A Severe June Thunderstorm

Yesterday was an exciting and scary day.  I always write about our Wisconsin snowstorms, but I don't usually write about thunderstorms.  It started out as a normal day.  We did have a rain storm a few days ago as a result of unseasonable 90 degree temperatures, but yesterday was nice.  The temperatures were in the upper 70's.  The weather forecast mentioned a chance of thunderstorms, but we didn't take them too seriously.  Our television stations are from Green Bay, Wisconsin which is two hours away from us.  Even though we are in their viewing area, the weather is usually very different from what they predict.  At 1:00pm my husband headed down to the Senior Center to play Sheepshead.  He plays cards on Wednesdays.  I always take that time in the afternoon to do a project.  It isn't that he stands in my way, but I always get more done when he is gone.   I decided to clean my wood floors.  I was moving furniture and working away, when suddenly it started to sprinkle.  Then within seconds a huge wall of rain came through with high winds.  It got very dark.  There weren't any tornado sirens, but I went downstairs just in case.  It sounded like a low tone constant thunder sound.  We are surrounded by big trees and I thought if one blows down, it will come right through the roof.   I texted my daughters to warn them of the storm coming.  It was moving East, and we were getting it first.   I learned my granddaughter had taken her brothers for ice cream in a neighboring town.  Fortunately she saw the weather was taking a turn and got back just as the bad weather hit.  She hasn't had her license that long, and I worried about her driving in torrential rains. We were very lucky and didn't have any damage, so I relaxed.  I checked the rain gauge, and we got 1 1/4 inch in a very short period of time.

When my husband returned home, he said there were trees down all over town.  Being the old people we are, we went for a ride.  One of our neighbors had a tree down and a half mile down the road many trees were down and uprooted.  

This large tree is down in our neighbors yard.

This big tree was pulled right out of the ground.

This tree barely missed this house.  A small part of the porch was taken out.

I think you get the idea.  A lot of cleanup is going to happen during the next few days.  We aren't alone.  The entire northeast part of Wisconsin has similar stories.  Fortunately I haven't heard of any injuries or deaths.  Property can be repaired and replaced but people can't.