Downwind Thoughts 13/10/2005 It has been raining in Lawton and once again the road past our house has turned into a river; this enables me to claim that sometimes we have a waterfront property. On the far bank of the road/river, there is a park that stretches perhaps a hundred yards down to Squaw Creek, usually a narrow trickle at the bottom of a ditch that runs through the center of the town. With heavy rain, the creek swells and fills the ditch from edge to edge, leading me to wonder if it will overflow one day and inundate the park and our house.This does not seem likely, however; we have had periods of very heavy rainfall since my arrival in the States and so far the creek has never managed to fill the ditch completely. I confess to a slight feeling of disappointment at this. If I am ever to have a personal story of assault by America's dramatic weather, it seems that this will probably come through a tornado, rather than a flood.In my post on Hurricane Katrina, I made this statement: "Sometimes it seems that there is no part of this country that does not have huge weather." I then went on to poke a little fun at British weather, suggesting that it is hardly weather at all when compared to the American version. This is one of my generalizations, of course, and the fact is that, just occasionally, Britain can surprise one with unusually violent weather.Thinking back to Katrina and the television pictures of reporters braving the storm to show us the power of the wind, I am reminded of a time when I experienced a gale of similar strength in Britain.In those days I was part of a small team that would take the kids of our church youth group for a vacation in Wales. Every year we rented a cottage in the village of Rhyd-Ddu (pronounced Reed-Thee, although the kids called it Riddely-Doo) at the base of Mount Snowdon, the highest mountain in Britain south of Scotland, and used it as our base for various energetic expeditions. That included climbing Snowdon once, visits to the beaches on the coast, hectic games in the pine forests that cover the foothills of the mountains, and generally tramping around, trying to wear out the kids but getting exhausted ourselves instead.On one particularly windy and overcast day, it was decided to climb Moel Eilio, a mountain connected to Snowdon by a long ridge, then walk along the ridge to a point where we could descend to the village again. Two of the adults would drive the minibus from the base of the mountain to our expected arrival point. We were a small party of three adults and about eight kids, therefore.The ascent of Moel Eilio is fairly easy, there being no real climbing involved; just a long slog up a steep, grass-covered rise to the summit. The wind was strong but not exceptional as we toiled upwards. But we had not taken account of how sheltered we were on that side of the mountain.As we came over the crest of the rise and saw the cairn of stones that marked the summit, the wind hit us with full force. At that height, there was nothing to slow it down after its journey across the North Atlantic and it was powerful, stronger than any wind I have experienced before or since. Its initial impact on us was so great that we were forced to the ground, clutching at the grass to avoid being blown back down the mountain.After recovering from that first shock, we found that we could walk into the wind, leaning into it and gritting out teeth. We staggered to the cairn and took a few group photographs that were to show hair streaming straight out from our heads and distorted faces, grimacing into the gale. There was some discussion of whether we should turn back but Dave, our intrepid leader and experienced climber, insisted that we could manage the ridge, suggesting that the wind would not be so fierce at a slightly lower altitude. We gathered ourselves for the effort and set out, plodding steadily into the teeth of the gale.Dave was right about our ability to manage the ridge - we did. But he was wrong about the wind; it actually increased in strength as we struggled along, so much so that we were forced to join hands and walk in line to prevent anyone being blown away. The smallest child, a lad of about twelve years old, was repeatedly swept off his feet by the gusts, so that he flapped like a flag between the two adults holding his hands. At times the gusts became so strong that all of us were forced to crouch to the ground and hang on for dear life.That ridge walk took far longer than we had expected. It would be more accurate to call it a ridge crawl, in fact. Our relief at reaching the point where we could descend to the calmer air of the valley can be imagined, but we had a good tale to tell those who awaited us.I have no idea how fast that wind was moving. We hear that winds in a hurricane can reach 160 miles per hour or more and I doubt very much that my Moel Eilio wind came anywhere near that speed. Judging from the pictures on the television, however, it was stronger than any wind that those reporters experienced while trying to report on Katrina. I did not see any of them forced to go to ground.It does make me wonder what it must be like to experience a wind of 160 mph, however...
