(no subject)

[auntiemeesh]

What an exciting afternoon. We were given a chance to put our Emergency Weather drill into practical application at work. There were a variety of tornado warnings/watches for our area, just around the time that parents come to pick their children up. So all the kids from upstairs were sent down to the basement (where we Infant/Toddler folks hang out anyway), including a number of parents who had already arrived to pick up.

We actually got the first round of the storm earlier in the afternoon, while our kids were having snack. The sky was almost pitch dark, it was raining heavily and there were some flashes of lightning and rumbles of thunder. We love to share weather experiences with the kids, so one of the teachers went to our back door and opened it up to let the kids hear/see the rain. And then it began hailing with ice balls maybe a centimeter in diameter or a little less - the biggest hail I can remember seeing prior to that. I have since seen bigger.



This was what was in my yard when I got home from work, a good forty minutes after the second round of hail came through. I am so glad it came at 5:20, while I was at work and not 6:20 when I would have been walking home from work.

The storm has calmed down considerably, but I was still glad to accept a ride home this evening. It's quite exciting to have that sort of shared group experience with a storm - we all stood around chatting about how none of us had ever seen hail that big before - but it would be the pits to be caught out in it!

Comments

[whtmtnwmn.livejournal.com]

Wow--I've never seen hail that big! Were the kids scared?

Glad you're safe!
=D

[auntiemeesh.livejournal.com]

During the early part of the storm, when we were still in our room - with windows and the ability to see/hear the storm, we were making it pretty fun for the kids so they thought it was great. And then later, we were in a room with no windows and everyone was still very upbeat and cheerful. None of the adults acted even remotely worried about the situation so the kids didn't see anything to be scared of. I'm sure that would have changed if hail that big had been falling on their heads though, lol.

[shirebound]

I haven't seen hail that big in a loooong time. Glad it didn't hit you! You're getting wild weather this week.

[auntiemeesh.livejournal.com]

No kidding! Tonight and tomorrow it's supposed to snow. But it's March so this sort of wild weather is appropriate.

[maypanic.livejournal.com]

Wow! Very glad you didn't get caught out in that, that would hurt.

[auntiemeesh.livejournal.com]

Yeah, very glad I wasn't walking home when those suckers were falling from the sky!

[maypanic.livejournal.com]

It's hailing here right now. Looked smallish last time I checked, but it sounds quite violent. Having Gram to calm has to be about as much fun as keeping kids calm was for you!

[westwindschild.livejournal.com]

Pretty amazing hail! Glad you didn't have to walk home in it. I've seen it that big once or twice in my life, but not recently.

[auntiemeesh.livejournal.com]

We don't get hail very often and when we do, it's almost always tiny little pellets, raindrop sized.

[lyda-pearl.livejournal.com]

hail, what does it mean?

[ani-no-mouse.livejournal.com]

So intense!

[auntiemeesh.livejournal.com]

Lol!

[antbee362.livejournal.com]

Pretty amazing! It is interesting to read these posts and see the variety of weather we are experiencing in the various regions. Glad the kids were ok with it all. A whole batch of freaked out kids would be awful.

[antbee362.livejournal.com]

Whoops, forgot to say also really glad you got a ride and that the hail didn't correspond with your travel time.

[auntiemeesh.livejournal.com]

A room full of freaked out kids is never fun, but that usually stems from a room full of freaked out adults and luckily, no one I'm working with this year is inclined to get too freaked out about things like this.

[ani-no-mouse.livejournal.com]

Wow! Hail like that can do major damage to cars, but I'm glad you got a ride home so it didn't have an opportunity to do major (or minor) damage to your head!

[auntiemeesh.livejournal.com]

One of my co-teachers went outside for a few seconds during the first round of much smaller hail, to pick some up for the kids to look at. She got plinked in the neck while bending over and even that smaller one seemed to really sting. I'm very glad to have avoided it altogether.