Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Michigan: the "Our Weather Has Multiple Personalities" state

There's a saying that if you don't like the weather in Michigan, just stick around for a few hours and it'll change.
That was certainly the case on Tuesday.
During the day, it was typical cold-gray-winter doldrums.
During band, we had thunder and lightning.
After band, during the drive to Jason's house, it was raining REALLY hard. Even with the wipers on high, it was hard to see.
And, while we were all eating dinner at Jason's, the rain froze, and the wind got much worse. On the way home, I had to drive through a blizzard that was so bad it completely blocked my view of the road numerous times. (I don't mean it was merely covering the road; I mean the snow was so thick in the air, blowing around, that I couldn't see ANYTHING in front of me.) This was especially dangerous because the high winds had knocked a lot of crap into the middle of the road. There were large tree branches and garbage cans I had to drive around. During the white-out conditions, I had to slow down to a crawl because I had no idea if I was about to run into something that had been blown into the middle of the road.
The bank thermometer said it was 13 degrees. Actually, that's not so bad, because last weekend it was below zero.
But apparently it was cold enough to freeze my front door shut.
Yeah, that's right. When I got home I couldn't open the front door. Frozen. Completely. I tried warming up the doorknob thingy, I tried bumping against it really hard, I shook it, I asked nicely, I cursed vehemently, but the door just was not cooperating. I couldn't get into my house.
There's a back door I hardly ever use, and as a last resort I went to try that instead. Luckily, I was able to get that one open. So I went inside and opened the front door to see if it was still stuck. Oddly, it opened easily from the inside.
Sure scared me for awhile there, though. This is NOT good weather to be "locked" out of your house. I'd have had to go back out to the car and sit there with the heater on, wondering what the heck to do.
I'm glad I'm indoors now.
I can STILL hear the awful winds out there. So strong, so ugly and angry sounding. Powerful stuff.
You all remember how I feel about winds like this, right?
If you're new to my blog, click here to read the story of how I once had a home that was destroyed by a windstorm.
.

11 comments:

Barbara said...

Hi Janna,
Hi ! This is my first time over ( I'am a regular of Mimi Pencilskirt).
I'am enjoying your blog ;) I like your writing and humor !

I'am a US expat who lives in France.Blogging about this & that, and making friends along the way.
I was sorry to read about your house being destroyed back then. Some experiences in life are next to impossible to forget...Thank God you survived that.

Have a great day.

Unknown said...

Ah, the good old days in Michigan. By the way they have said that about EVERY place I lived. My first week in Utah we had snow and 80F temps (but it's a dry heat). The only places I lived that was not like that oddly enough were when I lived within a mile of Lake Michigan in Chicago & Milwaukee. The lake did a nice job of regulating everything ... I mean sending it all towards you.

I had a dream last night about returning to Coldwater, in the dream I wanted to visit you, but all the towns in the area were unfamiliar.

Going Like Sixty said...

Onionboy is right: every town/states says that.
Anyway, now that you are duly smacked down... if this happens again, just pull your car in the garage and snooze. Be sure to leave the engine running so you can stay warm.

** said...

Oh I FEEL your pain! lol..woke up this morning and our door was frozen shut..had to push it hard to let the dogs out! and to think..it was almost 50 degrees warmer yesterday! ..ugh! I hope you know that you could've hopped on over if you couldn't get it open..Jamie would be more than happy to help! lol...stay warm hon!!

Mo and The Purries said...

Yup, when I went upstairs last night @ 5pm, it was 48 degrees.
And thunderstorm with torrential rain.
When I went to bed at midnight, it was 22 degrees, and snowing so hard I could hardly see out the window.
This morning = FIVE degrees! Yesterday it was almost FIFTY!
WTF???

Mo and The Purries said...

PS Thanks for featuring my It’s A Blog Eat Blog World EntreCard here today!
Much appreciated!
~mo

Unknown said...

And now I'm getting blown...by the wind that is. You must have sent it East because we have all sorts of wind warnings today. But no rain, and still not a drop of snow. We've been in the 30s and 40s the whole winter...makes for a much gentler transition from So. Cal. Ahhh...

** said...

My mom is back in NYC and she said the wind has really kicked up..I told her that I was sending all this midwest "gunk" her way! lol

Janna said...

Barbara: Yay!! Welcome!

Onionboy: It's so cool that you dreamed of Coldwater. I go there a lot!!

GoingLikeSixty: Hey, don't tempt me! :)

Padraigin: I drove past your house today too! And feel free to send your mom ALL this stuff if she wants. At least all this below-zero stuff. You can maybe keep an inch or two of snow, with temps in the mid-to-upper twenties.

Morgen: I know, freaky weather, huh? And you're welcome. :)

Steve: I'm so glad you've learned to appreciate winter again! :)

Travis Cody said...

Glad you got home ok and were able to get inside. Be careful out there.

Janna said...

Travis: I'll do my best... feel free to send the rescue dogs if I go more than two days without blogging!