Thunder and Rain

 

Linking to Skywatch Friday 

On Friday afternoon the heatwave that has been ruling here for the past week started to break up, as thunder and rain showers began rolling in from the south-west. The showers have been brief but violent. The night indoors was still hot and clammy, as one could not leave any windows or balcony door open. Nor can one do so today, even if just going out for a short while. 

I did venture out for about 20 minutes around noon today, just for a "breather". I only walked 10 minutes in one direction and then turned around. The three photos above show my view of the sky on the way back. I managed to get back home dry, but shortly after, a sudden gust of wind blew shut the balcony door with a big bang (I had opened it wide when I got back in) and the heavens opened again. (The folding umbrella I had brought with me on my walk probably wouldn't have helped much.) 

This weekend of thunder is likely to be followed by a whole week of cooler weather (even under 20C) and also quite a lot of rain. Whether one considers this a blessing or a curse probably varies a lot from one person to another! Personally, I welcome the drop in temperature, and I know that nature is thirsting for rain... No guarantee how long it will be before I'll start complaining about it being too wet, though! ;)

Skywatch Friday

 

Sunday

Tuesday

It's been a week of weather warnings here, but until today, just where I live, nothing much has come of the warnings to do with thunder, rain and flooding. This Friday afternoon we did get our share of it though: with lightning, several clashes of thunder so close and loud that they made me jump, and "the heavens opened" to suddenly let all the water down at once. For a while, the footpaths that I see from my windows seemed to turn into little brooks... The rain fell pretty much straight down, though;  and a few hours later, the earth seems to have managed to absorb most of it around here (as far as I can see from home).  

From the local newspaper's website I gather that it was worse in other places, though! (The photo below is a screenshot from the local newspaper's website; photographer anonymous.)

(not my own photo)

Linking to Skywatch Friday

Thunder (Skywatch Friday)

 

Wednesday Evening - Waiting for Thunder...

 
"I see the world being slowly transformed into a wilderness; 
I hear the approaching thunder that, one day, will destroy us too. 
I feel the suffering of millions. And yet, when I look up at the sky, 
I somehow feel that everything will change for the better, 
that this cruelty too shall end,
that peace and tranquility will return once more." 
~ Anne Frank ~

 Thursday afternoon

Linking to Skywatch Friday 

  

 

Dramatic Skies

 

Monday ~ 8 pm

Monday ~ 9 pm

Wednesday ~ 9:30 pm - after the thunderstorm

Some dramatic skies from this week, captured from my balcony. 

The worst of the weather drama took place in the early afternoon on Wednesday, though - but was not caught by my camera... Thunder, lightning and torrential rain swept in over this area in Sweden and went on for hours. I saw several flashes of lightning from my windows as well, heard the thunder rolling, and watched the rain coming down in buckets... I wasn't going out anyway as I had the laundry room booked for the afternoon. I was a bit worried we might have a power outage, though, so avoided using the lift (elevator) while it was going on. But neither that nor anything else really dramatic happened in my immediate neighbourhood. We must have been temporarily disconnected from the cable internet for a while, though - but I did not realise that until later, when I had to restart my wifi and TV to get those working again. (My phone had mobile data switched on as backup, so there I did not have any problem.)

The local newspaper reported the next day that the thunderstorm was actually at its worst in this area, though. Some people had their cellars flooded, trees fell over roads, and lightning struck a couple of houses, and also dug a deep hole in someone's lawn -  etc. Quite a few trains and buses were also cancelled in advance, as problems were expected.

 Linking to Skywatch Friday

More Spring Beauty - and Thunderstorms!

 On Saturday (25 May) I went for a walk into the city centre, and through the park there - which is another* place that offers a magnificent display of rhododendron.
*(Cf my post Rhododenron Time, 24 May.)

Approaching the park - view from across the street

I also passed by a horse chestnut tree with pink flowers rather than white (which is more common here):

Along the river, a flowerbed mostly in purple and white.

