Awe struck!

— Posted inUncategorized — 2 min read

It was a pure coincidence that I had posted a couple of views from my house in totally different weather conditions, rain or shine. …

Oddly within 11 hours of after taking the previous photo, the sky turned its tune into dark and cold. The South Side of the Sky turns black. I went out to take the picture of those ominous clouds and witnessed a thick bolt of lightening struck the horizon!

Very quickly I retreated inside and watched the dark sky came above our suburb. It started rain hard. I grabbed my camera and try to capture the thick sheet of rain seem coming over the Skyline Hills towards Wilton, closer and closer. Suddenly there was a large thunder which shook the house, the cat jumped up and the TV screen momentarily went static. I frantically ran around the lounge to disconnect all electrical things from power and cable. When I came back to the window side in about a coupl of minutes, I realised those thick white sheets of rain were not rain at all but hail storm! The scenery around us had now turned white.

Meanwhile hail kept falling, lightening kept flashing and thunder, well, kept thundering!

The whole drama lasted only about 20 minutes. I've seen a few thunder/hail storms but that was one of the fiercest and most awe striking events I've ever seen.

PS
And now this morning, I've woke up to the news that a strong earthquake hit Christchurch (third largest city in NZ) in the South Island. Taking about the awesome power of the Nature!

[Update 5 September]
Deluge 3 days ago, an electrical storm and hailstones two days ago, and now the wind. It's windy even against Wellington standard(Image taken at http://metservice.com/towns-cities/wellington at 17.58 NZST 5 September 2010) Note 126kph would be about 78mph, 68knots or 35m/sec.
I could swear it was windier an hour earlier!

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  1. Wow! Intense! Nice collection of photos (I especially liked the glass full of hailstones). I hope no one was harmed by the storm or the quake. :worried:

  2. I thought about NZ as a peaceful country concerning weather, some heavy rain from time to time but not hail storms close to the sea, and even earthquakes ?!Originally posted by mimi_s_mum:

    the cat jumped up and the TV screen momentarily went static. I frantically ran around the lounge to disconnect all electrical things from power and cable

    a chance that the little world was at home !Originally posted by debplatt:

    I especially liked the glass full of hailstones

    Same for me, but is this a glass or a tankard ?The second and third pictures really show how it was fast.

  3. The storm didn't do much harm, but unfortunately there were several injured down in Chirstchurch with two people in ICU for their injuries from falling objects (one struck by chimney and the other glass). Hope they recover quickly.State of emergency has been declared. Luckily the power is expected to return later today. Hospital is running on generator and the Airport will soon announce when they will open. Water may take longer to come back, I think.http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/latest-updates-canterbury-earthquake-3759958

  4. Yap. Another nice and sunny day today, with just a very gentle breeze. I think I'll go for a short walk soon as you suggest. 🙂

  5. Originally posted by mimi_s_mum:

    Scary thought, eh?

    Happy to know that you are living at thousands kilometers from here :devil: !Originally posted by mimi_s_mum:

    so I'm hoping I'll be less heavy eyed from now on

    Damn, you are so seriously allergic to pollen ? It's unfair … but, yes, nice, sweet hail storm . I hope it is (adding : not ) not too long so that you can manage your work, strolls, … normally ?

  6. Latest on ChCh Earthquake:Originally posted by tvnz.co.nz:

    1.15pm: Latest roundup from Civil Defence: – A state of emergency remains in place in Christchurch and Selwyn District. Selwyn, Waimakariri and Timaru have activated their emergency operation centres – There are power outages in the northwest of the city although the CBD is operating normally. – Water and sewage have been affected in several regions. Residents should conserve water. All Selwyn residents are being asked to conserve water, but especially in Rolleston where the supply is contaminated. – Christchurch hospital is functioning normally. – All State highways are currently open to traffic. – Lyttleton Tunnel has been checked and reopened. – Ashley River Bridge has had an initial check by a structural engineer and is open. – The only current closure is on SH74 on the ring route around Christchurch. It is closed at Bromley due to major road damage. – The rail network across the South Island remains closed, except for Dunedin – Christchurch Airport remains closed.

