Best place to Live in America

[Sequimite]

One reason I like Sequim is that prior to moving here I've seen four tornadoes. One exploded an eight foot tall window fifteen feet from me and destroyed a row of buildings across the street in St. Louis.

In my three years in Sequim I've never been in a thunder storm and I don't think there has been a tornado in this county in recorded history.

[Dr. Snubnose]

One reason I like Sequim is that I've seen four tornadoes. One exploded an eight foot tall window fifteen feet from me and destroyed a row of buildings across the street in St. Louis.

In my three years in Sequim I've never been in a thunder storm and I don't think there has been a tornado in this county in recorded history.

Saw a Tornado in St Louis when I went to college there...it was three miles away from me...nonetheless scary :eek: ...Doc :D

[jackburton9807]

I love Sequim, great place. I spent most summers there as a kid.

Denver, on the other hand, should not make it on the list.

Jeff

[henhen14]

Portland. The winter's not too cold and the summers aren't too hot. Plus, no sales tax. Close to the sea, and the mountain. Love it

[The Mastiff]

Speaking of Tornados I came outside in the morning after the storms went by and in the light I found the place littered with small pieces of roof tile and yellow insulation. It's all over. Who knows how far it was carried as no houses in my immediate area was damaged. We had wind and hail but it wasn't that bad. I've seen much worse.

[defenestrate]

Joe,
The tornado downtown really made a mess of things. I think everyone I know has gotten away with nothing worse than downed trees (in yard, not on house) and maybe some shingles blown off. Many people were not so lucky

[The Mastiff]

Joe,
The tornado downtown really made a mess of things. I think everyone I know has gotten away with nothing worse than downed trees (in yard, not on house) and maybe some shingles blown off. Many people were not so lucky

I count my blessings. A bunch of people got it worse than I did and it has nothing to do with me being better, smarter or anything else. It just wasn't my time yet.

The storms can be scarier here than out west. When I lived in Nebraska and Colorado I could see storms coming 80 miles away. Here the horizon might be less than 2 miles. The storms the other night at times hit a ground speed of 55 MPH. They can be on you so fast here it's not funny. Sometimes all you can do is sit there and admit you have no control, and try to stop worrying.

Working a gun tower one time I got caught in a downburst that had wind speeds over a hundred MPH. That was pretty terryifying. Might as well have been a tornado.

Lightning bothers me the worst though since I got hit by it. I don't want to go through that ever again.

[defenestrate]

The storms can be scarier here than out west. When I lived in Nebraska and Colorado I could see storms coming 80 miles away. Here the horizon might be less than 2 miles. The storms the other night at times hit a ground speed of 55 MPH. They can be on you so fast here it's not funny. Sometimes all you can do is sit there and admit you have no control, and try to stop worrying.

Agreed with that. I have had my share of storm run-ins (and I tend to be fascinated by storms and try to photograph/film them when possible), but I can think of one time where I really could have gotten killed (and I've driven through floods, hurricanes, alongside tornadoes, etc.) - one day about 10 years ago I was hiking over at Umstead State Park, sometime in June IIRC when out of the blue came a summer storm. I was about 3 miles from the trailhead. So I spent the next hourish hiking back through the most intense lightning storm I had ever experienced, trying to be careful to stay well below the ridgeline of the bluffs - in spots knee deep in water as it was flash flooding no the trail.. the Thunder was at least as loud as gunfire and all around me. All I could do was try to keep going and hope I made it out okay.

When I got back to the trailhead, soaking wet, heart beating half out of my chest, a woman whizzed up in her car and said "Are you okay? A tornado just swept through the park!" .. :rolleyes:

[The Mastiff]

I became fascinated with weather when I was a kid. I'll always remember the Tornado outbreak down by Lima. I got stranded on a lake erie Island by a storm that whipped up the lake in about a half an hour to the point they shut the ferry down for a few days. I spent a sleepless night camping next to the rocky shores listening to the wind and crashing waves that sounded like they were on me.

Then there was this event: http://www.spc.noaa.gov/misc/AbtDerecho ... 69page.htm We were at the town square when it hit.

My next big run in was another Derecho, this time where I lived in michigan after I moved. :http://www.spc.noaa.gov/misc/AbtDerecho ... 77page.htm

I've always been fascinated by weather. There's nothing like a supercell, or a hurricane to remind a person just how insignificant we really are.

BTW Kris, I live right off Duraleigh backing up almost to the parks border. Just a road ( ebaneezer church road) between me and the park boundry. Occasionally Coyotes will stray into my subdivision from the park. They typically watch me and Finn the mastiff for about a minute and turn around and go. :)

Joe

[defenestrate]

Quite agreed about the weather. I can't sleep when a hurricane or supercell type storm is coming - because I am rather awestruck by the power of nature. I also tend to make sure to be prepared, and have had my share of hurricane parties with a few close friends.

I know just where you refer to - i used to deliver to the apartment complexes in the area, around the time they completed edward's mill. I did not know that coyotes hung out around umstead - never seen them or evidence of them (I used to hear them often and see coyote droppings at my farm in Chatham Co. though). The Umstead area is one of the most beautiful places in the Piedmont in my opinion.

Those Derecho events sound pretty intense. i have not spent much time in the regions of the country cited in those links, just visited. I am just now spending a fair amount of time in the Tennessee Valley for first time (will be here at least a year, probably 2 or 3+), looking forward to seeing the differences from other areas I have lived (mostly NC, some VA, a few months in GA, most other states and regions I have only been to briefly).

[The Mastiff]

Tennesse is pretty nice in some spots. I have a brother living in North Georgia too. I always enjoy going down to visit. You have been fortunate to live in some of those areas.

I've lived on Duraleigh rd in 3 different locations since I came to NC in january 84. Man has it changed.

Yep, there are coyotes in the park. In fact, a black bear was ran over and killed on Ebaneezer church rd. about 10 years back. I've never seen a bear, but plenty of Deer, not too common a coyote or two. It's more common to hear them late on summer nights doing their thing.

Are you ever going back to Chatam county or have you left for good?

Joe

[defenestrate]

Closest I've lived to to where you are, Joe, was an apartment by the corner of Lynn and Leesville. Used to walk around Lake Lynn at all hours of day/night, and I went to the north entrance of Umstead with some regularity then. I have been all around that area though.

I have seen lots of deer at that park - some are a bit too tame.

I had to declare bankruptcy a few years back and the farm is in foreclosure. It is still in my name though, and I still go out there sometimes. Depending on what happens I might try to retake the farm. Had I known what I know now, I never would have left. It's a beautiful property that was riverfront (now lakefront as Siler City expanded their reservoir onto a portion of it) when I bought it. I miss living there. Only time will tell if I end up back there with any regularity. It was a great property for hiking, fishing, driving the Jeep on, target practice, etc. and I have a friend who owns a trailer park across the road who still keeps on eye on it for me.