Florida Lightning Nathan Gates Flickr creative commons

I was talking the other day with my sister and the subject of thunder storms came up. We have them up here in Ohio but not like the kind we had in Florida. Not by a long shot. From mid June or so until around the end of September, sometimes later, we had nearly every day in the afternoon local thunderstorms generated by by the sea breeze from the gulf and Atlantic.

I mean these suckers could be very intense. With frequent lightning and very heavy rain and some winds approaching tropical storm strength, at times. Getting off of work it could be a challenge to make it to my car at times without getting struck. Dodging the lightning bolts and down pours.  It was not unusual for roads and parking lots to become flooded and at least once it rained so hard and long that the water backed up at the University and caused some damage to one of the class room buildings. Causing it to be lifted out of the ground about six inches.

Most people think of Florida with Hurricanes and tropical storms but just our local storms can cause havoc at times. With them lowering the viability to just a few feet, if that.  Then just like that they would be gone.

It was not uncommon for houses and apartment to be struck by lightning and the one I lived in was hit a number of times, causing the whole building to shake. It could sound like artillery fire, it was so loud.

I oft times think the people up here in Ohio don’t know what a “Real thunderstorm” is like.