BIG winds (for Song, lover of the winds)

[Dee]

For the third day in a row, Ottawa established a record for the high daily temperature, but wind warnings were issued for several areas south of Ottawa.

Wednesday, a high of 11C, recorded at 8 a.m., broke the record of 10C set in 1965. By 9 a.m., however, the temperature had fallen to 9C, on its way to a predicted 1C by afternoon.

The warm weather was accompanied by high winds that caused damage across southern and Eastern Ontario.

Winds in Ottawa were southwest at 30 km/h, gusting to 60 km/h, and were expected to increase to 40 km/h, with 60 km/h gusts this evening - accompanied by rain - before becoming light near midnight.

At 10:15, the International Bridge between Johnstown, Ontario, and Ogdensburg, New York, was closed to traffic. A tractor-trailer involved in a collision was hanging over the edge.

Ontario Provincial Police said the truck was on its way to the United States and it appears the high winds took it over the side. The male driver suffered minor injuries.

Power was out to at least 32,000 in the province.

Big winds (http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=60c8a376-27b5-4e6b-a453-eda1cb57e0c0&k=50065)

[hoops]

the invisible power. when the wind blows no one knows from whence it comes or wither it goes. by the time you hear the wind it's upon you... we had some heavy winds today, tho i don;t have numbers, branches were down and lots of stuff in the roads. hope things slow down quickly for you dee
pace
hoops

[Dee]

Some days you just count your blessings, Hoops.

Many areas in the region lost power with hydro lines blown down but mine wasn't one of them. Roofs were torn off buildings and in Toronto a sign blew off a building on Bay Street and plummeted 58 stories to the ground. Luckily, no one was killed.

Meanwhile, Ottawa broke records for high temperature three days in a row.

But relax, there is no climate change. :rolleyes:

Yah, right.

[RedjackRyan]

I think we got a piece of that nasty wind yesterday as well, Gusts up to 58mph where i live.. We were without power from 3am to about 1pm, trees downed, a couple of roofs ripped off.. It was pretty wild.
Never heard a wind like that either, absolutely howling through the trees.

Pretty cool actually, except for the property damage.

[Dee]

I live on the top floor of my building. Believe me, there is nothing cool about thinking your windows are going to blow in at any second.

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k267/deemark/Emoticons/_boggled.gif

[hoops]

when i was growing up. we lived (dad still does) right at the foot of th catskill mountains...sort of in a kind of valley and th wind would roll through that valley on windy nights, it would sound like a tornado on it's side. we'd often get it from the north and the south at the same time. i slept on the second (top ) floor and the windows would shake and rattle, and every time a gust came thru it sounded as if the roof would blow off. a few times during those years a tornado did roll thru our valley, somehow luckily it missed all the homes. there was a winter night , the second year we had our in ground pool and the wind lifted the cover off the pool which was staked to the ground in 30 places and had waterbags all the way around the sides. the wind lifted it and took it to where we never saw it again, it took the chain link fence and stretched it out to double it's size, and when morning came there were waves five to 8 feet high of ice froven over the sides of the pool. it still chills me 34 years later.
peace
hoops

[Bat]

Good grief, Hoops! ...I used to joke about having waves on my coffee cup out in SF bay, but, (except for the month after St.Helena blew and the winds were 50 mph all day, dying at night and starting again in the morning), I haven't experienced anything near that violent! (It was fun sailing!)

[DaveM]

I was once caught in what I believe was a downburst thunderstorm--some folks claimed it was a tornado but the downed trees were all laying in the same direction so I presume it was a straight-line wind. The sky got black and the voice of the wind rose and we all headed for the basement....and it had passed by the time I was halfway down the steps.

It was a long time ago, but I believe there were 10 trees down just around the house (one laying on the roof) and I know not how many in the immediate area. A nearby fellow had a 23' travel trailer parked in his back yard and it was picked up, tossed over a fence, and landed at least 50 feet beyond. Some of the shingles were stripped from our roof, and about a year later I found a shingle that matched those that had "vanished" out in the woods roughly half a mile from the house.

After it passed the entire sky turned a strange shade of orange. No idea what sort of wind velocity was involved, but it was considerable. Yes, it does sound like a freight train--a freight train at VERY close range.

Still amazed at how fast that came and went....I've watch two tornadoes from a reasonably safe distance and it never appeared as if they were passing over an area at anything like the same kind of speed.

[hoops]

dave...shooooot, that is fast..not even enough time to think
peace
hoops

[DaveM]

Hoops, it was a very humbling experience. We become all too confident of our mastery of the world. But less than a minute surrounded by that incredible wind reminded me of how small we truly are in the face of the greater picture. It is a lesson I do not believe I will ever forget.