    I'm off for a short walk. TTFN:)

  7. After hearing about the earthquake, I went off to read about it here. Magnitude 7.4. :eyes: I am very glad to hear that no one was killed. That must have been terribly frightening. And to think that such a big earthquake did not count as being, "The Big One". :confused:

  8. Originally posted by arduinna:

    I thought about NZ as a peaceful country concerning weather, some heavy rain from time to time but not hail storms close to the sea, and even earthquakes ?!

    Actually Wellington is the one with history of periodical devastating earthquakes and the next Big One is supposed to be quite soon. Scary thought, eh? Originally posted by arduinna:

    Same for me, but is this a glass or a tankard ?

    It was just a small glass, and I sort of scooped up the hailstones accumulated at the corner just outside the front door. There was a layer of fine yellow power, the pine pollen, on top when the stones finally melted. One lucky thing was the storm also knocked the pine flowers down, so I'm hoping I'll be less heavy eyed from now on.

  10. Done walking! :DAlso done photo editing already. Will upload them soon. I think I'll wait till tomorrow to publish the blog post about the walk. (two posts in a day is a bit too much, isn't it?)

  11. The hailstones sure cooled the ambiance, in and outside the house. They were not particularly big for hailstones, I suppose, but were so many! I stepped out onto the porch by front door but thought against going farther, because it was like walking on small marbles. Very slippery.Originally posted by solid copper:

    They seem so pure and … solid

    Being one with the Nature, SC? 😀

  12. The hailstones are amazing. I have never seen anyone collect them and put them in a glass like that. They seem so pure and … solid. :eyes:

  13. Originally posted by debplatt:

    Magnitude 7.4. … to think that such a big earthquake did not count as being, "The Big One"

    The final official estimate seems 7.1 as of now. Richter magnitude scale only indicates how much the quake shook at its epicentre. Degree of damages an earthquake caused depends on a lot of other factors such as how hard and sound the ground is, presence of faults, local geology, how far the populated area is from the epicentre, etc.The historical big ones that hit Wellington/Wairarapa region were the 1855 quake and the 1942 quakesTo me, grown up in Tokyo, the benchmark for being "the Big One" has to be the catastrophic Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923. The Great Hanshin Awaji Quake of 1995 (known overseas as the Kobe Earthquake) was also very bad but when the real big one hits Tokyo again, it will be a lot worse.

  14. As if it weren't enough, the wind has picked up this afternoon.Check out the update I've just added at the bottom of post.

  15. Nature can be both awesome and devastating at the same time! :eyes:.

  17. Originally posted by mimi_s_mum:

    Nature shakes your primeval core

    Originally posted by mimi_s_mum elsewhere :

    I'm fascinated by those English metaphors concerning animal biproducts

    😆 !!!

  18. Olivier! That's the comment I made at YOUR blog! :eyes:Or are you here to feed my garden with compost? 😀

  19. Originally posted by mimi_s_mum:

    Olivier! That's the comment I made at YOUR blog!

    😆 I know, and I think we have 2 MMs, one is lyrical, while the other one has her feet firmly on ground. 😉 !

  20. I think he wants me to start discussing back in his blog about treatment options for autoimmune diseases (allergic reaction to your own body) from the Hygiene hypothesis proponents' stand point: ingestion of intestinal parasite eggs. 😀

  21. It's really up to him, SC. He was the one violated the inter-blog boundary :pOriginally posted by arduinna:

    one is lyrical, while the other one has her feet firmly on ground.

    I don't see why the two has to be separated, Olivier.

  23. The thing is I had made my inspection and declared "No shit!" in his territory. Oh wait! That was yesterday! Well, why don't you go ahead and I will make my observation later.

