L
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Worst storm you have ever personally experienced...
- Thread starter dpaanlka
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Wow ... no storms that bad in my lifetime. I'm too young yet, I guess.
Though I remember pretty bad hail a few times. Completely unexpected. The windshield cracked on the car. And you could hear the hail smacking on the roof of the house.
Though I remember pretty bad hail a few times. Completely unexpected. The windshield cracked on the car. And you could hear the hail smacking on the roof of the house.
About 2 years ago me, caroline and my mate Tom went into town. Tom wanted a new phone so we thought we'd tag along. It takes about 40 minutes to walk into Oldham town centre from my house, and it was so beautiful. warm, dark, eerie. the perfect premise for a good storm.
It's actually completely fine until we get into Oldham. There is a MONSTER trench in the clouds, which would otherwise appear to be totally flat (which was like some sort of nightmare-looking sky, like it shouldn't exist). We spend a good minute or so just gawping up at it! But, we head into the shopping centre. Spent about 10 minutes looking around for the place before seeing flashes in the giant stained glass windows in the ceiling. figured "YEY!" seeing me and Tom are huge storm fans, Caroline being near-on petrified of them.
So we're near an exit, wanting to go home like. Only you have to go outside to get to the giant indoor bus terminal. We look up, lightning constantly smashing into the only tower in our town. Hail and rain slamming into the ground. We run. make it to 1 little bus shelter, everyone watching us. When we're all there we run again, to the big shelter. A group of people clapped us. I remember being inside the terminal thinking "This is the end of the world". We have NEVER had a storm like this. It's the only storm I've seen where lightning is just constantly flashing all around.
A bus turns up. We jump on. Lightning stops. Caroline rejoices. We get off the bus. hmm, was that thunder we just heard? We make it about half way to my house (a 10 minute walk from the bus stop) before BAM. The storm catches up to us. Only this time with a vengeance, "you dare run away from me?", much heavier rain pummels us. I give my coat to Caroline and tell her I'm going on ahead to open the door. I make it to the very corner of my street and everything pauses. It's like a film. You could imagine the orchestra stopping and the choir starting. Everything went slow, I looked up and a huge bolt of lightning shot over my head. All the car alarms went off here. I stood for about 10 seconds, then sprinted back home.
Utterly incredible.
Interesting though. the SAME thing happened a year later! exactly the same scenario and everything.
It's actually completely fine until we get into Oldham. There is a MONSTER trench in the clouds, which would otherwise appear to be totally flat (which was like some sort of nightmare-looking sky, like it shouldn't exist). We spend a good minute or so just gawping up at it! But, we head into the shopping centre. Spent about 10 minutes looking around for the place before seeing flashes in the giant stained glass windows in the ceiling. figured "YEY!" seeing me and Tom are huge storm fans, Caroline being near-on petrified of them.
So we're near an exit, wanting to go home like. Only you have to go outside to get to the giant indoor bus terminal. We look up, lightning constantly smashing into the only tower in our town. Hail and rain slamming into the ground. We run. make it to 1 little bus shelter, everyone watching us. When we're all there we run again, to the big shelter. A group of people clapped us. I remember being inside the terminal thinking "This is the end of the world". We have NEVER had a storm like this. It's the only storm I've seen where lightning is just constantly flashing all around.
A bus turns up. We jump on. Lightning stops. Caroline rejoices. We get off the bus. hmm, was that thunder we just heard? We make it about half way to my house (a 10 minute walk from the bus stop) before BAM. The storm catches up to us. Only this time with a vengeance, "you dare run away from me?", much heavier rain pummels us. I give my coat to Caroline and tell her I'm going on ahead to open the door. I make it to the very corner of my street and everything pauses. It's like a film. You could imagine the orchestra stopping and the choir starting. Everything went slow, I looked up and a huge bolt of lightning shot over my head. All the car alarms went off here. I stood for about 10 seconds, then sprinted back home.
Utterly incredible.
Interesting though. the SAME thing happened a year later! exactly the same scenario and everything.
thedude110 said:
That was definately a terrible storm. I lived on Fire Island w/ my mom & we didn't leave early enough to catch a ferry (way to go Mom!). We trudged through water that was almost up to my waist (I was 9) from Ocean Beach to Kismit which is about 4 miles. We spent that day on the second story of a church, I've still never heard anything like the sound of that storm beating against the church. It really felt as if the whole building was moments from being ripped off its foundation. Some time the next day we were able to go stay @ a friend's house in Bay Shore, Long Island.
