Jamie Parsell
BLUEFIELD — By JAMIEPARSELL
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
It is the time of year when sunny skies can give way to dark, rolling thunderclouds in a matter of seconds. Spring storms — love them or hate them — can gather energy, spreading rain drops across the two Virginias. Along with the rain, thunder booms and lightning flashes, causing residents to seek shelter. Some refuse to stay away from doors and windows, relishing in the sounds of nature. Others become nervous, jumping at the sounds of the fury in the skies.
“Thunderstorms do not bother me at all, I will take a shower, talk on the phone and work on the computer, despite the fact that my mother always told me that if you take a shower while it is storming, you could be electrocuted. And if you are talking on the phone, lightning can come through the phone line. Also, my mom used to make us be perfectly quiet because she said that noise attracts lightning,” Angela Griffith of Pipestem said.
Griffith isn’t the only person who enjoys thunderstorms and ignored the instructions of her parents.
As a child, Sonya Buckner of Princeton would sit on the front porch during the storm — until her parents made her come inside.
“I would try to get away with sitting by the glass door. If the power went off in the middle of the night, my mom always came and woke us up. Then we would have to all sit in the family room with candles so she knew we were all safe. I never understood that. To this day though my favorite thing to do is watch and listen to a storm,” she said.
For every person who loves a good thunderstorm, there are those who hate the sound of thunder. Kristy Bailey hated storms as a child. She would often end up in her parents bedroom scared out of her wits.
“I would get on the floor beside the bed and cover up with pillows or sleep with the sheets over me if I didn’t make it to their room,” the Princeton resident said. She is still scared of storms and refuses to stand close to windows or doors when the skies get angry.
Why do storms happen? Adults tell children a thunderstorm is the sound of angel’s bowling in heaven. Scientists and meteorologists tell a different story.
When cold, continental air from Canada gets together with warm, tropical air from the Gulf of Mexico, the two stubborn temperatures meet in the middle with a loud bang and a silent streak. From mid-April to mid-June, the different air masses create numerous thunderstorms across the two Virginias. Every year, Americans deal with more than 10,000 thunderstorms.
According to Kris Mattarochia, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Blacksburg, Va., thunderstorms can happen anytime during the course of the year. However, the difference in temperatures — warm and cold — during April, May and June are perfect times for thunderstorms. Or even worse, a tornado.
Here in the rising mountains and dipping valleys, a tornado seems strange, almost laughable. Confined to the Great Plains states, tornados are a common sight in the Midwest. Not to mention, a big factor in movies such as “The Wizard of Oz” and “Twister.” But in June of 2008, a tornado watch caused residents to pay extra attention to the darkening skies. Three weeks ago, the National Weather Service in Blacksburg issued another tornado warning for parts of Mercer County and surrounding areas.
“That event — which happened more than two weeks ago — is a pretty good time for these types of storms to develop. You have more interaction with the cool air mixing with the warm gulf air,” Mattarochia said.
Thunderstorms may roll through the region, but tornados are a rare occurrence in the Mountain State. While the area’s topography disrupts the majority of strong storms with tornado possibilities, it doesn’t rule out the factor completely.
“The belief that tornados don’t happen in the mountains is a myth,” Mattarochia said.
On April 12, 1956, a tornado — with a magnitude of a F2 — touched down in Mercer County. An F2 tornado is classified by winds reaching anywhere between 113-157 miles per hour. In the early ’70s, McDowell County experienced two F1 tornados. A Monroe County tornado touched down in 1976. The state’s topography doesn’t remove the threat of tornados, but it does keep the state out of Tornado Alley in the Midwest. But according to Mattarochia, a tornado can and will happen in West Virginia.
He also said there is no way to compare the latest rise in tornado watches in the area. The weather is unpredictable; however, there is more activity in different parts of the Mountain State. Mattarochia said there is no official studies, but it appears the Ohio Valley region of the state experiences more lightning strikes. According to West Virginia University’s Disaster and Emergency Management Resources, West Virginia’s Lightning Alley is an area along the Ohio River that includes Jackson, Wood, Pleasants, Ritchie, Tyler and Wirt counties. This area receives six to eight cloud-to-ground strikes per square kilometer each year. The southern and eastern parts of the state receives less strikes because of the rise of elevation.
Tasha Hicks, of Bluefield, is fascinated by lightning. During the recent storm three weeks ago, Hicks drove throughout the area, watching the lightning streak through the sky.
“Most of the time I just love watching the lightning. I’d really like to get a photo of lightning,” she said.
A majority of residents find thunderstorms to be soothing. And most cannot help but be fascinated with mother nature’s lightning rods. But if your think your watching heat lightning, think again.
“There is no such thing as heat lightning,” Mattarochia said. “They are really seeing a thunderstorm far away. It is not because of warm temperatures.”
For more information about thunderstorms, visit www.ncdc.noaa.gov.
