Another Saturday, another storm

A quick thank you to Darci Haraldson who sent some great photos she took out at Lake Shetek on Sunday after Saturday night’s storm. The photos show everything from an uprooted tree that turned a dock into a slide, numerous trees that were down and a giant trampoline that was split in half after it was blown into a tree. The photos are a reminder of the kind of damage straightline winds can cause. In Murray County, things got nasty after 8 Saturday night. This was similar to the storm a few weeks ago, packing sheets of rain, very strong winds and more menacing clouds. This has so far been one of the stormiest summers in recent history. We should consider ourselves fortunate we haven’t had any tornados touch down and wipe out entire blocks of homes or cause injuries or deaths. We should also be reminded that such a thing could very well happen at any given moment — especially, it seems, if it’s a Saturday summer night in Minnesota. After the storm passed, the skies over Murray County turned picturesque — with vibrant shades of orange and pink framing large, puffy, egg-shaped clouds. The calm after the storm is a fickle thing, supplying us either with beautiful sunsets or frightening aftermaths that can mean a long, sometimes sad day’s worth of clean-up duties.