A close second was the nor'easter of '96 (January 6th). I was on the last plane to land @ Laguardia Airport. In fact I was moving back to the states after 2 years of university in England. My grandparents drove to pick me up, & of course I wasn't going to have them stand outside and pack the car (3 hrs after I landed) So I was basically alone dragging a trolley through short-term parking tryinng to find a silver Mercedes in a field of white car-shaped snow drifts. That was FUN!
For reasons passing understanding they would not come to Forest Hills & stay w/ my friends for the night, so I had to drive us all back to their house in Commack. And b/c we're Italian we had to argue about who drove. I won, but it was a close thing. Luckily it only took 5 hrs to get there & I only had to stop every 15 minutes or so to rescrape the windshield clear b/c no defroster and windshield wipers on Earth were going to keep up w/ that storm. And also b/c we're Italian they wanted me to tell them stories about traveling through Europe, WHILE I WAS DRIVING! Man that was a long day."the ice storm of '98"...
hit maine pretty hard. school cancelled for a couple weeks. several months before everyone had power back.
hit maine pretty hard. school cancelled for a couple weeks. several months before everyone had power back.
Back in November 2003, an F3 tornado came within half a mile of my house, and I didn't even realize that the tornado was there, nor did anyone else (since the tornado sirens in my area were not functioning at the time).
That was scary.
That was scary.
1 more time...
We were on holiday in Scotland. Was a nice day. Me and my dad went for a walk on this stoney beach. Looking out to sea I said "we're going to have a tornado tonight"... you know, as any normal person would say in mid afternoon on a pleasant day. he laughed. who wouldn't?
Woke up at 3am with winds battering our motorhome. me and my dad bring in some important items from the awning. then back to sleep. the news folk said there had been a tornado during the night my dad just slowly turned to look at me
We were on holiday in Scotland. Was a nice day. Me and my dad went for a walk on this stoney beach. Looking out to sea I said "we're going to have a tornado tonight"... you know, as any normal person would say in mid afternoon on a pleasant day. he laughed. who wouldn't?
Woke up at 3am with winds battering our motorhome. me and my dad bring in some important items from the awning. then back to sleep. the news folk said there had been a tornado during the night
my dad just slowly turned to look at me 
Let's see:
* "Blizzard" of 1976
* Blizzard of 1978
* Hurricane Gloria
* Hurricane Bob
* Blizzard of 1993
* Blizzard of 1996
Never left the New England/New York area until ealy 1999, so these are events I remember from my childhood and onward.
It's not a storm or anything, but my folks were in NYC/Queens (Middle Village) during the 1965 Blackout (a few years before I was born). My mom still tells stories of that day.
[Edit]: Hurricane Gloria is one of my more interesting memories - we owned a dog that *really* needed to be walked while Gloria was passing over us (it took a goodly chunk of the day). I remember taking my dog to the entry of our garage, and neither of us wanted to go outside very far - wind, rain, falling tree branches, and so forth. But what an experience to see and feel it all.
I also really enjoyed the Blizzards in the 1970s - lots of great sledding.
* "Blizzard" of 1976
* Blizzard of 1978
* Hurricane Gloria
* Hurricane Bob
* Blizzard of 1993
* Blizzard of 1996
Never left the New England/New York area until ealy 1999, so these are events I remember from my childhood and onward.
It's not a storm or anything, but my folks were in NYC/Queens (Middle Village) during the 1965 Blackout (a few years before I was born). My mom still tells stories of that day.
[Edit]: Hurricane Gloria is one of my more interesting memories - we owned a dog that *really* needed to be walked while Gloria was passing over us (it took a goodly chunk of the day). I remember taking my dog to the entry of our garage, and neither of us wanted to go outside very far - wind, rain, falling tree branches, and so forth. But what an experience to see and feel it all.
I also really enjoyed the Blizzards in the 1970s - lots of great sledding.
Every time I hear about one of those, it makes me think twice about wanting to move north.exeterbohemian said: