Technology and the weather

After what seemed like an overabundance of TV weather coverage last night, I asked Bill, "How did we manage through all these years without the 'up-to-the-minute' weather bulletins telling us to expect a rip-roaring lightning storm in the next five minutes?"

Seems people might have been calling in to KREM-2 News last night complaining because Tom Sherry and the crew were usurping their Oprah rerun and replacing it with minute-by-minute updates of thunder and lightning storms moving southwest from the Priest Lake area.

The people who were calling apparently had blue sky, sunshine and hot temps as they sat watching "Oprah" only to have the weather staff break in and take over the programming. There must have been a little thunder and lightning in some of those complaint calls cuz they promised to rerun the "Oprah" rerun at 7 p.m.

Yup, the weather and the gods have apparently been a little crazy the past couple of days. That storm we had Tuesday night came on like gangbusters, and we didn't have a lot of advance TV notice either. They let us watch our programs, and when I started my usual dozing off, I headed for bed.

Awakened from a deep sleep at about 11:30, I was stunned at the battering we were taking from above, from the north, the south, the west and the east. It was reminiscent of those scary storms we encountered on some of our childhood trips to the Midwest, mainly cuz when it left, it just kept coming back.

We didn't turn on the TV to see what we should do now that the unannounced storm was wreaking havoc outside and inside as rain shot through open windows and doors kept slamming all over the house. The electricity went off a couple of times, which elicited a morning comment from Bill that this "is one of those fix all the digital stuff in the house mornings."

Our damage from the wild storm was insignificant compared to the supreme happiness for all the rain that fell. No watering necessary yesterday morning----just a few downed sunflowers and dill stems. I was pretty happy.

My sisters were in for a surprise as they walked toward their barn to do the early morning chores. Two substantial treetops had dropped during the night, so they had a dragging project ahead with the tractor.

That was the worst story I heard from around here until just a few minutes ago when I read on Facebook that Robyn and Alan McNall of Grouse Creek went out on their ATV after the storm to check damage. They found four mother cows from their Shorthorn herd that had perished under a tree during the storm. Now, they've got baby calves to round up and nurture.

Those summer storms are definitely intermittent. Technology in pinpointing their routes, however, is pretty amazing, compared to the old days when we'd look at the sky and comment that it looked like a storm might be coming.

And, when Mother Nature does pick her pathway for wild weather, one person's discomfort at missing an "Oprah" rerun suddenly seems pretty insignificant compared to folks like the McNalls who endured a major loss in their cattle herd.

So, I guess we take those weather bulletins rather lightly when the storm is in someone else's backyard. It serves as a reminder that those of us who pooh pooh the efforts made by these weather experts could very well be on the receiving end when the next series of storms blow through---and maybe with advance notice we can do something to avoid the calamities a storm can bring on.

Plus, we can see those "Oprah" shows at least twice, and I'm not so sure that regurgitated advice on all the wacky and weird supersedes life and death situations.