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Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Blame Our Family Curse Not Global Warming

Rapid City Journal photo
As a winter storm bears down on much of the Midwest bringing with it snow, ice and winds erasing all glimpse's of spring some may be inclined to blame it on Global Warming. Others such as Meteorologist Scott Rudge are sure to point out that this in not all that uncommon, as he did in an article for the Rapid City Journal.

Our family however, know the true cause is the family curse. Yes, you read that correctly, it is our family's curse that has brought this unusual burst of winter back to the Midwest.  
You're probably asking yourself why would a curse on a family living in Norfolk Virginia effect the weather in the Midwest, and what on earth is the curse anyway. The answer is really rather easy,  bare with me while I explain.

For years now our family has realized that when we make a major move the weather for some unknown reason (It must be a curse) becomes severe and some sort of meteorologic anomaly occurs. Personally I blame the curse on the fact that as a trucking family my husband and I chose to give each member of our family weather related CB handles. My husband was Greycloud, I was Silverlining, our son's were Lightning Flash and Tornado Ted and our daughters were Snow Dancer and Raindrop.

Here is the evidence to this theory:

In June of 1988 we made our first major move, leaving behind Southern California and moving to Oregon. That move was accompanied by extreme heat as the nations was in the midst of what would be known as the Drought of 1988.

Our next major move came in March of 1993 just months after our youngest child was born. Leaving behind the West Coast for a life in the Midwest we were met  by the  Storm of the Century. This storm brought record lows, heavy snowfall, hurricane force winds and tornadoes severely effecting the Eastern and Central portions of the US, when an arctic high pressure system in the Midwest combined with the extratropical area of low pressure formed in Mexico. I remember being shocked when we arrived in South Dakota by the snow patches still on the ground and being told by a local that there had been a major snow storm the week before.

In May 1998, after learning my mother was ailing we packed up and returned to California. On the day we left South Dakota a Tornado outbreak completely destroyed the South Dakota town of Spencer. I will never forget how the storms rolled in the night before the tornado hit Spencer. We had just finished loading the semi trailer with our belongings and were headed to a motel for the night when the Tornado sirens sounded in Sioux Falls. Tornado sirens in Sioux Falls is something that rarely happens. I remember one of the kids saying "we're moving so here comes the bad weather."

In November of 1999, once we knew all was fine with my mother we headed back to South Dakota as it had become our home. Now generally I would not recommend to anyone to move to the Midwest during the winter months but just this once the curse worked in our favor for the winter of '99 saw much warmer than normal weather conditions across the US.

It seems the curse extends to our children as well. In November 2003 our oldest Son "Lightning Flash" moved his family to Florida where he was to train as an aeronautic engineer with the US Navy. To mark his move not only did the Sun go wild but Tornadoes ripped through Southeast Texas and Central Louisiana.

Next our oldest Daughter "Snowdancer" or as she is better known here Mrs. G, moved with her husband and two small children to Virginia in April of 2008. During that month thunderstorms and severe weather swept across the Central and Southeastern United States producing floods, thunderstorms, hail and tornadoes. Mr. G was away on the ship at the time so I helped with the move by driving the moving truck. It was so hot when we got to Norfolk. Just days later on April 28th an "EF3 tornado carved a 10-mile, quarter-mile-wide path through Suffolk, VA…"
 

Then in April last year, after the death of my husband, my youngest daughter and I moved from South Dakota to Norfolk VA to live with Mrs. G and her family. Typically tornadoes start happening in May but last year thunderstorms and tornadoes began to pop up as early as March 2nd and continued to plague the Southeast US through April.

Now here we are April 2013 and the weather is going nuts again. A heat wave has descended on Norfolk.
While the Midwest is being blasted by snow, ice and very cold winds. 











The explanation to the current weather anomaly's is easy. Our family is making a major move!
That's right, Mr. G has been transferred and we are in the process of packing right now and will be moving from Norfolk VA to ... you guessed it the Midwest! It is official, house is almost packed, moving truck is reserved, the lease on a house in Rapid City, SD has been signed we depart on the 28th of this month. So now you know WHY the weather is so messed up.

So what do you think, Global Warming, Our Family Curse or just Mother Nature doing what she does best and keeping us guessing?


6 comments:

Keetha Broyles said...

we've got snow this morning here. Our first spring back in Wisconsin we got 9 inches on MAY 10th.

Linda W. said...

Thanks for visiting and commenting on my blog! I grew up in Rapid City, but have lived in Oregon for nearly 25 years. My parents and some siblings still live in RC, so I get back there every summer. Good luck in you move, and I hope you enjoy Rapid City.

Linda W. said...

Thanks for visiting and commenting on my blog! I grew up in Rapid City, but have lived in Oregon for nearly 25 years. My parents and some siblings still live in RC, so I get back there every summer. Good luck in you move, and I hope you enjoy Rapid City.

Jack said...

Rapid City? Right around the corner from Sioux Falls. I hope everything works out for you up there. Even though you did bring on the storms.

Unknown said...

Thanks, maybe our paths will cross. :D

Unknown said...

Keetha - Hope you get to see some spring weather soon up there in WI.
Jack - I will be close enough to Sioux Falls so I can visit often and pick up with posting on my Sioux Falls blog. :D