The Boyertown Area Times

Raindrops

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and allows the atmosphere to hold more moisture – thus setting the stage for more extreme precipitat­ion.

The effect supposedly is similar to the difference between a warm bathroom and a cold bathroom: the mirror fogs up more when the air is warmer. Which is why I always shave before I shower so I don’t look like I just bumped into Jack the Ripper.

Unlike many places in the country last year, Berks County didn’t have an extreme precipitat­ion event.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheri­c Administra­tion’s National Centers for Environmen­tal Informatio­n, the U.S. last year experience­d 16 weather and climate disasters with losses exceeding $1 billion, with total costs a record $306 billion.

Some of the more noteworthy events included the western wildfire season and Hurricanes Katrina, Maria and Irma.

Berks County hasn’t had an extreme precipitat­ion event since we got 24 inches of snow spanning Jan. 22 and Jan. 23 in 2016, second all-time only to the 34-inch avalanche that dropped on us Jan. 7-9, 1996.

As of this writing, Berks has been spared a major snowstorm this winter. Of course, now that I’ve brought that up, expect the Storm of the Century to bury us with smothering snow at any moment.

An unforgetta­ble extreme weather event I will never forget is the wicked hailstorm that ripped through Berks on May 22, 2014. The hail chewed up my roof, siding, spouting, garage door and deck, not to mention totaling my car while I was sitting in it.

Needless to say, I’ve had better days. In its wake I found it impossible to free myself from the quicksand of dealing with contractor­s and insurance companies. It all left blisters on my heart.

If global warming escalates, and it likely will since we’re not doing enough to address it, I fear that someday we may all wash away under a tsunami of precipitat­ion.

Niagara Falls already has a big waterfall. We don’t need one in Berks County.

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