  24. Just imagine : You are hiking fighting against the wind and overwhelm by the blue sky. You are above Wellington's bay, you feel that you have the force to rebuild the world … and suddenly someone near you shout : HEY HAVE YOU SEEN THAT NICE HORSE SHIT UNDER YOUR SHOE ?? That will break the dream, won't it ? 😆 !!!!

  25. 😆 :lol:I might say, 'Thanks Olivier. Have you notice you are actually standing on one!' :lol:Originally posted by arduinna:

    you feel that you have the force to rebuild the world … That will break the dream,

    I should imagine the new world would also need compost to feed garden. 😀

  26. Originally posted by debplatt:

    they were explaining that elephant poop is a "clean" poop.

    'phant manure makes good compost? 😀

  27. Originally posted by debplatt:

    even though it sounds gross to have an elephant poop thrown at you, it is not as gross as it sound.

    If dried out, maybe. Sloppy ones on muddy ground (like cowpats on the hills seen lately), I'm not sure. My dang-compost association is from the Zoo-Doo, a venture business with Wellington Zoo and a community project, makes and sells compost made from Zoo animals' biproduct: http://www.zoodoo.co.nz/:)I'm off to get lunch and, since it's fine, thinking about spraying the section this afternoon (to deal with the first spring grows of the gorse). Will be back in a couple of hours. Bye for now. :bye:

  28. A 'boer' makes a plan :up:.A boer is an Afrikaans speaking person. (the word 'boer' originally means farmer!)

  30. Originally posted by debplatt:

    they were using elephant poop.

    We have a saying here!'n boer maak 'n plan!

  31. :lol:I'd imagine your blue wire is quite thick?Once I came contact with an electrified No8 wire on farm fense by accident. Boy, that was some shock! Maybe your blue wire is called so because it's electrified and delivers "out of the blue" shock?

  32. Originally posted by arduinna:

    HAVE YOU SEEN THAT NICE HORSE SHIT UNDER YOUR SHOE ?? That will break the dream, won't it ? !!!!

    I was watching a documentary about Africa, and the kids were having a "snowball" fight, except they weren't using snowballs, they were using elephant poop. :eyes: 😆

  33. Originally posted by debplatt:

    they were using elephant poop

    In the documentary, they were explaining that elephant poop is a "clean" poop. :left:

  34. Originally posted by debplatt:

    the kids were having a "snowball" fight,

    That's how they distribute fertiliser on their crop field, is it, to get kids to play ED fight on it? 😀

  35. Originally posted by mimi_s_mum:

    "No8 wire" approach

    We speak of, "Bloudraad en kougom" ('blue'wire and chewing gum)This is usually in reference to a Ford motorcar :p.

  37. Originally posted by mimi_s_mum:

    'phant manure makes good compost?

    I think they were trying to say that even though it sounds gross to have an elephant poop thrown at you, it is not as gross as it sound. :yes:

  38. Originally posted by mimi_s_mum:

    I'd imagine your blue wire is quite thick?

    :lol:.It's just normal fencing wire. I've no idea how it came to be called 'bloudraad' :left:.

  39. Done spraying!And looks like a light shower is moving in! Bu**er! It was fine when I started. 🙁

  40. Another Friday and another lightning & thunder. At least no hail this time and it went in a half an hour. I didn't know the mother nature observed the days of week!

  41. When I was growing up in Germiston, the afternoon thunder showers were always on a thursday! :p.

  42. Originally posted by qlue:

    the afternoon thunder showers were always on a thursday

    Very considerate of the weather to be so predictable so you could plan accordingly. 😀

  43. Originally posted by debplatt:

    Very considerate of the weather to be so predictable

    I think that's Thor, the Norse god of thunder, observing his day. ;)I actually heard it before more precipitation is observed in the second half of week in densely populated areas due to the increasing level of from human activity generated aerosol particulates.

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