| Black clouds begin rolling in on what had been a beautiful, sunny day. Suddenly a streak of light flashes across the darkened sky. One blinding flash follows another. Mother Nature is about to give us a beautiful show! |
| Lightning frightens a lot of people. Yes, it can be very dangerous but you have a bigger chance of getting hurt in a car accident or getting hurt at home than you do getting struck by lightning. Next time you have a thunder storm take a look at the beauty of it & try to remember that lightning does serve a purpose! |
| Lightning makes changes in the atmosphere that is essential to us. The heat generated unites nitrogen and oxygen to form nitrate compounds which then falls to the earth with the rain. This is nature's way of replenishing nutrients needed by the soil. Lightning momentarily parts the clouds on it's decent and the air slamming back together (clouds) is what causes thunder. |
| There are many safety precautions you can take during a storm. Stay indoors if possible, if not try to find a low area such as a ditch but avoid areas with surface water. Never get under a lone tree. When indoors avoid windows or doorways, stay away from electrical appliances. Never use the phone unless it is a emergency! Don't take a bath or shower til the storm is over. Check with your local weather station for more precautions you can take. |
| I love the thunder & lightning and usually do the opposite of what I should! I love to go outside & try to take pictures of the lightning if it's not raining to hard. This is quite a feat as you have to snap the picture just as the lightning is striking. You almost have to predict when & where the lightning will flash. Lightning seems to give me energy and my adrenaline gets flowing. All that power that Mother Nature beholds! If you think about it the weather is a awesome thing, it is always changing and is very unpredicatable. Sometimes we have a tendancy to plan out everything in our day but the weather is not something we can always count on. It gives life a bit of spontianaity. You have to be prepared for anything. Why get upset if you don't like the weather? You can't change it so you may as well enjoy it! |
| If you still don't think you could enjoy the various types of weather try some of the following: Check out some books at your local library on the weather, you'll be amazed at all the information that you didn't know. It will give you some reasons to be glad for every type of weather. Check with your local weather stations & see if they will be holding a class in your area. Often these classes are free & sometimes you can even sign up to be a weather spotter so you can help others to know what is coming thier way & what to expect. If you have a CB or scanner try & locate a channel where weather spotters chat. It's really fun during a storm to be able to hear exactly what is going on in different areas of your county. By listening to this you also often get a more accurate idea of what is heading your way. There is tons of internet sites on the weather. Try searching it out & see what you come up with. Rent or borrow videos from the library, or keep a eye on the PBS stations as they often have excellent shows on nature (Nova). |
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