I CHALLENGE YOU TO WRITE ABOUT…

Storms

Having lived in a wide variety of climates, storms intrigue me. The way an environment reacts to changing air pressures and clouds banging against each other is awe inspiring. The difference a few miles can make between locations can change everything about the kind of storms the area has.

For example, in Phoenix, storms in the summer start with the wind growing in strength. Then, the dust walls start. As the storm continues to grow, lightning will fill the sky. Then, the rain will fall — in buckets. A summer storm in Phoenix doesn’t last as long as one in other parts of the world, but the damage can be extreme. The dust walls mean that there will be crashes on the roads. The fast falling rain means there will be flooding. The light shows are amazing. But in all our years there, I seldom saw summer storms last more than a few hours. (We would get days of rain, but the storms blew themselves out fairly fast.)

Here in Los Angeles, storms are very different. There is very little lightning. I think I have heard thunder in a total of three or four storms over all the years we have lived here. The clouds gather, the pressure changes, the rain may or may not come down. The pressure changes back to normal for a bit, the skies start to clear, then — it starts over.

In the Midwest, storms in the summer take time to come to life. You usually know one is coming, but you also know that you have time to get inside before the storm starts to gain strength. But once the storm gains strength: Get inside! Torrents of rain will fall. Tornado watches start up — then turn to warnings and start to land. The rain will keep going for hours. The thunder and lightning will be intense. But when it is done, the air is clear and clean smelling.

What brings this prompt to my mind this week? The fact that we had storms flying in and out on Saturday. That rarest of California coastline storms: The ones with thunder.

I grew up loving storms. But as I have aged, as my knees have gotten worse, I no longer love them. The pressure changes turn me from happy Kathy to hurting and horrid Kathy. If I am lucky, pain meds work. This weekend they did, but not as long as I would like. That meant extra meds and extra naps.

But luckily, the storms left on Sunday. I know we needed more rain than we got. (We are back in drought conditions again.) But I am glad they didn’t last longer. Or this challenge might never have gotten done!

The prompt for Tuesday, February 25th, 2020 is “Storms”. Love them or hate them, storms happen. Not just weather related storms either: Some storms have nothing to do with the weather — they are just circumstances you have to ride out. Tell us about storms in any way you want!

Please be sure to give your piece the tag “Storms”. The other four tags can be anything you wish. If you are looking for our submission guidelines, you can find them here: