Reading the sky for storms

When I was a kid my family or friends were around when I missed a 4th of July celebration or when I exited the garden before a major storm. Many people I grew up with thought I was a very lucky vegetable Gardener and fruit grower but it’s really not luck. At times people would see me do something and because of my lucky past would do the same. This is one of the signs in the sky I saw when planting corn that was not luck that told me to get moving. If your going to garden or farm if its orchard or vegetables you should know how to spot storms. This is a good sized storm headed our way today. Today the sky is dark so it obvious but its not always like that. Note the clouds in the western sky going vertical instead of horizontal that is a pocket of rain. At a 4th of July celebration I once left on a bright sunny day for the same reason though the weather man said there would be clear sky’s all day. In those days there were no cellphones to alert anyone. Look at the very back of the sky and you can see it. The cloud looks like straight clouds going to the ground. In my world that meant get home and inside before it gets here.

Here is a zoomed in view of the storm. It’s now thundering as it is much closer.

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This is now and the booming thunder is now obvious. High winds and lightening are normal with these types of storms.

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i agree. time to head for cover! sad most people now a days dont see it for what it obviously is!

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Yeah I agree @steveb4

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@steveb4

Many in the city have never even actually seen the sky like that.

Nothing like seeing a thunderstorm in the Plains coming in at you. Nothing to slow them down, and they can be furious looking. I grew up in Oklahoma and lived in north Texas so I know about spring storms. I used to chase them as a hobby, but never saw a tornado.

Living in the hills, I’ve got pretty good at reading the skies and the surrounding environment especially during summer storms. We live an in heavily forested area, with our farm carved out of a hillside of hardwoods. So, the treeline starts about 100ft behind our house and goes up to the peak of a hill that’s about 300ft above the house.

Anyways there’s been many times during the summer when I’ve been outside and when the clouds start getting dark, I listen for the wind and then rain coming thru the trees from the west. When I hear that, I know I’ve got about a minute to get up to the house before it opens up on me. Thankfully we don’t really have issues with tornadoes in the hills.

While we live in a modern world, the weather still has a way to make you feel pretty insignificant and puny. It makes you respect those who came before us who endured such hardships.

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Kind of interesting to follow a storm from the backside of it as well. I followed Clark’s storm in the above photo home today. I had been up in Nebraska delivering trees. My wife called and said to keep an eye on the storm, but I knew then it was already ahead of me and I was just following along in its path. Just about had caught up to it when I pulled in the driveway.

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@TurkeyCreekTrees

Yes you have a unique situation to observe the weather in that way. Being a very close neighbor you know the storms the same as i do. This area where we live is unique in many ways. The soil and other things are similar for you as they are for me. The area we live in NE Kansas is beautiful to me. Nebraska is big sky country as well so the area you were from made it as easy move to this area we live as they are similar in many ways. In New York City unfortunately they have never seen the sky in this way.

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These are not common clouds in Kansas. I believe they are called mammatus. They mean storms are coming. These were recent photos i took. @TurkeyCreekTrees you might have saw this one coming in on us since you live very close by now. Not a huge amount of water but back to back storms Storm season and Fruit trees





When in doubt look at your feet and the rollie pollies will move before the storm comes. They like moist places generally. 8 Facts About the Fascinating Roly-Poly .These moved long before the last storms got here.



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I dont think were in Kansas anymore!

I didnt see those clouds, but they are cool looking.

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@TurkeyCreekTrees

Did you see these today rolling in?


Love that info about the rollypollies! Split my time between nor cal and Hutch and relish a good plains storm. Simply magical. Almost as wondrous as fireflies. First time seeing them DH said he thought they were disney fantasy, couldnt be a real thing lol. Weather is so completely different and truly do appreciate these insights.

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Lots of folks in your area without power after some big storms, over 170k without power in Kansas. Did you make it thru okay?

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@Itchybee

A tornado or thunderstorm is beautiful but like looking at a car wreck before it comes sometimes. My mother and i stood on my porch once watching a huge tornado that turned towards us several times. It was throwing several 30 and 40 foot trees around over and over inside in the motion. It did huge damage everywhere it hit. Like the fireflys some things are so beautiful they dont seem real as you said.

@subdood_ky_z6b

Everything was fine today. Last time internet, power etc. Was out part of the time. Noticed a few large trees knocked down today.

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I remember a time, up until around 2014-15 in my area, that reading the sky for storms was as easy as observing the beautiful dark clouds roll in from the distance, and then after a brief thunderous storm, roll back out as quickly as they came; the blue sky reopening and warm, life-giving sun beaming down.

Since then, however, reading the sky means observing the prevalence of stratospheric aerosol injections released by -some- planes that criss cross the sky. Depending on prevalence, the releases spread out to form thin whispy “cloud” gradually dulling the blue sky, and dimming the suns warmth, or merge together to form unending sheets of formless blank white / light gray, dimming the suns light to such an extent that the day feels shortened, and bringing with it, depending on time of year, massive unseasonable 1-3 day temperature fluctuation that result in negative impact on local flora and fauna, unending high humidity, continuous rain, and and overall unpleasantness brought about by the unnatural formation of blank sheet “cloud” covering the sky.

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@YumYumTrees

More airplanes everywhere and they are the biggest gas guzzlers. Most flights they say are not even needed. Maybe someday your sky will be back to normal. The last several times i travelled by air the hassle was not worth the vacation.

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More storms today which is unusual for July.




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The same aerosol injections happen at ground level in winter time when people walk around breathing. the colder it is, the more you can see it.

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Most of the time I get caught making a bee line to the barn with equipment so I dont take time to look at the clouds. I do recall when I was a kid it seemed like you would see those towering thunderheads building to the west and slowly marching your way. Plenty of time to take action. Now a days the storms seem to pop up out of nowhere or they just have a different look to them. We got 2.0 - 2.5" rain over the last couple of days depending on whether you were at our house or at the tree farm. No damage from wind this time around.

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@TurkeyCreekTrees

We needed the rain and the last 2 weeks gave us some moisture. The cost was high in wind damage as you know since your place is very close by. We did not get 2" but it was close.

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