Stormy Weather

Yesterday was interesting, to say the least - Chicago weather showing all her might (awesome pics here). I woke up in the morning at first alarm to what looked through the venetian blinds to be an average sunny day; by the third snooze I could have sworn it was 7pm it was so dark and yellow-hued out. I decided to drive in. The ride was a slalom of flooded streets, tree limbs, and drivers who forgot the art of driving due to the sheeting, almost horizontal rain. When it was all said and done, the air was still sickly humid and incredibly hot - a sign of more to come.

Fast forward to 7:30pm, again Mother Nature seemed to know that I was about to hit the road because the sky went from brilliant blue to steel gray in about a half hour. It looked like rain again, but nothing to write home about as we set out to Northbrook for my hockey game. By the time we hit the 90/94 split things had taken a turn for the worst and the weather band radio in the car got turned on. Tornado warning in Northwestern Cook, tornado warning in Central Cook, tornado warning in Southeastern Cook - where exactly were the tornadoes NOT headed? Thankfully, for the time being, not towards us. As we prepared to pull off on Willow road, the skies looked like they were preparing to do something - I don't think I can even describe what they looked like to do justice to it, but anyone who has ever had to run to the basement in the middle of July or August knows exactly the kind of pea soup color, low hanging cloud wall, and absolute opacity and inability of the remaining twilight to pass through - one could clearly see the end of the front from the contrast between calm navy-blue twilight, and bruise-colored purple, black, and yellow mayhem to the west. We got to the rink just as people were getting pulled off the ice - sirens blaring - and being told to take cover. Nothing came of it all other than us starting our own game a half hour late, but the storm definitely gave us a few moments of worry.

Back at home, thinking it was all over with, we got hit by another wave at 11:30pm - somehow I think this one was the worst of all, but maybe that was because I actually got to watch it. The homes across the street were completely blocked from view by the walls of rain, and the tree our front was blown nearly horizontal by gale-force winds. The lightening and thunder were pretty much non-stop until this final cell blew over about 20 minutes later. After that, the night returned to calm until we were jolted awake by the realization that the power had gone out and it was already 7:40am. Another hectic drive in, and here I am - tomorrow it'll be back to normal, back to taking transit, and enjoyment of the cooler weather - hard earned.