When I was 15, I was fearless when it came to storms. After living in a mobile home for 10 or so years of my life, I was wise, and not scared. I knew what to do, I knew where to hide, and I knew we’d always survive.
That day, in 1980, I didn’t watch the weather before heading out. The sun was breaking through the clouds. To me, that was sunny and meant it was safe to go wherever the wind carried me.
I got on my bike and took off to ride to town to see my friends. It was HOT outside – 90 some degrees. We didn’t have airconditioning at that time in my life, so I was used to the heat. It didn’t bother me much. I also didn’t like to sweat or didn’t think I sweat, I was a girl for goodness sake, we don’t sweat. How those thoughts combined, I’m not sure? But the heat didn’t bother me that much.
It was an enjoyable day. I hung out with friends, we rode our bikes everywhere. Stopped for pop or snacks. Just teenagers doing teenager things at the beginning of the 1980s.
I was smitten with one of the cute guys, so I was oblivious and didn’t pay attention to the storms heading our way. No social media, no cellphones, we were all just free spirits riding our bikes around town. But the clouds were building. Fluffy white clouds. Thunder clouds.
We ended up at the cute guy’s house. And it turned later and later into the day. The clouds also got darker and darker and my friend took off to her house.
She didn’t live far from him and wanted to get home before the storms hit. She was a lucky girl. Anyhow, I lived a good 6-10 miles away (I couldn’t tell back then either, it might’ve only been 3-5 miles ;-). There was little chance I’d be home before the storm hit.
The clearing skies were changing and combining as the wind started to pick up.
I was tired and wanted to wait for my mom to pick me up and spend more time with the cute guy. I knew mom and I could throw my bike in the back of the Gremlin and I’d be safe and not have to ride back home alone. Cute guy’s parents warned us that we needed to stay inside, and couldn’t go anywhere. And that my mom shouldn’t come to get me either.
A big storm had hit Minneapolis and was heading our way.
Yeah me, I got to stay at cute guy’s house. The storm was the furthest thing from my mind. Storms didn’t scare me. Plus I was more worried about where I’d sleep? The parents were worried about how to figure out sleeping arrangements so that the youngins’ wouldn’t ‘sleep’ together.
And then the storm hit. It hit hard. We could hear the trees falling and the rain pounding. It was scary.
And then I worried about my mom. It was a nasty storm – a record life-changing storm. The power was out, and we couldn’t call her. We just had to wait it out. Until morning.
I don’t know where my dad was, maybe he had returned from his trip? I had to wait to find out. But I knew in my heart my mom would know where to go and where to hide while the wind blew past our house.
Thankfully, we all survived, and so did my mom.
The Gremlin survived too. That’s the car I’d learn to drive a stick shift in, and it survived! Whew, I was looking forward to driving that when I turned 16.
Thank goodness I had my bike with me. I could ride it around the debris from the trees that had fallen on the roads. I could ride it to find mom on a street that she could get to with the car.
After 39 years, the memories are still easy to pull out of my memory bank and relive with each storm we see rolling in our backyard.
This is a really long video of that storm, full of funny commercials. It was the 80s!
It also includes the details and vivid memories of the costly storm that taught me to fear and respect the power of the potential of storms.
Post Inspiration – July Storms. Becky B’s #JulySquares and #Blue
PS – Are you fearful of storms? Do you have a memory of a big storm? Do you enjoy watching storm clouds?
Shelley, that must have been frightening. I grew up loving storms, too. I was never afraid. Fast forward marrying and moving to Florida where we endured 3 back-to-back hurricanes in one year. We lived in a dark boarded up house for three months. I hated every minute of it. To see the devastation that was the aftermath is something I will never forget. I am glad you and your family survived the storm. A healthy respect for Mother Nature is always advisable.
Wow, Maggie, I can’t imagine living through hurricanes. I’m glad you survived. I would’ve hated living in a boarded up house as well. Storms can do incredible damage. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and support.
That must have been a terrifying night. It’s one thing knowing/feeling that you’re going to be OK, but worrying about others and worrying that they’re worrying about you. All mixed up.
I grew up in an area that flooded. I still read about floods in that neighborhood to this day. I wasn’t afraid of the wind or the rain, but flooding was different.
Thank you, Dan, yes, it was a terrifying night for all of us. Thankfully not more lives were lost in the storm. The trees of “tree city” status that we lost have finally just gotten back to the height they were back then.
