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The sky turned orange
Then maroon.
The sun crept under the curtain of cloud,
Sneaking out and staring through the rain.
Rainbows end in the murk
Towards the other horizon.
Light spills, then disappears.
The thunder thrills through the air,
Bouncing from chimneys and roofs,
Clattering slates,
Boom-rumble-thudding,
Flash, crash, splitting the new dark.
The storm is here.
This argument has rumbled on all day.
Like a storm gathering.
Like lightning about to strike.
No peace, just discord.
The tension mounts.
Even the cats are on edge.
Not a fight,
A disagreeable disagreement.
Sound and fury,
Irritation, annoyance.
Despair.
Repair?
This was the cloud
that rattled the windows,
drowned out birdsong
made my hubby swear in surprise.
This is the cloud
I tried to film
Flashes and rumbles
Forked lightening
Heavy rain it brings.
This was the cloud
That the blackbird sang to,
dueting the flashes
overwhelmed by thunder
liquid notes flying up to heaven,
rain falling in response.
I watched several pieces on TV about the weather in Australia recently. I have a few friends over there and I want to know they are safe.
Looking at the map on thunderstorms I can see one in the North of Australia at the moment. With all the wildfires that have happened over the continent I know they have been praying for rain. And some of the fires were so hot and high that they triggered thunderstorms. Unfortunately the lightening from them set more fires alight.
Then a few days ago there was rain in the East, which turned out to be torrential, and caused flooding. Then yesterday there were reports of hailstorms where the hail was golf ball sized. No sooner did we see that than today there was a report of 180 mile long dust storm of red top soil, travelling across parts of the country on strong winds. We also saw pictures of dead fish, who’s gills had been clogged by the ash from the fires.
We in the Northern hemisphere should be watching this with trepidation. There were fires in the UK in recent years on moorland in the North of England. There were fires in Europe, there have been massive fires in California.
The view seems to be getting more biblical. The idea that climate change is fake news is increasingly unbelievable. Politicians must take responsibility, not stick their heads in the sand.
Time to think, time for change. Before its too late.
George was a good cat. If he climbed on windowsills he would carefully place his paws so he didn’t knock over the vases. If he climbed to the top of the bookcase, somehow he would not knock the books down. Even if paint was spilled on the floor he could avoid walking through it. Oh George was a clever cat. He could be seen in the window of the house. Not looking out, but looking into the room. A twinkle in his eye.
George had one bad habit. He chased the goldfish in the bowl. It would hide behind the plastic castle in the corner. Waiting for George, who could stare for hours, to get bored and go away.
One day it was cold and grey, the weather was stormy, and George decided to look out of the window and watch the trees waving in the wind. Suddenly a bolt of lightening struck one of the tallest trees. There was an almighty cracking noise, and a huge branch came down hitting the window and smashing it. George jumped out of the way just in time, his paws softly landing on the carpet. But then he saw the goldfish, it’s bowl had been knocked over. He sniffed it as it lay flapping on its side. But, instead of eating the fish he carefully gripped the tip of its tail in his mouth and ‘plop’, dropped it back into the half full bowl. Then he placed himself next to the bowl and watched the fish swim.
Sky keeps going dark grey, a sudden squall of rain then bright again, sunshine and showers. I’m watching the trees bend in the wind, the weather station anammometer twirling in the wind. In some places round here the power is out.
As I watch the blitzortung app on my phone I can see thunderstorms trundling across the country. Their trails changing from white, yellow, orange and red. White most recent, red in the past. You can track their movement. I’m not sure if they will get here or bypass us.
The weather is unseasonably autumnal. Festivals due to be happening thus weekend have been cancelled because of the strong winds. I’m sitting here in the dark. The radio is on. My hubby is making coffee and I’m waiting for the first flash.
Thunder unravels the sky
Lightning flashes coruscate over the ruins
The world spirals around you.
Forcing the trees to bend down to your power.
Thors hammer beats the ground.
Another flash, a bough falls.
Stones crash and crump
Thudding down onto the ground.
Your hands conduct a symphony of gestures.
One more flash, then you are gone.
If you search blitzortung on the internet you get taken to a site en.blitzortung.org
This is a real time lightning display around the world.
There are several maps, so you can hone down the areas you want to see, for instance to North or South America, or Asia. Then you can refine your search even more, down to particular countries or States.
The site shows you where lightening has struck over the last couple of hours, the colours of the strikes changes from white (within the last 20 minutes) to deep red for one’s that happened a couple of hours before. You can choose to see where the detectors are which are picking up the lightening signals, and also include sound, so you hear a click for every strike. Its almost as if the thunder is happening in sequence sometimes, as if one strike cascades to another strike over vast distances…
I like this site because its free, you can see if storms are coming your way. You can also see storm fronts developing and moving over countries. It’s just interesting!
My only quibble is that only capital cities or state capitals are marked on the maps. I’ve looked at another web page that does pretty much the same thing but the maps have more info. But when I realised they were getting their information from this site I just reverted back to blitzortung…
Blue knots of electricity,
Shoot across the sky,
Bang and bash the clouds,
Thousands of feet high.
Thunder bursts my ears,
Fights across the sky,
Light a fire in trees,
So that they will die.
Light and air explode,
Giving spark to life,
Never ending power,
Cutting like a knife.
Thunder now and rain.
Blue lightning shines so bright,
Water streaming down,
Electric, awesome, might.
The heat has been here for only two or three days and already the forecast is for thunderstorms and then a drop of about 10 degrees Celsius.
Back to normal for April. Cooler, hopefully not too cold…
Looking at http://blitzortung.org you can track the lightening, an hour ago it was heading in this direction. Now it has tracked slightly east. The weather over the Channel looks bad, with lots if storms in north France.
I want to write a poem about waiting for the storm….
Here I am, on Earth I stand, waiting for power to flow, from sky, to ground, down ribbons of charge zagged into flash and sound.
I watch the signs, the sighs of air, deep rumbled groans of noise. There are now ways to see the moves of clouds and wind that pound.
But though I wait in stifling heat, no moisture hits the ground, the sky stays dark, not lit, not sharp. The storm has turned around.
No excitation of the land, no rivulets of rain, no exultation of the skies, no lightening strikes abound …….
Well, I think that explains how I feel. I have sat and watched lightening on many occasions, it is one of the things I love. To sit safe while the maelstrom whirls around the house. But like the photo of the clear sky above, nothing seems to be happening tonight.
Oh well there is a small meteor shower due this weekend so I might see something…..
Mallaband-Brown