Deceived by the Weatherman!

When I woke up this morning and turned on my TV, I was expecting Frank Marzullo and the Fox 19 Stormtracker weather. Instead, I got Pat Berry, Frank's substitute. I really didn't mind because I've found that Pat tends to be far more accurate about the weather. Also, he's not so smarmy.

Pat was telling me how we were to expect some severe weather. We were under a tornado watch. For all you non-tornado-state folk, a watch means the conditions are right for a tornado. When it turns into a warning, well, then that's worrysome.

Pat told us that we were going to be getting some major storms from the west with major winds and strong rain. Essentially, we were to batten down the hatches because we were in for a bumpy ride.

I admit. I was excited. We've had a very mild weather time lately. We've had a few storms but nothing for quite some time. We've had breezes but no wind. So, when I went to work, it was with anticipation and a slightly naughty hope that something would happen weather wise.

All morning, the skies darkened. I waited. I sporadically peeked outside to see how the clouds were looking. They grew greyer as the morning progressed yet...no rain.

Finally, by lunch time, I went home to let the pups out and it was raining sporadically. When I pulled into my driveway, it was raining enough that I ran so I wouldn't get soaked.

By the time I let the pups out, the wind had crept up. There was a tornado of leaves. The rain started to pour and so there was this massive cloud of rain. The sounds of the wind was intense- the trees were creaking, the leaves were scattered and there was no way to catch your breath. Needless to say, the puppies ran in pretty quickly.

Then...it stopped. It lasted less than five minutes. It was enough to make the yard look windblown but that was it. By the time I went back to work, it looked as though we'd just had a quick Autumn downpour. Ironically, the tornado sirens were blaring as if there was danger but, by this time, the skies were clearing, the wind had dropped and there was little to worry about.

All afternoon, the skies continued to darken but the most we got was a few heavy downpours and a little wind.

I have to admit, I was disappointed. It's my own fault. I allowed myself to fall for the drama of the weather. Normally, I can resist it. Normally, any time the weather reporters work themselves into a gleeful frenzy and tell us what terrible, awful weather is headed our way, I know to wait patiently and see what really happens.

Today, unfortunately, I fell for their frenzy and I hoped we would have some major weather. I blame the fact that it's been so dry and calm of late that I was ready for a little Mother Nature.

In the end, while we did have a little wind, we didn't get the drama I expected. I'm a little sad by that. I'm also a little sad that at work, our network and software is maintained by our Chicago branch. They had power issues today and so our software was affected. However, my network and software stayed mostly up while my co-worker's didn't. She went home early. My boss was supposed to fly to Chicago but he got stranded at the airport so he went home early.

In the end, I was the lone employee in the office, listening to the slight wind outside and sporadically checking to see if it was raining hard.

Since I like my new job and I still have a lot to learn, I didn't mind holding down the fort. I just hoped that it would be against something more dramatic than the odd thunderclap and gust of wind.

Ah well, what I learned today is that you should never, ever give in to the frenzied energy of the weather reporter, no matter how sincere he sounds. Just because he's got a report that something weather-wise is going to happen doesn't mean it will happen.

Still, I suppose in the end, it's better that there was nothing than something bad...right?

Happy Tuesday!