The Sky Went Black

Extreme Storm 1
Originally uploaded by *Bundy*

Earlier this week I had the fortune of having another birthday. Number 45 to be exact. It happened during the week so there wasn't any celebration not that I really need any pomp and circumstance.

But as we usually do in the summer, several of my aunts and I gathered at my parents trailer located at Presqu'ile Provincial Park along the shores of Lake Ontario.

So as it turns out, there was a bit of a celebration planned in my honour. Nothing too over the top. Just a few gifts and some cake. It was actually quite nice and certainly appreciated.

Up until the completion of supper it had been a very windy and warm day. We spent the entire afternoon sitting in lawn chairs chatting and enjoying the company and the great view of the water. Sailboats and cabin cruisers passed by in the distance. It was ideal after having dealt with stifling heat and humidity for the entire week.

We knew there had been storms elsewhere in the province and the threat of severe weather had been predicted to make its way into our area early in the evening but we were of course hoping it would miss us. It didn't.

No sooner had we finished our supper, the sky turned black. The clouds were rolling in from the Northwest and It looked rather menacing. Although my parents have a trailer, we were all in the dining tent where there was more room.

We stepped outside to watch as the clouds moved over us an eventually over the lake. The wind changed direction and the gusts started to toss stuff around and whip up the dirt on the roads. This was about to get ugly.

Back into the tent we went to gather up the dishes to take into the trailer to be washed but before we could make the move the storm hit.

High winds, heavy rain and almost non-stop lightning hammered us for well over an hour. As the tent started to fill up with water I decided during one lull in the rain to get everyone out and into the trailer where it would be a bit safer.

The move went well and we could watch the lightning coming down all around us. At one point I had to make a dash out to the tent. The rain was coming down so hard the room couldn't handle it and it was fill up up instead of running off. The weight of the rain could destroy the tent so I got soaked once again after running out to dump the water as the lightning continued to crackle in the air around me. I usually enjoy lightning but this was too close for comfort.

Eventually the rain let up enough that my aunts could leave. There was no way we were going to have campfire tonight so we cancelled it until Sunday.

It was a crazy weather event but luckily nobody was hurt and I don't think anyone in the park suffered any damage from falling limbs, trees or lightning. It was a memorable birthday to say the least.

Above you can see one photo I took of the leading edge of the storm as it moved overhead and out to the lake.

Stormy Day in Ontario

Yesterday we had some nasty weather roll across the Province of Ontario which produced some devastating storms in some communities. The rest of us were lucky enough to only deal with the numerous warnings and some intense active weather.

While four confirmed tornadoes hit some areas and caused one death and millions in damage, we dodged a bullet. There were tornado warnings and watches for our area which had us on edge a little as the evening progressed.

In the end, we were dealt some nasty thunderstorms with non-stop lightning, strong winds and heavy rain but the trailer I was in with my parents remained firmly planted on the ground.

Prior to the worst of the storm arriving I managed to take some photos of the impressive cumulus clouds on the leading edge reaching high into the sky. Quite often clouds like these are a good warning sign that trouble is on the way...and as it turns out, they were right again.

Copyright © All rights reserved.


Copyright © All rights reserved.