Clive
easywriter Oh that sounds like a terribly blustery adventure. I've never experienced winds that high although, we've had a few over the years that have toppled trees or torn their poor limbs off. I couldn't even begin to fathom a hurricane. Date Added: 13/10/2005
Gone Away A think a hurricane at sea must be really terrifying, especially when you remember that they slow down when they touch land... Date Added: 13/10/2005
Mad I loved the wind on that mountain climb, I was exhilarated by it and what a cool sensation to be able to lean on the wind! I groove on nature's tantrums. Date Added: 14/10/2005
Gone Away I agree that weather can be exciting, Mad, but sometimes it can be frightening too. I think you are forgetting how that wind scared us when we realised just how strong it was... Date Added: 14/10/2005
Matt Having lived in FL, I have experienced several hurricanes. Most of them are of the more mundane variety with winds around 100mph or less. Those are really not all THAT bad, as long as you have a decent house. I was down there when Andrew came through, but a bit north of it. That was an awesome storm. Crazy scary. But nothing like a tornado. Tornados blow through everything. They have winds much faster than hurricanes. They're just smaller. When I lived in Minnesota we had those once in awhile. Those are much scarier than hurricanes because they can move fast and there are no structures that will survive a direct tornado hit. They'll rip up brick buildings like they're made out of balsa wood. Date Added: 14/10/2005
Steve Thorn Great entry, Clive. I could feel the wind. I live up in Ohio where there are some pretty good threats of tornadoes at times but I haven't directly experienced one -- and never want to--, but living out in the country we had some nasty straight-winds come through that the children could stand in the front yard and be supported by the wind as they leaned into it. then another blast would come and sweep them the other direction, nearly knocking them on their butts. Date Added: 14/10/2005
Gone Away I live right in the middle of tornado alley, Matt - Oklahoma. But I could easily be one of those crazy tornado chasers - tornados are amazing and strangely beautiful things. I was very close to a couple of them in Kansas a few years ago and they make you feel alive - unless they hit you, of course, in which case you're dead! The kind of thing to observe from a safe distance, methinks... ;) Date Added: 14/10/2005
Gone Away Brilliant, Steve - I can just see the children leaning into that wind. It is such an unusual thing in Britain, however - very rare to get winds of anything like that speed and power. Unless you choose to live on the top of a mountain, of course... ;) Date Added: 14/10/2005
John Clive, great post, you brought back so many memories to me, when I was in the Paras, running all over the brecon Beacons, and Pennyfan, I don't know how to pronounce it, ice, sleet, water filled foxholes etc; Thanks for the memories mate! GBYAY Date Added: 14/10/2005
Gone Away Thanks, John. I think Pennyfan would be pronounced Pen-uh-van! ;) Date Added: 14/10/2005
Madmin For the information of all spammers (yes I mean you Future Message idiot) I record the IP addresses of all spammers. If you insist on spamming this blog I will also start regexing for the URL of your stupid site and bouncing you when you comment. Desist now. Date Added: 14/10/2005
Gone Away You tell em, Mad! :D Date Added: 14/10/2005
keeefer sheesh Madmin, no need to blow your top. great post Gone. We recently had what the aussies described as strong winds. They tore down power lines, ripped the rooves off of several buildings and generally stopped Sydney from doing much at all. These winds had hit the heady heights of 90kms an hour! can you imagine such a gust???? During this period of 'terror' the wife looked out onto the patio raised an eyebrow and said 'i think i'll get the washing in'. Its amazing really, how truly different the worlds weather is......more amazing is the quality of roofing here but i think thats for a different comment. Oh and Mad, if you want the mock exam for your mcsd let me know. Date Added: 14/10/2005
Gone Away So it's all about how good your roofing is? Actually, you may have a point - tornados here always seem to head straight for the nearest trailer park... ;) Date Added: 14/10/2005
keeefer Is shoddy workmanship the lightning conductor of the wind world? I feel an experiment coming on.....does anyone have 3 little pigs? Date Added: 14/10/2005
Gone Away Well, no, but I have a collection of elven shoemakers if you're interested... Date Added: 14/10/2005
keeefer I dont think weather is affected by spritely footwear. We definately need 3 stunted pigs, a large temperamental wolf and a big vat of beans Date Added: 14/10/2005
Gone Away Hmmmm, can't help you on that score... Wait a minute, someone's just knocked on the door saying she's heard there's a job going with you. Her name's Dorothy and she wants to bring her little dog, Toto, to work with her... Date Added: 14/10/2005
keeefer Dont be fooled, its a ruse. She has entered Oz before but illegaly and now customs wont let her bak in without a valid work permit, i dont want to get involved. Date Added: 14/10/2005
Gone Away She says that's a pity - she had a wizard time on her last visit... Date Added: 14/10/2005
