Thunder, lightning as summer arrives
The thunder rumbled across the mountains, a low, steady roll that carried for miles.
On Saturday evening, as I cooked dinner at our fire pit, I gazed above a distant ridge, where the thunder seemed to originate. About a minute later, a lightning bolt fired across the dark sky.
“One, two three,” I counted, and at “nine,” another deep thunder roll resonated across the mountains.
The time from flash to bang, or lightning to thunder, represents 5 seconds per mile. At 9 seconds, the lightning was nearly 2 miles away.
No problem. The air smelled like a summer rain on hot asphalt, and I peered up and watched for more.
The vacation season gets under way this week, and travelers will find a high chance for short-term thunderstorms all week across the mountain country, from Shasta to Tahoe to Yosemite to Whitney.
These are not organized weather systems, such as the winter storms that arrive in sustained events.
You can wake up to clear skies, spend most of the day out hiking, biking or boating without a cloud in sight. In mid-afternoon, the giant bubblers, the cumulonimbus clouds, can then build vertically thousands of feet into the sky.
Light the fuse and stand back. The show only lasts for an hour or two. “Soon to come, soon to pass,” we say about weather and friendship. “Long to come, long it will last.”
Thunderstorms are common in early evening from late May through early July. In California, it is a regional phenomenon. A layer of moist air on the coast is carried east over hot, dry air in the Central Valley, and then hits the mountain crest. The air then lifts straight up, mixes with the moist layer, and creates the towering cumulus.
You can calculate the distance by counting out flash-tobang. If the lightning is closer than a half-mile, descend into forest. Do not stand next to a lone tree. Remove metal objects, like hiking poles or frame packs. Split up your group.
Many love the lightning and giant thunder rolls, and will rope up a tarp (for the rain) and watch the action. It is a sign that summer and the vacation season has arrived.