In the past few weeks Seattle has expereinced a number of thunderstorms. Which for those of you that do not live in the Seattle area may not understand how odd this is. I’ve been here for almost five years and we’ve had more thunderstorms in the past few weeks than in the past five years combined. The past two days alone we’ve had a high volume of rain and storm activity. Relatively mild in comparison to other parts of the country, but odd for the Puget Sound area. Also, rain here is usually a drizzle… not accumilating tons of inches in a day. So that is how it rains all the time in the fall, winter and spring, but other parts of the country actually have much higher rain accumilation.
Now, the thunderstorms here are not the ones I know and love. Growing up in the Mid-West, spending my college days in Charleston, SC, and Summers in Mountain Rest, SC I know what a good thunderstorm is all about. The ones where you can smell the change in the air. The feeling that the air is super charged with electricity and you get goosebumps or the hair on your arms start to stand up. The loud clapping of thunder that shakes you to the bone and resinate in your chest. Those are the thunderstorms I love.
As a child I have fond memories of sitting on our front porch swing… Either by myself or with a family member. Watching from the safety of cover as the heavens open up and dump buckets of water onto the earth. The streets would start to fill with heaps of water as the drains try to keep up. There would be the day or two where the rain would stick around, but the best thing would be when an afternoon storm rolled in and out in a matter of minutes to an hour. The heat would boil the clouds and mother nature would give us a show.
Did I mention that I love thunderstorms? Thor the god of thunder, weilding his hammer… :O) My friend Jeremy and once poster to the Rider Chronicles captured a night strorm over the city a few weeks ago. With his permission I wanted to share this amazing pic. Here you go!
Picture by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren
