A Weather Geek Photographer in Texas

We had a pretty good line of strong Thunderstorms move through the Fort Hood area yesterday afternoon. Still no tornadoes, hail, or anything like that, but the “scenic value” is getting a little better …

As a self described “weather geek” (I’m one of those lucky people who actually enjoys what I do at work), this time of year, in the section of the country, can occasionally be pretty exciting. Although, yesterday I might have overdone it just a little bit …

I’d been watching the towering cumulus build up all day, and we actually got a pretty good thunderstorm just down to our South East a bit earlier in the afternoon, so I had a pretty good idea that we were probably going to get hit. So I’m sitting in the living room with Ana, watching tv, and I decide to go look out the window. The sky was getting really dark, really quick out to the west.

I went over to open the door, and almost had it blow back in my face. I poked my head back in the living room, and told Ana (half-jokingly) “oh boy, I think our stuff is going to blow away“. Then I ran upstairs to grab my camera and take some pictures from the balcony.

About 15 minutes later, I decided to go get a few pictures from “street level”. As I came out front, camera in hand, I was greeted with a serious version of “the look” from my loving wife …

It turns out that a couple of our lawn chairs, and a few toys actually Had Blown Away!

I suppose she had a point, with her “look”. A normal person’s first reaction to a big thunderstorm, with strong winds, probably would have been to either secure our stuff, or if it looked really bad, take cover.

But …

I’m a weather geek photographer in Texas.

My first thought when I see a big thunderstorm is almost always …

Where the heck did I put my camera?

til next time …