar map on my iPhone and told my pal that it looked like it would blow over in few minutes. There was a very well defined, narrow band of storms, hundreds of miles long, moving in an easterly direction. I'm an instrument rated pilot and I never saw anything like it. The line looked like it was drawn down the map, in a single stroke, with a magic marker.
I told my pal that it was a good thing they weren't moving north or south because the line extended from PA all the way down the Chesapeake bay into Virginia. What I didn't know wast that I was looking at a derecho, which can spawn many micro-bursts, not to mention tornadoes.
While the storm did indeed blow over in a few minutes, this time many people were not so fortunate. Six in our area were killed and 20 across the country. Millions (literally) in the DC area lost power and some are going to endure sweltering heat for a full week before being delivered relief.
Meantime, our friends in the West are fearing for their homes and lives, possibly including BOTL Backslide. The bulk of the national wheat crop is threatened by drought. While I'm not a global warming alarmist, I do admit that I was made to wonder if we are being introduced to the predicted world of extreme weather produced by the green house effect. (This is not an invitation to debate natural vs man-made global warming or similar issues.)
I've been sufficiently alarmed that I've ordered the well regarded Practical Disaster Preparedness for the Family by Arthur Bradley, Ph.D. I reviewed the preparedness checklists and sent the author a note suggesting that he add decent cigars to the family emergency supply depot. I know they helped me weather the storms over the last couple of weeks.
Now, I've got to start replenishing my stock. Think I'm going to cash in my chit for my second Newbie Trade.
For those of you who so inclined, there are many here and in Colorado, that could use your prayers.
Pax
