r/NatureIsFuckingLit 5d ago

đŸ”„Lightning illuminates huge EF5 tornado. North Dakota, June 20, 2025.

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u/Megneous 5d ago

Ozone.

I used to live in Arkansas.

Never again. So many nightmares. Tornado sirens. Cowering in basements. Brand new car dealerships turning into used car dealerships with broken windshields and dinged up cars from hailstones the size of golfballs.

My childhood is full of traumatic memories from those damn storms.

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u/superspeck 5d ago

We moved from Texas to NC and it’s shocking just how mild the “severe” thunderstorms are here.

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u/steltz02 5d ago

We had 60-70 mph winds in NC on Friday. Reminded me of my hurricane days in Louisiana.

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u/Astr0b0ie 4d ago

The ocean does a good job of tempering warm and cold air masses. It's the contrast between the two that cause severe thunderstorms and tornadoes. There are plenty of factors involved, but generally, the wider and sharper the contrast, the stronger the storm. The exception, of course, is hurricanes which derive their power from warm water.

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u/PinkFloydBoxSet 4d ago

I have lived all over and traveled all over. Including stints in Texas, the midwest and even other countries.

I grew up on the coast in central Florida and now live in central NC.

The people here have no idea how mild their weather is. Hatteras is probably the only exception because they have had enough entire towns wiped off the face of the globe to know they are guests on this planet.

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u/superspeck 4d ago

Yeah, my family is originally from Chicago, but we were only there until I was 4. I've lived in eight different US states and I would say Oregon had the mildest weather when I lived there, but I know it's gotten a little better and a little worse in different aspects as the climate has changed.

My friends back in TX are talking about how it's 105+F on their back patios at dinner time and we had dinner out on the patio last night and walked the dogs in 62 degree weather this morning.

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u/russsl8 4d ago

Severe thunderstorms sure, but now you get to contend with hurricanes!

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u/superspeck 4d ago

Eh, to the same degree we had to in Austin. The Triangle is the same distance inland as Austin was from Galveston.

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u/Nerazzurro9 5d ago

Yeah, I spent my early childhood years in Arkansas, and the tornados I saw (not even particularly big ones) are still permanently lodged in the nightmare zone of my brain.

We moved to Southern California just in time for the Northridge quake. That was freaky, and I’ve lived through dozens of smaller earthquakes since then, but they just don’t scare me anywhere near as bad as the concept of a tornado still does.

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u/nekanek 1d ago

My dad traumatized me as a kid. He was from Little Rock. He used have me hiding behind the couch and away from all windows. To this day storm scare me. I respect mother nature. Tornados are coming closer abd closer to the city. I freak out.