Day 3 - 130 -- Sky Watching

Bright sunshine was with us for most of the day. About the end of the work day, the skies to the east changed to dark and menacing clouds. The skies over town remained fairly bright -- blue skies with some white clouds. As I drove home, the skies to the east looked almost navy blue. That colour would mean something very nasty on the prairies -- wind with possible lightening. Here it doesn't mean the same thing. There was to be rain and possibly snow further north and east of here, so these clouds were likely the edge of that system.

Reading the sky is different here, for sure. In the winter, the dark blue sky means snow and likely within 5-10 minutes. With the hills and such, watching weather from a distance isn't as common. I've done it from the cape watching weather systems travel across the water, but from down in the hills and forested areas, weather isn't fully recognized until it is almost upon you. The dark almost navy blue sky I encountered in southern Saskatchewan once meant the bright sunny summer day was about to change. I was driving towards the darker sky. At one point, I came around a curve to be mesmerized by the truly navy sky and turquoise ditch water and the grass was a surreal green. Ahead of me on the road in the distance was a white cloud touching the ground like one sees with rain in a distance. I did snap to as I realized that the road was covered with grass, leaves and stones. Trying to do a 360 degree swivel to see all around me was a challenge. It was at the point of the debris on the road -- which quickly turned to white piles of hail on the road shoulders -- that I realized this was likely something quite nasty -- a wind event. I was looking closely for funnel clouds. I felt that I would pull off at the next town and visit with a relative for a bit before heading along. Then a semi-trailer was lying on its side in the ditch -- the result of a wedge wind. I did pull off and saw that the town was covered in tree branches and leaves, so instead of visiting, I parked by the grain elevator, listened to the news and just waited so the system would be further ahead of me for the rest of my trip. As it was a work trip, I did ask if I could get the "beyond road's end" rates instead of the usual rates, since I had indeed seen Oz. It made me realize that the story of Dorothy and the wizard was based on actual colours during major wind storms and that the switch from black and white to technicolour in the movie made perfect sense.

The song for today deals with the sky ahead of a storm. Enjoy!

Stormy Sky -- The Kinks