Here comes the wall!

We're getting a bit of weather today. About 7am this morning, it started to get really dark out. I did my usual routine of nervously looking out the windows when it gets like this. Some of these quick storms that blow in off the ocean can be powerful. When I looked out to sea, this is what I saw:




It's a wall cloud. Although by normal standards a small one. Still, you can see how much water it is carrying. Usually a lot of wind too. Here's a better look at it.




That one missed us though. It just continued to track off to the north, never making landfall that I could see. We didn't have to wait long though. Up from the south came another, bigger one. Impossible to get a picture of that one because it was on us lightning fast. Lots of big, booming thunder. We rarely get thunder and it is always really loud. Like it echoes over the water or something.

In the middle of the downpour there was a particulary loud clap of thunder. The kind that makes you jump out of your seat because it sounds so close. That was immediately followed by a super bright flash, a pop and the electricity went off and then right back on. Within seconds we could smell sulphur. Once the rain stopped I went out and looked around but couldn't see where it had hit. Someplace close though.

It's not all bad. The sun came out briefly and we were treated to this:



I hate how the power lines interfere with most of my oceanview pictures. After Hurricane Wilma, when every power pole on the island had been snapped in two and needed to be replaced, all the utility companies and cable had the perfect opportunity to bury their lines. Nope. Too expensive. I guess it is cheaper for them to set new poles and run all new lines every time we have a hurricane. Sigh.