Storm in New Brunswick

[vaneramos]

I decided to post to weather_pics some storm photos I took on our trip. They brought back one unpleasant memory.

On August 22 while driving homeward through Northeastern New Brunswick, we passed through a violent thunderstorm. While the girls used the restroom at a service station, I shot some photos of the clouds. They were very tornado-like, and made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. But I love a good storm, and that wasn't the unpleasant part.

It had barely started to rain when the girls got back, so we set out again. Suddenly the downpour came, the heaviest rain I had seen in years. I slowed down, but not enough. Next thing I knew, the car was hydro-planing on a four-lane highway. All I could think was, "I have my kids in the car."The landscape was mountainous, and the highway wound like a snake, but fortunately I had a straight stretch ahead of me and managed to ride it out until I got control back. I pulled off then and waited out the storm.

Comments

[queenmomcat.livejournal.com]

I hyperventilate in a panic on your behalf. Hydroplaning (or skidding on black ice) is bad enough when I'm alone in the care on a deserted country road.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

It's an experience I don't want to repeat. Next time torrential rain comes, I'll pull over immediately.

[rsc.livejournal.com]

Yep. Driving in impenetrable rain is not fun.

The worst I've ever seen is a storm we ran into a short distance east of Windsor, Ontario (we were on our way to Detroit). We could see it coming miles away, but we were definitely not prepared for rain so dense that you could barely see the car in front of you, and wind so strong that all the conifers along the road were bent horizontal. Fortunately jwg was driving, and even more fortunately there was a nice shoulder to pull over onto until the worst had passed. (Just about every car on the highway did the same.)

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Windsor is my stomping grounds. But I'm surprised at your assessment of a "nice shoulder." People have been pressuring the government for years to improve that stretch of Highway 401 because of the number of serious accidents, and in many areas there isn't much room to pull off.

That's also the thunderstorm capital of Canada.

[rsc.livejournal.com]

Under the circumstances, any shoulder we could actually pull onto counted as "nice".