On a classic episode of The Golden Girls (but really, which episodes are not classics on that show), preparations were underway for a hurricane a’comin’. They noted that it’s a given for a major storm to be designated as “a’comin’,” and in fact is the only time you hear the phrase.
I saw a nasty frontal system approaching one evening this past week while on my commute home. Sometimes the major activity naturally draws your attention, and though we have been getting our share of them this year, this one stood out. The clouds in this approaching menace were gigantic, low-slung and ominous, and we had already experienced a deluge of a downpour earlier in the day, punctuated by sheets of heavy rain. Our office building even had a power fluctuation which rattled our nerves. By the time I had left, I was walking on amazingly dry streets and sidewalks. The heat had cooked the entirety of the rainwater away.
Flash flooding from the coming storm was a near certainty with such a powerful meteorological battlefront on the march. All of the weather experts were pinging cellphones like a symphony all afternoon. I had hoped to stop for fuel and to pick up something from the pharmacy, but decided to head straight home.
The area became preternaturally dark shortly after I got inside and locked the doors. Fortunately the downpour was not too intense, and a few other spots received the brunt of the activity. Some college freshmen who had just moved into their dorms found floodwaters creeping into their spaces, and a town’s vehicles in low areas ended up under a few feet of water. We were unscathed.
The accuracy of weather predictions these days is amazing, but it can’t account for the movements nature randomly sends our way. This is why it’s better to not take a risk when unpredictable weather comes and to stay put when its arrival is imminent. Or seek higher ground as appropriate.
As to why I brought up this subject, shortly after this storm passed I saw video of the mudslides and flash flooding in Nepal which has claimed structures and lives (at last count, about 670, with thousands of locals and visitors missing). There was no time in this instance to plan ahead, as glacial calving (immense melted ice pieces separating from the main structure) are to blame, happened in an instant and with no warning. Climate change may play a role, as it can with many of our abnormal weather patterns.
When I was heading home, I was driving seemingly toward what I should have been trying to escape. The horizon was boiling with clouds seeming to emerge from midnight itself (at six in the evening), with sunlight nowhere in sight. A force of nature not to be messed with.
Winter is approaching, and with a predicted super El Nino this year, we will need to be vigilant when weather forecasts appear. It doesn’t appear to be getting any easier, and extreme weather will become part of our lives more and more. As we stand in its path, all we can do is prepare for what’s a’comin’ and hope for the best.
Next weekend is a holiday with three days off. I hope to have a great story to tell that’s not about the weather.
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