On Sunday (26 May) I managed a turn around the old cemetery close to home before the weather turned to thunder and rain in the afternoon. The azaleas had started to drop petals already, and will no doubt have lost even more now after a number of torrential rain showers, yesterday + today.

After a night of thunder, this morning started out sunny again, and I optimistically thought I'd manage a walk to the supermarket and back for a few minor errands before the rain clouds gathered again... No such luck though. I made it to the supermarket but when I got back out, I was met by a clash of thunder from a very dark grey sky... And about half way home, the rain set in. I had brought a foldable umbrella though, so did not get totally drenched this time (but still had to change clothes when I got home, of course).

In the afternoon we had more thundershowers, and some very strong gusts of wind as well. I had put all my geraniums on the bench next to the wall in the middle of my balcony, but one of the four pots was swept off from there to the floor. So I moved that one and one more indoors. In a pause between showers, I also went out to "secure" my growing tomato plants a bit better to the trellis...

From the weather forecasts it seems we have to count on several more clashes of thunder + torrential rain showers during the rest of this week. (A type of weather I normally associate more with the month of July than with May...)

Sleeping Through the Thunderstorm

 

Last night after I went to bed (late, I think after 11 pm) I could hear a thunderstorm going on. I did not get up to look, and the blackout curtains were drawn in my bedroom, so I don't know if there was also lightning to be seen. (The images above are courtesy of Bing Image Creator...)

Not sure when I fell asleep, but I know I woke up and went to the bathroom around 2:30 am. Usually (and especially in summer) I wake up several times during the night - but this morning when I woke and looked at the alarm clock beside my bed (no alarm was set) I was astonished to see that I had slept through until as late as 10:30 am! And I could not recall having been up again after 2:30. If not, that must be the first time in "ages" that I slept a solid eight hours in a row like that (plus probably a couple of hours before 2:30 as well).

July has continued to be rainy and with much cooler temperatures than June. I haven't been out on any great adventures; but the rain has come mostly in showers, so I've usually managed to get out for at least a short walk every day. Apart from a bit of thunder, the whole past weekend was also blissfully quiet. My noisy neighbour must have gone on holiday and taken her screeching bird with her... (I asked Big for illustrations, but I fear I might get sued for defamation if I made those public.) 

Yesterday afternoon, I also fell asleep for a while in my chair, watching TV. I suppose I'm just making up for sleep deprivation earlier during the summer... 

Bing: "Woman enjoying a quiet weekend at home, Carl Larsson style" (The only acceptable image out of eight, and even here the AI is still having problems with details like hands and feet and whatnot... She also looks more tired than enjoying herself; but I can accept that, as it happened to rather fit my own mood...)

 

The Powers of Nature

The  mini air cooler I got 1½ week ago turned out amazingly effective: One week after my purchase, the climate changed completely - and not just indoors...!   ;-)

In short, the past week the weather has been totally unreliable, changing from one minute to the next: from sunny with a few light clouds suddenly turning into fast flashes of lightning and massive loud 'kabooms', followed by gusts of wind and torrential rain, temporarily flooding the streets.

We have not really seen the sort of drama here that's been caused by more serious flooding in many places further south in Europe though, so I'll not dwell too long on it. Myself, I haven't needed to go anywhere special this week, and have managed to stay safe indoors during the thunderstorms, and even to sneak out for a short walk in between showers now and then. Close call sometimes, but I've stayed pretty much dry-shod so far. 

The internet has been a bit wobbly on and off but that's about the worst of my personal complaints.

If the wi-fi agrees today, I thought I might share some more photos from my recent walk by the river close to the lake (last Wednesday). In town, boats on our river are a rare sight, because there are two waterfalls/dams (and several low footbridges in between) which make boating difficult there. But closer to the lake, people use boats, canoes and paddle boards a lot more frequently (as they can then also take them out on the lake).

So please note that these are not photos of flooding, but just people having a good time... (For my own part, I've always preferred just watching from land, though!)