Our driving weather today wasn’t quite as bad as yesterday’s.  We only drove through three squalls, but the hail was bigger and lasted longer.  The story can be told in pictures.

Hail accumulating on the windshield

Hail on the grass at the rest stop

The storm with the hail behind us . . .

. . . as we drove toward the next storm.

Finally! The storms were to the east of us as we approached Jeff’s house.

We usually look forward to night driving in Kansas because it’s so dark, we can see the Milky Way and zillions of stars–a nice change from our usual suburban sky view.  On this trip, however, the sky show was lightning.

It’s spring on the Great Plains, so that means tornadoes and thunderstorms.  We had tornado watches and severe thunderstorm warnings all the way from the Missouri border to WaKeeney, Kansas where we stopped for the night.  We drove through four squall lines (red cells on the radar) and reached WaKeeney just before hitting the fifth one.  We had very heavy rain several times, as well as some small hail, and we saw impressive, almost constant lightning in all directions.  At one point, we hit a strong crosswind.  Fortunately, my car is IFR rated (right!) and traffic is light in Kansas.  Ted’s driving experience and quick reaction skills kept the car moving forward in spite of two swerves.

When we arrived at the motel, a special weather report mentioned that the squall line we had just passed through was now producing quarter-size hail and 60 mph winds.  I’m glad we were ahead of that!  It was a long, tense drive, but a great show by Mother Nature.

A shelf cloud just above the horizon ahead of the storms

A very low-hanging cloud

One of many lightning strikes

Just last week, Ted and I were saying we’ve never seen golf ball-sized hail, much less two-inch hail.  Then, today, look what fell from the sky.

This stuff makes a lot of noise on the roof!

At first, I was outside, just enjoying the sound of thunder from the approaching storm.  Then I heard big plops in the pool and noticed it was hailing ahead of the rain.  It seemed like a good idea to seek shelter indoors, so I watched the big (one- to one-and-a-half-inch) hail from a window.  When the wind picked up and started blowing the hailstones against the glass, I was afraid the window would shatter, so I moved to the leeward safety of the covered front porch.  After a minute or two, these huge hailstones started falling.  Being a meteorologist’s wife, I rolled up my jeans, put on some flipflops and a waterproof jacket, and ran into the grass to rescue some hailstones for authentic documentation with my National Weather Service yardstick–even though it’s not seasonally appropriate.

Note:  Our hail turned out to be nearly insignificant.  Just a few miles away, in O’Fallon, grapefruit-sized hail was reported and the NWS office had four-inch hail.

Over a week of weather in the 60s and 70s plus some rain gave me a surprise when I looked out the window today.  The grass is green!  It’s not turning green–it’s green!  Spring has sprung!

Another record high today:  78 degrees!  Unfortunately, reality returns next week with highs in the mid- and upper 40s, but this was great while it lasted.

Today’s high temperature:  a record high (since 1930) of 77 degrees.  Normal high is 46.  Tomorrow’s forecast high:  72.  I drove with the top down to enjoy the sunshine.  It’s definitely a good day!

File photo. If only the trees and grass were already this green!

Pitchers and catchers report for spring training today, so winter is nearly over!  It makes me remember what a good time we had at the Cardinals spring training game in Jupiter, FL last March.  There was snow in St. Louis, but it was in the upper 70s in Jupiter.  Aaahhh.

Here’s a beautiful picture of the Gateway Arch with the snow we had a few days ago.

Today I proved that I play nicely in the snow/sandbox.  We had two inches of snow last night, but I’m still too sick to play with my new snowblower.  I shared it with Ted and let him have the fun this time.

It’s only two inches of snow, but that’s enough to finally try out the new snowblower I got last year.  Good news:  it works!

We just got home from walking in the falling snow.  It’s 20 degrees, but not windy, so it was a good, invigorating walk.  The forecast is for 3-4 inches of snow in the next 12 hours.  Maybe I’ll finally get to use my new snowblower!  ⛄

The forecast was right:  it’s cold!  But it’s sunny, and not windy, so we decided to walk outside instead of on the treadmill.  As the saying goes, “There is no bad weather; only bad clothing.”  We put on the good clothing (base layer, heavy socks, down jackets, etc.) and headed out.  It wasn’t bad at all, and we felt refreshed and invigorated when we got home–much more than we would have on our treadmill walks.  It was strange not to see any other walkers, runners, or bikers, and only a few cars.  That surely gives us bragging rights for today.

We had our first snowfall of the season yesterday–about two inches.  It was the fifth latest measurable snowfall on record for the area.  Unbelievably, a snowplow cleared our street when it had an inch of slush on it!  An hour later, all the neighborhood driveways were clear due to melting.  I guess the plowing overtime is too good to resist!  The down side:  I still haven’t had a chance to use the new snowblower I got last winter.