What "storm" do you most associate with Texas? (Houston: school, tornado)

[TexasReb]

Fellow Texans...

Gotta post a new poll. Sandstorm gave me the opening, so blame him for it.

What "storm" do you most associate with Texas and/or your own experiences? And share some stories about them if you have any.

[Sandstorm214]

LOL...I guess I'm honored.

My screenname actually goes back to my days on an intramural team at Texas Tech. We called ourselves the Sandstorm--I wish I could remember why (I'm sure it was something we came up with as a brilliant idea after numerous adult beverages). It's been Sandstorm plus my area code ever since I had to set up a screenname for something in school involving letters and numbers. The area code changed from 806 to 214, but I've had a hard time letting the screenname go.

I guess I have to vote for tornadoes since, as I mentioned in another thread, my earliest clear memories involve the 1979 Wichita Falls tornado when I was 3. Ever since, I've been absolutely fascinated by tornadoes. I've often wondered about what percentage of kids who grow up in the tornado-prone parts of our state considered becoming a meteorologist growing up. I know I did as did several of my friends. I would be willing to bet it's a lot more common here than in other parts of the country. Maybe it's because the local weatherman is the closest thing there is to a celebrity in cities like Wichita Falls and Lubbock.

My next vote would probably be for the west Texas duststorm. I've found it's nearly impossible to explain a good old fashioned Lubbock duststorm to someone who has never experienced it. I've been in sandstorms and duststorms in Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, but the Lubbock ones are like no other. You feel the dust, smell the dust, and taste the dust. It gets in every conceivable crevice of your body. Most people hated them, but I always found them uniquely west Texan.

[shoe01]

I voted for "blue norther," but hailstorms might have worked as well.

[Willsson]

In the mid 50's we had some dust storms in Abilene but seems there weren't any in later years.

Growing up in Abilene we had blue northers every year, more than once. I did see one tornado, dangling over Lake Fort Phantom. It was small and never came down.

Living in Houston from the 70's to the mid 90's I saw only one hurricane, in the early 80's. I did wake up one night and instinctively headed for a closet with a pillow in hand, then realized there must have been a tornado near by but it tracked north of town.

So, I polled for 'blue norther'. They were pretty cool... no pun intended.

[pnc66]

I voted tornadoes even though we don't seem to get a lot of those in the Houston area. For some reason I think of them rather than hurricanes when thinking about Texas storms.

What in the world is a "blue norther"? :-?

[TexasReb]

Originally Posted by pnc66

I voted tornadoes even though we don't seem to get a lot of those in the Houston area. For some reason I think of them rather than hurricanes when thinking about Texas storms.

What in the world is a "blue norther"? :-?

LOL

Funny, I was just wondering if that expression is still in common use anymore.

When I was growing up, it referred to a strong cold front which changes the tempreture dramatically. You could see it come in and the temp could drop from, say, 75 to 35 in a matter of -- literally -- minutes.

I say "see it" come in as in that off to the north, you would see "bluish" high clouds approaching rapidly and when it hit, you knew it. That may be where the term originated. That is, from the color of the clouds coming in.

[HtownLove]

Since I was a we kid, I have heard the association with Tornadoes. Katrina had the news media abuzz about hurricanes. they last long so they are in the news for an extended amount of time and thus get national coverage. tornadoes don't last as long and unless it really kills a significant amount of people then the news people bearly give it a blip of time space, so people seem to think that Texas is hurricane central.

I know the media made a soap opera out of Rita seeing how Katrina had just hit, but Texas gets far far far more tornadoes than Hurricanes

[HtownLove]

Originally Posted by tofurkey

In the mid 50's we had some dust storms in Abilene but seems there weren't any in later years.

Growing up in Abilene we had blue northers every year, more than once. I did see one tornado, dangling over Lake Fort Phantom. It was small and never came down.

Living in Houston from the 70's to the mid 90's I saw only one hurricane, in the early 80's. I did wake up one night and instinctively headed for a closet with a pillow in hand, then realized there must have been a tornado near by but it tracked north of town.

So, I polled for 'blue norther'. They were pretty cool... no pun intended.

people were already on Earth in the 50's? I thought all life started with Regan

[BobTex]

Originally Posted by HtownLove

I know the media made a soap opera out of Rita seeing how Katrina had just hit, but Texas gets far far far more tornadoes than Hurricanes

Don't understand the "soap opera" comment ... please expound on it please!

[HtownLove]

Originally Posted by BobTex

Don't understand the "soap opera" comment ... please expound on it please!

well after katrina no one wanted to be caught with their pants down.

the government wasn't gonna be caught being too slow ith aid, and the media wasn't gonna be ill prepared for coverage.

for days before the storm hit, it was given regular coverage. even the evacuation was a leading news story. They made a soap opera out of the thing. kinda like they did with the coal miners last week.