Flooding is scary too – I can imagine you don’t have fond memories of that.
Woa, that must have been terrifying. I am lucky, I grew up in an area where the worst that could happen was 2 1/2 meters of snow in the winter. We had tjunderstorms but nothing compared to your storm. Oh my…. 🙋♀️🐝
Yes, it was. You’re fortunate not to have to worry about the storms. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
That is fear on such a basic level! I remember being carried home as a real little kid during a hurricane. Being outside and the umbrella inside out – useless – as we hurried through the backyard.
Worrying about your mom and your home without knowing what was going on…that fuels imagination in the worst way.
Yes, that it is. Oh, my, that’s scary for you too, especially if you remember those vivid details! Our human instincts kick in and our minds can imagine all sorts of things. Glad we don’t have yearly storms like that one 39 years ago! Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
You’re welcome!
Wow Shelley, such great memories! I guess you and the Cute Guy didn’t connect. Storms don’t get me these days but in Monsoon Season here, stay indoors. The lightning is wicked. I thumbed through most of the video, it’s amazing how the technology has changes as well as the clothing and hair styles. Wow!! 😎
LOL – nope, didn’t end up with that cute guy. I think everywhere has some kind of weather that isn’t pleasant. Lightning is scary too. Isn’t that video funny – the clothes, the hair styles, the cars, the commercials. Those part of the memories are fun to revisit. 🙂
Wow, that was some storm! I remember one where they told us to keep the kids home from school because the wind was blowing everything around and the school lost power but nothing like that! My first new car was a Gremlin! It was silver and I called it Bullet. Traded in my Plymouth Valiant for it. Wish I still had it!
Very scary storm, and so much damage. I’m glad you didn’t try to make it home on your bike that day. I know what you mean about the memories of bad storms that you never forget. I was in the F5 tornado that hit here in 1970 and still get nervous whenever a thunderstorm comes even now so many years later.
Yes, it was. Thank you, I’m glad I didn’t try to get home either. WOW an F5 that’s scary!! I don’t blame you for being nervous when thunderstorms appear. Thank you for sharing your thoughts!
Chicago, for some reason, is pretty immune to bad weather; when we’d get weather warnings, they always seemed to affect the counties to the west and south. Here in Atlanta, we get some seriously bad weather, I think because of the Gulf of Mexico (which we’re nowhere near, but still affects weather here). Most of it starts in Alabama and is really blowing hard by the time it gets here (50 miles away). We’ll get rain, thunder and lightning, high wind, hail and occasionally one of the severe storms turns into a tornado and causes some serious damage. Fortunately, we’ve never been hit with a tornado, but one of the houses we almost bought was knocked off its foundation by one and had to be torn down. You know it’s been bad when blue tarps cover the roofs in a particular area.
I tell everyone to get a weather radio. They’re around $30 (you can get more deluxe ones, but that’s a good price) and use SAME technology so you can just get the weather bulletins for your area. I also have the FEMA app that does the same thing, but I notice the warnings come about 5-10 minutes after the weather radio goes off.
Yeah, Chicago is just windy all the time. Storms just blow right by?! Oh, my, yes, I’ve had friends who lived in Atlanta and said similiar things about storms. Glad nothing has happened to your home.
We do have a scanner – to listen to police reports, not a weather one, that I know of?! Maybe I should find out! We live just a mile from the siren station, so we hear right away when they go off. But, it would be nice to know more, sooner. Thank you for sharing your tips, John, much appreciated!
Shelley, what are a few clouds and rain when there is a storm brewing in one’s heart?
Aw, Drew…sounds like a lovely poem in the works ;-)!
LOL
What a powerful memory. I’m respectful of thunderstorms and your story brings that idea home even more. As a girl I lived in a house that was hit by lightning in the middle of the night. Our TV caught on fire– quite memorable. Mother Nature has her ways of making you aware, doesn’t she?
Yes, they are powerful memories. Yikes, that is scary. Were you watching it at the time, or was it a trick by Mother Nature who was just trying to put the weather forecaster in their place via your TV? Just kidding, it’s just my mind playing tricks again – plus we never really believe our forecasters so I’ve wanted to shock them through the TV screen for the # of times they repeat the same forecast that doesn’t turn out right in the end.
