This post initially appeared on Science Blogs
This was the scene from my front porch last night:
Pictures of lightning are cool and all, and I've been in thunderstorms before. The crazy thing about this storm was the shear frequency of it.
Here in Boston, we went outside and enjoyed the light show. Throughout the neighborhood, we could hear people cheering every time there was a particularly large bolt. Other people in the state, though, weren't having such a great time:
BOSTON -- Residents of Springfield began cleaning up Thursday after the first tornadoes to hit Massachusetts in three years killed four people, destroyed buildings and stirred fear among residents of a region far more accustomed to snowstorms[...]
Gov. Deval Patrick activated the National Guard and declared a state of emergency. He said that at least two tornadoes had hit and that serious damage had been reported in 19 communities, many of them small towns along the Massachusetts Turnpike.
One man was killed when his car overturned in West Springfield, Mr. Patrick said. Two other deaths were reported in Westfield and one in Brimfield, he said.
See for yourself (this video scares the crap out of me):