A to Z Challenge – W is for Weather

Weather has always held a fascination for me, from the first time I stood out on the porch with my father and we watched a thunderstorm together. I took note of most of the severe weather due to pass through our area, from the greenish sky I saw right before I saw my first hailstorm (and learned the next day that a weak tornado had passed through an adjacent town), to the tropical storms and hurricanes that passed through (the worst one I personally experienced was Gloria in 1985), to the Blizzard of ‘78 which paralyzed where I lived for close to two weeks.

As I got more into my driving career, and gained access to the internet, I fueled my passion for weather with a need to know what conditions I’d be driving through or in, and attempt to make smart decisions for my travel. Too bad my employers didn’t share this vision I had in regard to weather, which is why I drove home through the howling winds of Tropical Storm Floyd from about Worcester southward to Connecticut, and then got sent out into the flood-ravaged areas of New Jersey the following day.

Many of the commercial trucks I’ve driven in the past fifteen years or so are equipped with radios that receive the broadcasts from the National Weather Service. When I was doing long-haul trucking, I had a laptop that I would use to check the weather ahead and stay alerted to any potential storms, and adjust my travel times or routes accordingly. I did the same thing when I did linehaul, getting out of Houston just as Hurricane Harvey was making landfall far to the west of me.

I still pay attention to the weather, although not as close now that I’m mostly office-bound. But, when time permits, I will wander out on the loading dock during a thunderstorm and take in the full fury of nature playing out before me.