And Now, the Weather...

We’re fine.

It has been quite a week for weather here in Our Little Town. We’ve had tornado warnings in four of the last six days with all of the severe thunderstorms that go with them, and the temperatures dropped like they saw a state trooper – it was 84F (29C) at one point this week and nearly that high yesterday before falling to 37F (3C) overnight – which likely didn’t help.

We get these storms here and we're used to them, but this kind of frequency isn’t normal. It’s a good thing the climate isn’t changing, because otherwise I’d be worried.

What?

Oh.

Sigh.

The fun storm for me was Wednesday, when Kim and I decided that none of the options on our weekly menu planner appealed to us so we decided to order a pizza from one of the local places here in town. I went out to pick it up and was on my way back home when my phone let out that godawful squawk that severe weather alerts come with these days and I knew what that meant but at that point I might was well just keep going until I get home. I turned onto the main road near my house, looked west toward the horizon, and thought, “Well, THAT can’t be good.” I made it home and by that point things seemed to have calmed down so we set up the pizza in the dining room, and then the sky turned black again and Kim went over to the door to check what was going on. The clouds were moving in different directions, which is never a good sign, so into the basement we went.

We’re getting to know the basement well this week. Fortunately we’d set up a Gamer Lair during lockdown so there is a couch down there to sit on, and it is well stocked with food and beverages.

It wasn’t bad pizza after all that, but I have to admit I have been completely spoiled by pizzas in Italy and by the ones we make ourselves to replicate them and I try not to be That Guy but there you have it.

Last night, however, was the kicker.

You knew it was going to be bad from the weather forecasts and the fact that schools across southern Wisconsin were closing early and canceling afterschool activities. People in this state understand tornado weather. They don’t mess with it. They will stand outside and watch for an unconscionably long time as things get closer, but that’s a separate issue. I’ve been here thirty years now and I’ve pretty much got my Midwest Dad “stretch and observe” techniques down pat. Kim was supposed to have dinner with the Science Squad but they had the foresight to reschedule.

The first tornado sirens went off a little after five.

This, by the way, was while my neighbor was mowing his lawn. He finished mowing the lawn. Welcome to the midwest.

If you’ve never had that experience, a tornado siren is – and is supposed to be – an unsettling noise. It sounds like every air raid siren you’ve ever heard from an old war movie, a deep and urgent wail that cannot be interpreted as good news even if you’ve never heard it before. When the sirens go off, that means something has been spotted and it’s not just theoretical anymore. We’d been under a tornado watch since early afternoon – that meant that conditions were right for tornadoes to develop. You keep an eye on things and go about your day. The sirens mean you’ve got a tornado warning – that means there actually is a tornado and it’s time to respond to that fact.

Most of the next couple hours were spent in the basement. At some point I grabbed the cat and brought her downstairs as well, much to her dismay.

There were at least two confirmed tornadoes nearby that I know of – one south of town, one east. There was an intense amount of hail – quarter-sized (2cm) around us, bigger elsewhere, and I did seriously worry about our windows but they seem to have held up well. And it rained. Oh, my, did it rain.

Roads flooded. Bridges washed out. A train derailed in town because the tracks got washed out. At least one school is closed indefinitely and the Luthern church over by the county fairgrounds is still underwater, as was much of downtown last night. City officials are comparing the flooding to 2008 – when I took Oliver and Lauren downtown and we watched people try to grab fish in the parking lots with their bare hands – and the river hasn’t even crested yet.

We got off pretty lightly, all things considered, one of the joys of living in the higher elevations of Our Little Town. A bit of water in the basement. Kim’s jade plants on the front porch were damaged and the tulips in the front yard got hammered. No loss of power.

I’m ready for the weather to be boring again, though.