Flash...Boom!

It was 4:43 this morning...I looked at the clock...when I was rousted from my early morning slumber by one of the loudest claps of thunder that I have experienced in the 10 years that we have lived year. It reminded me of days long ago in Wisconsin, when the positively charged flashes, the ones that are really loud, would pound us in the late night and early morning hours. Most lightning strikes carry negative charge from the cloud to the ground, but as many as 10% are the opposite. These generally carry more energy and are hotter, making for more intense thunder. These are the ones that cause you to have to peel yourself off of the ceiling. A few of the bolts were less than a half mile away, as the time between the flash and the boom was only a second or two. There were a few more bolts and booms this afternoon, but not much rain for us. The heavier rain fell to our west.

Tomorrow will very likely be a much quieter day, in terms of the decibel level and the amount of clouds and rain. It looks to me that the Spokane area will be mostly if not completely dry. There will probably be some thunderstorms that pop up over the more mountainous areas in the afternoon and evening. Temperatures should rise into the low to mid 80s.

If you have nothing better to do, and there really is nothing better that you can do, why not stop by St. John's Lutheran Church for our service at 9:30am. I'm going to be talking about retirement...not necessarily mine, but retirement in general. I think that just about everyone is going to be surprised by the direction that I am going in. We'll see about that!