Normally, this pipeline feeds summer storms over Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada - but on Wednesday morning, the moisture seeped into California. First, a somewhat-unusual flow of monsoonal moisture. There were several difference-makers in the air over L.A. Don’t Worry - I’m From A Place With Real Weather, And I’m Here To Help.” I was so excited that I more-than-half-seriously pitched my editors a story entitled, “So You’ve Never Heard Thunder Before. On Wednesday, to my glee, I was wrong: a series of storms rolled through Southern California, bringing actual thunder and lightning to my adopted home. So after nearly a decade living on the West Coast, I’ve trained myself against getting my hopes up for Real Weather: That rumble outside my window is likely just a dumpster rolling downhill, a firework booming across town or the sound of my dreams collapsing like an oil drum under a tank. I love them because, in elementary school, after my first time watching Twister, a (perfect) film about a fictional tornado outbreak, my friends and I had to retreat into the basement - to shelter from a real storm, right outside our window. I love them both in spite of, and because of, the thrilling terror that only a Midwestern tornado siren can inspire.
