What's the most noteworthy weather/ consequence of weather you've seen? (climate, tornadoes)
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I've just been reading in one of the other threads about the damage caused by a tornado and thinking about how I've never seen anything as damaging as that and living here I'm not likely to. It'd be interesting to see how what other people have seen (ice storms/hurricanes/floods etc) blow what tame stuff I've seen out of the water.
Worst thing I remember in this country was the Christmas Eve storm that hit northern England in 1997 and left one house near us with its roof blown off and debris blocking the road. A great Christmas for them I'm sure.
A few other weather-related things I'll probably never forget happened when I lived in Germany. I lived on the sixth floor of an apartment complex on a steep hillside overlooking the valley, so fog was common. One time the fog level was about four feet above my ground level, so standing up properly out on my balcony I was in clear air, but crouch down a little bit and I was in dense fog with an immediate contrast between the two.
Also, living there that winter I remember going into a shopping centre one mid-afternoon in -4C and snowy weather and coming out only 20 minutes later into -13C and sunny, the lowest temperature I'd ever seen. The next morning it was around -20C, so to see what that actually felt like instead of going to my classes I went on a long walk through the park, and by the time I'd come back the water bottle I'd taken with me had completely frozen solid. When I told that to my parents later on they didn't believe that was actually possible.
I've just been reading in one of the other threads about the damage caused by a tornado and thinking about how I've never seen anything as damaging as that and living here I'm not likely to. It'd be interesting to see how what other people have seen (ice storms/hurricanes/floods etc) blow what tame stuff I've seen out of the water.
Worst thing I remember in this country was the Christmas Eve storm that hit northern England in 1997 and left one house near us with its roof blown off and debris blocking the road. A great Christmas for them I'm sure.
I'm sure I remember a violent storm in the south of England one Christmas Eve in the late 1990's which uprooted trees near my house in Windsor. I was at Christmas midnight mass, and the St.George's Chapel in Windsor Castle where I was leaked rain through the roof and there were branches everywhere. I wonder if it was the same event. I remember it being more like 1999 though.
I saw a violent thunderstorm in Windsor also (though it was also in the midlands/south of England) on July 3rd, 1999. Continuous lightning, average of 1 flash of lightning per second.
People talk about storm clouds being so dark street lights come on in the day. In one city, this storm (which happened at night) did the opposite: lightning was so continuous that it caused the street lights to turn off because their sensors determined the sun had risen due to it being continuously as bright as day in the strobe lightning.
I was in a tornadic storm on September 29th, 2006; the tornado hit 5 miles from my place and caused damage. A (relatively) violent thunderstorm too, striking about 1:00PM, dark green skies, rapid rotation, intense bright blue CG lightning, was caught outside in that one.
Though I suppose the most damaging weather I saw in total was the January 18th, 2007 windstorm (which claimed 12 lives in the UK) which tore the roof partially off the nearby university, and plenty of other damage ofcourse.
I'm sure I remember a violent storm in the south of England one Christmas Eve in the late 1990's which uprooted trees near my house in Windsor. I was at Christmas midnight mass, and the St.George's Chapel in Windsor Castle where I was leaked rain through the roof and there were branches everywhere. I wonder if it was the same event. I remember it being more like 1999 though.
There was a massive storm around Christmas in 1999 causing serious damage in France (it has a similar status there as the 1987 storm does here) so you may be right with the year. I have no personal memory of the weather that Christmas.
When I lived in Ottawa, Ontario, I experienced a mild tornado (not even sure if it touched down) but it partially blew the roof off of the apartment building next to us and the building and all the tenants in it had to be evacuated for repairs. The street was also closed for several days.
I'm sure I remember a violent storm in the south of England one Christmas Eve in the late 1990's which uprooted trees near my house in Windsor. I was at Christmas midnight mass, and the St.George's Chapel in Windsor Castle where I was leaked rain through the roof and there were branches everywhere. I wonder if it was the same event. I remember it being more like 1999 though.
I saw a violent thunderstorm in Windsor also (though it was also in the midlands/south of England) on July 3rd, 1999. Continuous lightning, average of 1 flash of lightning per second.
People talk about storm clouds being so dark street lights come on in the day. In one city, this storm (which happened at night) did the opposite: lightning was so continuous that it caused the street lights to turn off because their sensors determined the sun had risen due to it being continuously as bright as day in the strobe lightning.
I was in a tornadic storm on September 29th, 2006; the tornado hit 5 miles from my place and caused damage. A (relatively) violent thunderstorm too, striking about 1:00PM, dark green skies, rapid rotation, intense bright blue CG lightning, was caught outside in that one.
Though I suppose the most damaging weather I saw in total was the January 18th, 2007 windstorm (which claimed 12 lives in the UK) which tore the roof partially off the nearby university, and plenty of other damage ofcourse.
