Weird and Wild Weather

Earthquakes in Virginia and Colorado, Hurricane Irene bearing down on the mainland US, two nights of fierce thunder and lightening storms here in southwest Michigan on Tuesday and Wednesday nights racing toward Canada with tornadoes in Wisconsin and Ontario -- Weird and Wild Weather indeed. These two photos were taken Wednesday night about five minutes apart and show the turmoil and strange orange light that followed the initial storm. For more skies, some definitely gentler, please visit Skywatch Friday.

Rolling across the lake

A photo from our June days on Lake Michigan, it shows a morning storm coming across the lake.  A much stronger set of storms rolled into southern Michigan last night after leaving Milwaukee and southern Wisconsin soaked with over seven inches of rain.  But the high winds (determined to be small tornadoes by the national weather service observers) stayed just north of the most southern counties on the Indiana border.  But today should bring more storms as it begins with a temperature of 77 and a humidity reading of 90.  The air assaults you as you open the door -- oh, to be back on the beach which is almost always cooler than inland!

What a contrast with last year:  "July 2009 goes into the record books as the coldest July ever in Grand Rapids, MI with an average temperature (an average of all the high and low temperatures for the month) of 67.1°.  It’s also the first July when the temperature in Grand Rapids failed to reach 85°."  From the Grand Rapids WOOD TV meteorologist, Bill Steffins.

For less stormy skies, your best bet might be Skywatch Friday.

Stormy weather

Yes, stormy weather with several waves over two hours of torrential rain, thunder and lightening, electricity interrupted briefly, all last evening, with a promise that a cooling off would follow.  Well it did cool off for about an hour.  But the humidity did not go away and the temperatures will again go over 90 today.   The sky is no longer stormy but the air still exudes a hot sticky oppressive feel.  Am I complaining?  YES!   Everything is growing quickly, except my will power to go out there and deal with the jungle of summer.  So join me in staying inside and enjoying a tour of the skies of the world on SkyWatch Friday.