Have I mentioned the weather around here is nuts?
OK, fine. But this is the first time I’ve mentioned it this week.
One day it’s summer, the next day it’s winter. Case in point: Thursday, it was 85º and we had the A/C on. Friday afternoon the thermometer was stuck on 43º and we had the heat running.
Some of you have left comments asking how we plan for such variable weather. The answer is simple: we don’t.
How can we, when there are such wild extremes? A lot of people pack up their winter clothes and swap ’em out for summer gear come March or April. That isn’t feasible here; we’ve got to have options for anything and everything. Shorts and a t-shirt on Thursday, a heavy coat and gloves on Friday. That’s just the way it goes.
Today was especially bizarre. It started out foggy, drizzly, and cool. By early afternoon we hadn’t seen so much as a hint of the sun. And then, we got the following alert.
They’d been talking about an enhanced risk of severe weather, the kind that can produce large hail and tornadoes, for a couple of days, but it just didn’t seem likely. Typically, the recipe for severe thunderstorms calls for a dash of sunshine and a heaping tablespoon of warm temperatures.
Well. You know how dramatically the weather can change from day to day here? That can also happen from hour to hour.
I’ll admit, that weather alert freaked me out. Tornadoes are scary. One minute you’re minding your own business, going about your merry way; the next, you’re dealing with flying monkeys and Munchkins. Then, there was the fact that Tara finally got all her raised beds finished yesterday, and everything planted. It would suck if Mother Nature ruined all her hard work in one fell swoop.
Luckily, no warning sirens went off. While the squall line that passed through brought copious lightning, 60-mph wind gusts, heavy rain, and hail, we didn’t have to hunker down in the basement. And the vegetable starts are fine. As for the hail, we’ve seen a lot worse.
So, I guess you could call it a warm-up for storm season. I’m sure we’ll see worse than this in the next couple of months. We ended up with well over an inch of rain today, much-needed moisture that should help put a dent in the persistent drought conditions we’ve been experiencing.
Mark My Words 
I’d take rain, with a side of hail. We’re also in serious drought conditions.
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All that rain was great for our drought! And everything is really going to green up now. But it does mean I’ll be hauling out the lawnmower one evening after work.
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One year we got a wicked hailstorm the first week of summer. It totally ripped through my hostas and wreaked havoc with other perennials, too. The hostas, though, looked like shredded paper for the rest of the summer (which was basically the whole summer). I was ticked! Feels like “garden insurance” should be a thing where you live. It should pay not only for new plants, but for someone to come out and replant for you!
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I actually think this is a brilliant idea. Talk about an untapped market…especially in areas where hail is common during gardening season.
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Maines weather is like that as well. You can get whiplash trying to figure out what to wear in the morning. But send that rain over here, we’re dry as the proverbial bone.
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Sounds like a lot of the country is experiencing a drought. Hope you guys get some rain soon!
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We experience the same sorts of dramatic weather changes here, too. I can be cool [no pun intended] about it except when snow messes with my pots of geraniums. Then I snarl loudly, cursing something I cannot control, obviously. Still, ’tis good to snarl.
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I’ve snarled a time or two myself! I always just take a deep breath and remind myself, I am at the complete mercy of the weather gods. There isn’t anything I can do about it other than snarl.
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Ugh. The tornado thing always freaks me out, but we only get warnings maybe twice a summer. I can relate to the temp changes. I’ve had heat on the same day as AC. It really can turn on a dime.
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I’m not used to tornado warnings. The only other time I experienced them was when I lived in Ohio. Actually, that was the closest I ever came to actually seeing a funnel cloud. No bueno!
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We have crazy weather in Florida, but never the ‘cold’ portion of your weather. Just the sunny, lovely, and then bam! Sideways rain and threats of tornados. No basements to hide in. 30 minutes later, sunny again. Mother Nature is occasionally bonkers.
I hope the new garden enjoyed the rain and wasn’t drowning in it.
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Plus, you’re probably overly familiar with hurricanes! Which just goes to show that there is no place in the U.S. without some threat of hazardous weather.
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That is seriously nuts. So glad the garden is still okay.
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Well. This time around, anyway! The radar is lighting up with another line of impressive storms as I type this comment.
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Yeesh.
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