No, we were asleep. My mother heard what she thought was me popping popcorn, so she got up to investigate. It was the TV with the tubes slowly exploding, flames coming out of it. She called the fire dept, got me up, and we anxiously waited inside the house because the thunder and lightning was so intense we didn’t want to go outside. It was the ultimate stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Oh, my, THAT is scary. Thankfully the fire was contained and you and your mom were safe.
I like some storms but high winds are pretty scary ! We’ve had a lot of storms in southeast Texas. Going to watch the video now! Can’t wait to see the commercials. 😁
I bet you get some wild storms in Texas. Yeah, the video is fun to skim through!
Wow ,the destruction was so bad and so widespread! I’m glad you were spared .
Yes, it was, I’m glad too. Thank you for taking time to share your thoughts and check out the video. I take no credit for it, other than I was there. 😉
You can get out from under the bed now Shelley……and drag that cute guy with you 😀 😀
LOL! That’s funny!
😀
Storms scare me and they didn’t always – but they do now as the weather is getting more and more erratic here – I worry where I’ll go if a tornado topples the big trees around here and they land on my house. Right now we have the second torrential rainstorm of the evening – there was a thirty-car pileup about 25 miles from here as the rain was coming down in sheets. I am already worried for the end of the week and the storms we will have when the temp is 96 and the heat index is 10 degrees higher. That makes me on edge. My grandmother used to run around and throw holy water around the house – her mom did that because a friend or neighbor was out in the fields, struck by lightning and was electrocuted on the spot. My mom was not scared of storms – it evidently skipped a generation.
I’m sure you had the same storm that we did – I just Googled the Derecho in Michigan and sure enough it was in 1980 and on this very date (July 16th) so we had the same storm as you did … I was at work and the senior partner had a corner office, all large glass windows and they blew in and papers, and all his travel mementos that were on shelves all flew out the window or landed on the floor – most out the window. They had just installed new ivory-colored carpeting while he was on vacation and had repainted his office at the same time. Luckily he was out of the office when that happened. At home, all the young trees that had just been planted in the median separating two main highways, even though all were staked, they bent right over and had to be removed. I remember my mom said she had the weather forecast on and they described the sky as green – yes, it was – she went and looked. I came home from work and my father was going to mow the lawn that night, and it was a little long and looked as though someone did a “comb-over” as it all was flattened down. Here is a link as I see it hit Wisconsin as well:
https://www.weather.gov/dtx/1980derecho
Yes, that was one massive storm that did lots of devastation. You know exactly what I was seeing! Scary, is right. Glad your family survived too!
My mom said she would never forget that greenish color for the sky … then the wind roaring.
I agree – that greenish sky is something I remember about that storm too! The winds were horrible.
Yes. I hope we never see it again in our lifetime, but with all this erratic weather, it’s no guarantee.
The sky was an erie yellowish red this morning and I thought – ‘oh, no!’ It’ll be a hot one today. Stay cool!
What is that expression of “red sky in the morning” … we won’t go there right now as there are enough worries about this heat wave and luckily tomorrow many manufacturing plants and office buildings will be shut down and not gobbling up all that energy – I worry something will happen like August of 2013 when everyone in a large area went off the grid, us included. I hope the critters fare okay in this excessive heat. Stay cool too Shelley.
Yeah, it’s gonna be a hot one. I hope the power holds out too. Stay cool, Linda, stay safe.
I understand we have a whopper storm later today. Thankfully office buildings/plants will not be using a lot of power – that may help things out. I shut down at about 5:45 Friday because I’d had the laptop unplugged during not one but two storms while I was at work – hail, thunder and torrential rain and there was lightning threatened per the weather station and the meterologist I follow on Twitter, so I pulled the plug for the evening and went to bed very early . Our area (local communities but not my City) was hit extremely hard and 100,000 outages this morning from downed trees. They originally said a tornado warning sirens going off, but it was in fact, 70 mph winds so the sirens went off . They said Wisconsin had some bad storms as well. I am going to try to write a post after catching up on comments. I am way behind in Reader unfortunately. I did walk today, but at the grocery store and I did not think it was as bad as yesterday to be honest. I hate this weather and the worries that come with it. I hear we will have temps in the 50s on Wednesday! Stay cool and safe too Shelley.
I’ve always enjoyed storms, but you do have to respect them I agree. Tornados frighten me the most, just the sirens even I find scary, which I know is part of the point.
Storms can be fun to watch or chase like some people do. Tornados frighten me too. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Stay safe!
terrifying! You sure do get big ones where you are
That we do! It’s storming right now as I type.
Yikes!