Remember I said thunderstorms in the U.K. are nice, tame little beasts? (That’s not an exact quote, but it’s in the spirit of what I wrote.) Well, on Friday Tom D. posted news of a big honkin’ thunderstorm in Cambridge: 200 lightning strikes a minute, flooding, hail the size of—well, I’ve always thought claims about hailstone size were questionable. You know, hail the size of lemons, of basketballs, of taxicabs. But I did find a picture of a handful of hailstones next to a pound coin and if they weren’t exactly the same size, they were big. They’d have hurt, so why quibble?
So there’s my sort-of retraction. Thunderstorms here can be big and tough if they want to be and, Tom, would you keep them up your way? Thanks.
Notes from the U.K. 
Splendid! Thunderstorms figure prominently in the book I’m revising. It’s late and now Must Be In August 1. I’m so glad I didn’t see your first post–and that I don’t have to chuck the book and start all over! HUGE sign of relief.
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Good timing then. Just add in a huge dose of surprise when they happen and you’re in the clear.
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Brainerd MN had a thunderstorm with hail so big, it knocked Babe the Blue Ox out cold. The hail stones then damned up the Mississippi and… well… it did…truth be told.
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If it’s the truth, it’s the truth. Can’t argue with that.
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We don’t get much in the way of thunderstorms (and I sure miss them), but good sized hail is a somewhat frequent occurrence.
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Sitting in soggy Cornwall this morning enjoying your blog.
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I’m not sure what part of the county you’re in, but it’s been soggy here as well. I have vague hopes for the afternoon being better, but I wouldn’t want to put a lot of money on that hunch. Glad I’m giving you something to do while it’s miserable out there.
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We are staying in Tywardreath near Fowey but we went to Falmouth this afternoon & it was quite bright.
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We had moments of sun here. Or I think that’s what it was. It’s been so long that my memory of it is getting a little hazy. Enjoy your visit.
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Love thunderstorms since I grew up with the big lumps of hail and ground shaking thunder
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I loved them too. As a kid in Manhattan, I was oddly divorced from the weather (I don’t know how to explain that exactly, but it seems true, even though I got hot and cold and wet, just like anyone anywhere else). So when a big honkin’ rain fell and the thunder crashed, I loved it. I was surprised when I met kids who were scared of storms.
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My mother was scared of storms
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Interesting, then, that you came to love them. People often talk as if parents’ fears would leak into their kids.
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I’m not a storm chaser, but getting a lightening shot is on my photo list.
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That would be impressive.
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That’s a long way off – I can’t even take good moon shots yet, and the moon is stationary, LOL.
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Well, sort of stationary.
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