We live in Berks County, PA about 20-30 minutes south of Reading PA and 45-60 min from Philly.

This Friday night it was raining, then it began RAINING. And RAINING. My street was like a fast-flowing creek and I began to see reports of water rescue calls going out on the FB feed of our local first responders page.

Then at 10:30 PM my phone blew up with "TORNADO WARNING, GET TO SHELTER", I grab our sleeping kids and get into the basement with the wife to wait it out. Around 10:45 pm, my basement starts flooding, water is poring through the Bilco steps inner door and out of the wall on the other side. WTF!

The tornado warning lasted until around 11:30 pm and we ended up having a microburst with 80+ mph winds a few miles away. Roofs ripped off people's houses, trees down all over, roads flooded out. Luckily for us we just had a lot of branches down from the trees but no damage.

I was talking to the wife about this past year and how every season has just been EXTREME, we had a cold winter and it was extreme, historic cold that went on for months. Then we had rain this spring and summer and it was extreme, historic rainfall with lots of flooding and beating records.

WTF is going on this year? Is this somehow related to El Nino? I refuse to entertain the thought that it's "climate change", but something is up!

I also NEVER, EVER recall getting warnings to get in my basement or other cover for tornadoes around here, that seems to be a recent phenomenon.

Anyone else feel that the weather has just been whacked out this year?

I lived in Berks county for some 20 years, in downtown Reading, when it safe to live there and later in Flying Hills.

I experienced: Hurricane, Tornado, Earthquake tremor, heavy snow and freezing rain/ice storm.

We used to say: "If you didn't like the weather in Berks county, just wait 20 minutes".

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
I refuse to entertain the thought that it's "climate change", but something is up!

The first predictions about the probable effects of rising global temperatures in addition to the many other predictions that have come true was that the weather conditions would become more extreme: Hotter some places; stronger winds and storms; more severe droughts some places along with more snow and rain other places (all that evaporating water that goes up must come down); and other changes in general. Those predictions are still being made and still being proved to be correct.

Wettest summer in my 13 years here by far; no extreme severe weather, just LOTS of precip that kept the Potomac river at near flood stage much of the summer.

As to climate change, I do believe the climate does change. In fact, the average global temperature has increased a whole 1.4 degrees over the last 138 years.

I'm not quite ready to panic over what the worlds governments have turned into a gigantic money machine.

A tornado hit Baltimore and killed two people at an Amazon warehouse.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/ama...yland-leaving-2-dead

October and November have been way above average for the Yoop. Later this week, highs in the 20s and lows in the teens. May be a hard winter, even for us.

I ain't worried about it.

Weather gets crazy some years and then uneventful the next. Such is the way it's been and the way it always will be.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:

I also NEVER, EVER recall getting warnings to get in my basement or other cover for tornadoes around here, that seems to be a recent phenomenon.

You know, cell phones--particularly smartphones that tell you to get to your basement the very instant there is a tornado warning--are a fairly recent phenomenon too.

I’m betting it will be getting cold soon, yeah throughout the Winter months.

For the most part, weather & Mother Nature operate on a different schedule than we may prefer. Remember that flooding & hurricane in SC/NC a few months ago? Just ten years back they were squawking about an extreme drought.

Just saying, weather events have happened, and will continue to happen. The best one can do is prepare as able.

Hey, FWIW, my Bilco door leaks too, mostly depending on wind direction and precip intensity. I should seal it up better.

Over here in Lawrence County there are a number of us lawn care guys that just can't catch a break. It stated raining in March and hasn't stopped yet. I can't get a mower on these lawns. A slight grade and I'm sliding sideways into the street. Without a grade the wheels just spin and sink. I've towed my mower out of a lawn so many times this year.

This had been my hardest year since I started.

Here’s another funny, squawking about the reasons for Great Lakes water levels. They were very low just back in 2013, now near record highs.

I have a relative doing a bunch of mandated erosion control projects along the Lake Superior shoreline. The idea is to protect roadways from erosion, often during high wave events.

https://www.bridgemi.com/quali...-water-levels-headed

Just another example of the schedule of nature.

quote:

Originally posted by mark123:
Over here in Lawrence County there are a number of us lawn care guys that just can't catch a break. It stated raining in March and hasn't stopped yet. I can't get a mower on these lawns. A slight grade and I'm sliding sideways into the street. Without a grade the wheels just spin and sink. I've towed my mower out of a lawn so many times this year.

This had been my hardest year since I started.

C’mon. Tell the truth. You haven’t lived until you’ve ridden a ZTR backwards off a retaining wall. Ask me how I know.

I feel your pain, Mark.

-Rob

quote:

Originally posted by BurtonRW:


C’mon. Tell the truth. You haven’t lived until you’ve ridden a ZTR backwards off a retaining wall. Ask me how I know.

I feel your pain, Mark.

-Rob

Best get used to it. Hard rain's a gonna fall....

It's TEOTWAWKI, try to keep up.

quote:

Originally posted by BurtonRW:

quote:

Originally posted by mark123:
Over here in Lawrence County there are a number of us lawn care guys that just can't catch a break. It stated raining in March and hasn't stopped yet. I can't get a mower on these lawns. A slight grade and I'm sliding sideways into the street. Without a grade the wheels just spin and sink. I've towed my mower out of a lawn so many times this year.

This had been my hardest year since I started.

C’mon. Tell the truth. You haven’t lived until you’ve ridden a ZTR backwards off a retaining wall. Ask me how I know.

I feel your pain, Mark.

-Rob

Yikes! I hope you had your ROPS up.