Weather and other natural events

Some wild weather but nothing too serious where I live.

On the trip home from Lachute it was both cloudy and sunny from time to time. The clouds were moving around very quickly.

At one point it started to rain and then it was raining even harder. I slowed down and put my windshield wipers on their fastest mode of operation. Some cars pulled over to the side of the road but not me. I know this highway so well from my drives back and forth to Lachute when my mom was not well and even before when she was. By the time I got home the rain had stopped. I felt good about my driving experience.

Then as I watched the weather on my computer tornadoes were happening in other parts of the province. Facebook and Twitter had the latest updates and it was some time before the pictures and news reports appeared on the CBC website. I knew some of the places mentioned - Toronto, Whitby and Ganonoque.

Weather changes so quickly.

Then some days later again on my computer and there were reports of an earthquake on the eastern coast of the United States. As I have done in the past I checked the earthquake web site (American this time) to read where it was felt. Ottawa was mentioned but I did not feel it.

Quite a few buildings in Washington were evacuated and there was some damage to the historical sites.

It is still hurricane season and sometimes the after effects of such events are felt in Ottawa. This time the hurricane moved up the eastern coast of the United States as usual and headed for the Maritime Provinces.

What was more unusual were the places that felt its effects - Upper New York State and Vermont. There was so much water and bridges and roads were damaged and communities were cut off from the outside world. It was quite sad to see a video of a 140 year old covered bridge being washed away.

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Local weather changes seem less serious after all these disasters.

I just realized that it is Labour Day weekend and so the time for the local hot air balloon festival. Will the weather be nice enough that the balloons can be seen all over the city? Time will tell.