Not nearly as much as continental climates like the USA or continental Europe but probably more the NZ, I'd say. Thunderstorms only occur on 5-10 days per year in the UK, intense ones maybe once a year in any location if you're lucky. Windstorms used to be more common but with the absense of westerly winds recently there hasn't been a notable one for a while (maybe one in Nov 2010?) but otherwise the last notable one was the Jan 2007 event.
There are certainly some notable storm events here in the history books, such as the bad storm in October 1987 (often referred to incorrectly as the "hurricane") and a similar but even more fatal one in January 1990 (?).
Then of course damaging tornadoes aren't unheard of either, the strong tornado of July 2005 in Birmingham cause severe damage to parts of the suburbs and injured 35 people and could easily have killed some. There was the Kensal Rise, North London tornado of December 7th 2006 which injured 6 people and caused severe property damage. It occured something like about 50 years to the day after a similar damaging tornado in London in the 50's.
Wind would be the most notable weather feature we have here. Living near the Atlantic, we have wind gusts in excess of 70mph / 113km/h every year. Our winters are usually defined as being windy as opposed to cold. This year and last year have been an exception to that. We rarely have strong winds in summer but we always do in winter at some stage.
The worst for me was 26th December 1998. We had gusts in excess of 100mph / 162km/h and our roof was badly damaged. We could hear the tiles blowing off and smashing on the ground, it was very scary as we feared it would blow the whole roof off. There was widespread damage. A lot of houses were damaged and a substantial number of trees/electricity lines were blown down. We had no electricity for three days. We had snow and frost shortly after the storm too so with no heating it was pretty cold. But others were much more unfortunate.
On New Year's Eve 2006, I was working in a supermarket during the holidays and my boss (****ing ****) made me go outside in the dark (electricity was out) to get peat briquettes from the (other) store despite my protests. The wind gusts at the time were almost 90mph / 145km/h. I could barely walk in it let alone wheel a flipping trolley whilst trying to avoid whacking cars with it.
In January 2008, we had another big windstorm during the night. Maximum gusts recorded were again over 100mph / 162km/h. This was the worst storm since 98. It did a little damage to the roof. I remember lying in bed (upstairs) and the strain on the roof was phenomenal. With each gust, I was thinking is this the one that rips off tiles? Scary stuff.
As I live on 'hilly' terrain we rarely get floods despite often having substantial/persistent rain. Towns near me often get flooded and fields often resemble lakes. The worst flooding was in 1991 (I think) when everywhere was badly flooded and the roads were impassable.
We've had a few big snowstorms too. A few times we've had over two feet (61cm) of snow and most of it fell in a few hours which was awesome.
We only get a few thunderstorms a year and most consist of a handful of lightning strikes so not exactly exciting. Once, when I was about 10, we climbed a local mountain on a nice sunny day in the summer. Cumulonimbus clouds were fast approaching from the other side but we were oblivious. It suddenly started pouring rain/hail and then the lightning started. We ran/slid down the mountain as fast as we could and when we got near the bottom I looked up and saw a lightning strike hit the mountain just above me. There were then lightning strikes in front of us too. Thankfully we made it home safely. That evening, we had another thunderstorm which was the worst I'd ever seen here even though it was pants compared to thunderstorms elsewhere. I saw it hit the electricity pole behind my house (about 150ft away). There were huge sparks, it was awesome.
A weak tornado or microburst hit a residential area about 2-3 km from my house.
I saw some terrible winds and gross looking clouds so I thought I'd investigate.
I saw on Norway Maple, maybe 30 years old, 25 feet tall that was ripped in half,
right down the centre of the tree, all the way to the ground...
and it had EVERY leaf still firmly affixed to each twig!
On my street, I saw at least one "dust-devil" form,
so it was interesting to see the origins of a funnel-shaped cloud at ground level.
I saw it spin about a revolution per second with a diameter about 50 ft,
so that's easily in excess of 60 mph which equals 88 ft/second.
Norway Maples were introduced to Canada in the 19th century to use as street trees because of their high salt-tolerance.
They are still widely planted deliberately,
to the point that most Ontarians do not know they aren't Canadian trees.
Biologists consider them weeds, as they reseed more aggressively in Spring than do our native maples.
So they propogate extremely easily, (very cheap to reproduce?)
perhaps that's why garden centres sell so many of them.
But these trees are of our worst for drought, heat (they're thirstier in 85+F / 30+C weather than any other tree) and apparently wind tolerance.
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Once, when I was about 10, we climbed a local mountain on a nice sunny day in the summer. Cumulonimbus clouds were fast approaching from the other side but we were oblivious. It suddenly started pouring rain/hail and then the lightning started. We ran/slid down the mountain as fast as we could and when we got near the bottom I looked up and saw a lightning strike hit the mountain just above me. There were then lightning strikes in front of us too. Thankfully we made it home safely. That evening, we had another thunderstorm which was the worst I'd ever seen here even though it was pants compared to thunderstorms elsewhere. I saw it hit the electricity pole behind my house (about 150ft away). There were huge sparks, it was awesome. 
