Wicked Weather Watching

There isn't a Canadian alive who hasn't been disappointed by a meteorologist's forecast, particularly a long range forecast. The term 'long range forecast' has a number of synonyms or equivalents, the most notable being 'semi-blind guess'. That's being generous, if you ask me.

The only weather forecast worth a grain of salt is the one that you give yourself when you look out the window. The forecast is good for about five minutes, beyond which it's pretty much a crap shoot.

Last summer I was paddle-boarding on the mighty Washademoak Lake. I could see storm clouds a' brewin' so I decided to get off the water and seek shelter in my house. Twenty minutes later a wicked thunderstorm blew through the area. Little did I know that a tornado touched down just two miles from my home, destroying some buildings. Trees were snapped with the fluid ease of a crooner's fingers.

The picture you see in today's blog was not taken by me, though it was taken from the balcony of my 17th story Toronto condo. The tall building in the centre of the image is the new 78 storey Aura condo (Canada's tallest). A photo credit needs to go out to J.P.Raftery, Professor of Voice and (now) noted urban landscape photographer. This image was taken around the same time that a tornado ripped through Angus, Ontario, just one hour north of Toronto. To the credit of meteorologists, I believe tornado warnings were issued for southern Ontario, so there is worth to short term forecasts. Still, there's nothing like sticking your head out the window to see what's headed your way. I think today's image is stunning because it tells a story, creates suspense, but doesn't give away the ending. It makes me wonder if Toronto is still standing after the storm passed. I checked, it is. <sigh>