SEVERE WEATHER

by Gail Ingis | Mar 3, 2016 | Events, History, News

Snowy squall in New York City

Weather fascination supersedes fashion, food, and festivals. While in sunny Florida, severe weather covered the northeast. What is severe weather?

According to Wikipedia Severe weather refers to any dangerous meteorological phenomena with the potential to cause damage, serious social disruption, or loss of human life. As we know, the types of severe weather phenomena vary, depending on the latitude, altitude, topography, and atmospheric conditions. High winds, hail, excessive precipitation, and wildfires are forms and effects of severe weather, as are thunderstorms, down-bursts, lightning, tornadoes, waterspouts, tropical cyclones, and extratropical cyclones. Regional and seasonal severe weather phenomena include blizzards, snowstorms, ice storms, and duststorms.

Each phenomenon is a history lesson. It is interesting to note that forty-mile an hour winds caused the collapse of the Tacoma Narrow Bridge roadway in 1940. With bridge building lessons learned, it was rebuilt in 1950.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacoma_Narrows_Bridge_%281940%29

For the tri-state area, below zero temperatures in January/February shocked everyone. And then at the end of February, hurricane force winds, sixty-five mph, knocked down trees, power lines and blew shingles off roofs like they were sheets of paper strewn in the wind.

Sunset . . .  from the 19th floor of our condo in peaceful contrast. Sun streams at the entry. Florida is the place to be in January and February, even with chilly temps, rain and wind, it’s delightful. The sun sometimes lurks behind the clouds. Did you know that you could still burn when the sun is hiding?

What’s next on the weather channel? Will you tune in?

Dancing in Florida . . .