keeefer I dont believe a word of it, shes a right witch when she wants to be......I'll give her a work permit....when monkeys can fly Date Added: 14/10/2005
Mad Yes please :D Date Added: 14/10/2005
keeefer which email addy you using? Date Added: 14/10/2005
Mad bubaker@gmail.com will do nicely thanks. Date Added: 14/10/2005
Gone Away .oO(Just talk amongst yourselves, guys...) Date Added: 15/10/2005
Scot Clive: This is you at your best. Solid narrative with good use of descriptive details to create vivid images, especially those of struggling against the wind as you were on your hike along the ridge. I was right in the scene. We've been getting a lot of rain during the last week, and New Hampshire seems to have had the worst of it. Anyway, this was the perfect read on a wet, windy Friday night. Enjoyed . . . Date Added: 15/10/2005
Gone Away Thanks, Scot - praise from you is praise indeed! And I thought I was scraping the bottom of the barrel, writing about weather. ;) Date Added: 15/10/2005
ME Strauss Scot has said it so well. I can't help, but agree. I could see you on your ridge crawl, the young boy losing his feet. What a memory that must be. You bring it to life with such stunning detail. Date Added: 15/10/2005
Janus I am still trying to figure out how you get Reed-Thee from Rhyd-Ddu (My Celtic/Welsh is really bad) Sounds like quite an adventure, I wish I could of been there I love climbs. Do you have the picture from the climb so we could see it, if you would feel comfy of course. As for the hurricanes at sea thing, the vessel I was in during a squall sounded a lot like an aluminum can at times being crunched when the wind got really nuts. The Important thing is to anchor multiple times deep so you don't get ripped apart, and hold on to your butt and pray to God for it to end. I come from a long line of Norwegian vikings and fisherman, and more than half of them died young from sudden and unexpected storms. I am grateful for the Weather Service advisorys. Be careful when chasing storms, you might catch one and they don't let you throw em back. Date Added: 15/10/2005
Gone Away Thank you, Liz. :) Date Added: 15/10/2005
Gone Away Ahah, time for some basic Welsh pronunciation (very basic, since I don't speak the language): it seems that "y"s and "u"s are both pronounced as "ee", although "y" is also often rendered as a "u", and some bright spark decided that the sound "th" could best be spelled as a double-dee. Then there's the "f" which, when single, is sounded as a "v" but becomes a real "f" when doubled. The most interesting. perhaps, is the double-ell as in "Llewllyn". This is a very common sound in Welsh so it's important to get it right but also very difficult to describe. If you can say the German "ach", take the last delightfully guttural sound from it and use it as the first "L" in the Welsh, then add an "L" and you have something pretty close to the required pronunciation. Hmmm, I wonder if any of that makes sense. Anyway. Unfortunately I don't know what happened to the photographs; presumably they are still back in England and there may be a faint possibility that Mad will come across them and be able to show them. And I should have known you'd have actually been at sea in a storm, Janus, dashing young adventurer that you are. I'll bet you have tales to tell that would put this little incident to shame! Thanks for the interesting comment. :) Date Added: 15/10/2005
John (SYNTAGMA) Latecomer to the feast, as usual. Now, where shall I begin? Oh dear, low energy day today. Must be something to do with the weather. I agree with you, Clive, that harsh weather makes you feel alive. I can imagine how a tornado might be experienced. A hurricane, no, it's just too big, like the wrath of a deity.
I was once caught up in a cyclone (similar to a hurricane) in Western Australia. My family had gone on the little train from Perth to Fremantle to the Saturday flea market, when the beast changed course and was said to be coming ashore at Fremantle when it would make its way up the Swan River to Perth and devastate everything in its path. As the car was in dock, I was extremely worried ~ this was in the days before cell phones. The air turned orange. It was incredibly eerie. Happily they got back on the train and the cyclone turned inland before hitting us. Phew! close run thing. Date Added: 15/10/2005
Gone Away Orange! That must have been quite something, John. Tornados tend to turn everything an ominous green color, very dark and threatening. We used to get miniature tornados in Zimbabwe - tiny little things that we called dust devils but nothing like the real thing. Never had any cyclones or hurricanes, either; just torrential tropical downpours. I think we must have been too far inland for the serious stuff to reach us... Date Added: 15/10/2005
Janus Your welcome for the comment. I wouldn't put this one to shame though, this was very well written. Thank you for the Welsh lesson and I hope Mad is able to find the photos. Date Added: 15/10/2005
Gone Away Thanks, Janus. Mad gets a copy of the notification for these comments so we'll see what comes of that... Date Added: 15/10/2005
Mad Mad wouldn't even know where to start to look for photos of those holidays in Wales, sorry... Date Added: 15/10/2005
Gone Away There are loads of old photos all over the place, as you know, Mad. Ask your mom; she might know or have an idea at least... Date Added: 15/10/2005
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