Sunday night we were awakened by tornado sirens. They started at 12:15 and continued for 30 minutes. No tornado was ever sighted of which I am aware, but there apparently was rotation in the cloud that indicated the possibility. We received about 1/2 inch of rain accompanied by 1/2 inch in diameter hail which knocked lots of tiny new leaves off of the trees. It seemed to be soft hail so it didn't do much damage to the roof or to vehicles.
It is that time of year. It seems to be starting off early and perhaps a little more violently than the average though.
Growing up on the southern edge of the Texas Panhandle, violent weather is nothing new. What is different here in northeast Texas from the way it was there is the visibility. Here we have trees that block your view. On the High Plains you could see the storms coming for miles.
Being awakened in the middle of the night threw me off all day yesterday. I had been scheduled to catch an early flight out of Love Field, but the trip was canceled just a short time before I was to leave -- not by the airline, but by one of the participants who was key. He came down with an illness and was unable to attend so, we decided to reschedule. Having my sleep cycle interrupted by the storm had my head nodding all day long. It's probably a good thing the appointment was cancelled since I might have struggled to remain awake.
I miss being able to watch thunderstorms. As a youngster I wanted to be a meteorologist. I think "storm chaser" would have been more accurate. There is something about a thunderstorm that draws me. I've been caught in a few. I've also had a few close brushes with a tornado. Twice I have been in hailstorms that were bad enough I crawled into the floorboard and hunkered under the dash because of the pounding of baseball and larger sized hail.
I don't know what it is about the storms that draws me. I suppose it is just the awesome violence of nature.
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