A Weather Geek's Dream...

As those who are close to me know, I inherited a keen interest in weather from my father. Up until he died, Dad loved to listen to local weather, to keep track of the ever-changing weather in Vermont. When I was a kid, I gave him shit for it. Now, he's passed it on in some evil form of revenge from the after-life. For those of you who live down South, I really hope that Hurricane Katrina doesn't turn out to be as bad as they say. Needless to say, when one of these storms comes a knockin', I love tracking it and seeing its life-cycle. During one of my regular checks of weather.com, I discovered that they now have a blog! Let us have a moment of reverence, please LOL. Yes, I know I'm a freak... Seriously, my thoughts and prayers are with those in Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida. The closest I've come to a hurricane was twice: the first when I was a kid and a hurricane (I believe it was David in 1979) came through NY and then another one came through and actually reached Vermont when I was a freshman in college. We stood on our balcony and felt the wind and rain whip across campus. Of course, by the time it hit the mountains, it was nothing compared to what it had been when it made landfall originally--still, for Vermont, it was a big deal. Other than my dad's interest, I'd have to say that my border-line obsession with the weather began when I lived in Ohio. I discovered rather quickly that there are storms of an entirely differently breed. Weather changed suddenly in Vermont sometimes, but at least I didn't have to worry about twisters falling out of the sky at less than a moment's notice. Thunder was biblical in volume out there in the flatlands, wall-shaking and cause ya to hide under the bed loud. It took me years back on the East coast to get over my "thunderstormaphobiia". But, the weather monitoring has stuck and now, I actually have friends who will consult me for the updates. Maybe that's a clue that I need to get out a little more. And when I do get around to going out, at least I'll know whether or not I'll need an umbrella!