Were you afraid of thunder?

[Morgan Palmer]

I've always thought this an interesting topic, because I was terrified of storms when I was little. Several other friends, including a storm chaser and a meteorologist-to-be were also scared of storms. It wasn't thunder, it was everything.

I grew up in tornado alley (Abilene, TX) and have always wondered what experience others had. My fear became fascination (as I recall) no later than the age of 10 or 11.

I thought there might be something there that fear turns into fascination when one grows up, but looking at these comments, I suppose the three of us having been fearful when very young is just a coincidence.

 

[Bill Hamilton]

Originally posted by mrobinson
No.. I have to watch it. I cannot stay in bed during a storm so I usually get no sleep during night time storms.

I am the same way. If there are storms in the area at night I will stay up and monitor the activity and if they are close enough I will go out and get some good lightning video. I have taken off to chase at 4:00am before just for the good night time video.

 

[Joel Wright]

I don't really remember ever being scared, but I remember my big sister telling me (and me being 6 or 7 I believed it) that God was bowling lmao!!

 

[Laura Duchesne]

I used to be scared of storms when I was young. I dunno why, just did... I remember my mom trying to force me out onto the porch during a storm to watch it, I did not want to, so I hid behind her back. I am glad she made me though... because over the years as I learned more and more, I grew a respect for storms, and found them extremely fascinating. I remember at one point being interested in storms, but terrified of tornadoes.... I remember taking a huge picture of a tornado from the newspaper, I think it was the Edmonton Alberta F4 from 1987, and sticking it on my closet. I eventualy had bad tornado dreams so I took it down. I recall one time we had a tornado watch, I packed up my favorite things, I was a bit frightened. But as the years went on, and the more I learned, I became more and more interested in storms. I guess my interest in storms was meant to be, despite some of the fear I had when I was a kid. It must be in my blood. Heck, my mom told me a long while ago that when I was 6 yrs old, I would draw pictures of storms and tornadoes... they thought I had depression or something LOL.

And I will be honest... I've never heard of storm chasing until Twister came out. I never knew people did that kind of thing. When we got the Internet, I researched it, and was amazed at all the stuff I found on the web. So by 1998, my knowledge has totally expanded and I thought... why don't I chase too?

As for storms at night? I get my best sleep during a gentle thunderstorm... I will lay there listening to it, and just go out like a light. It's soooo relaxing for me. But if I hear hail or gusty wind, I will get out of bed to watch.

 

[Shyanna Busch]

I use to be scared to death of storms, especially loud thunderstorms.

I remember once a storm was coming in. It wasn't a severe storm at all. My parents and the neighbors were outside watching the lightning. They persuaded me to go outside, but I was only there for a few moments. I went inside, grabbed my blankets and pillows and went to lay down in the hallway with my head covered. I think I was about 5-6 at the time.

I was scared of storms up until late middle school. From the time I was 7-11 or 12 any time I was outside with friends and a grey cloud appeared in the sky, I would become sick to my stomach and call my mom to come pick me up--no matter if it was a storm cloud or not. If I was staying the night at a friend's my parent's would have to come pick me up in the middle of the night if it started to storm.

In high school, I pretty much got over my fear until a tornado hit Parsons. My fear was reignited and at the slightest sign of a storm, i would become sick to my stomach again. I remember driving to my parents' house at 1am, rang the door bell frantically because there was a tornado warning in the next county over. My dad was so angry at me that I never went over there again during a storm.

Finally, I'm able to appreciate a storm. When it storms at night, I usually get up to monitor it unless it comes in while I'm asleep and I don't hear it.

 

[Howard Robinson]

I use to be afarid of thunder and lighting when I was a kid even up to when I was 21 years old. But, now I love to listen to the thunder and watch the lighting. It took being caught under a storm in Georgia for it to break my fear of it. Funny thing about that one storm, it spawned a f2 tornado a few counties over.

 

[Jeff Wear]

When I was 5, I was woken up by a thunderstorm around 5am and hid under my bed. That was the only time I remember being afraid of thunder though. I did go through a phase of being afraid of tornadoes as well, but I got over that by the time I was 9. From then on forward I actively looked forward to seeing both.

 

[Larry J. Kosch]

Anybody besides me do some of your best sleeping when there's a nighttime storm in progress?

It used to be that I would find it rather difficult to fall asleep when I can seen the lightning outside my bedroom window and I feel the thunder rumbling against the walls. :shock:

But now that I'm married (Nov. 2002), I can relax and fall asleep sooner. Must be the company of my lovely wife, Diane, and our three dogs, all sleeping in the same bed, that's helping me. Also I'm hearing impaired so any low thunder rumble is NOT deafing since I take my aids off at night :lol:

 

[Bridget Beddow]

thunder

I used to be so scared of thunder as a child only because I was afraid it wasn't thunder, yet the sound of an approaching tornado.
Sometimes I still get that sneaky feeling when I hear a sudden break of thunder that sounds a little off.

One girl I knew a few years back said she loved having trees around because how she knew a tornado was coming was when she heard the trees snapping and debris hitting the house.

Don't know how much of it's true, but it made me look at trees in a whole different light after that.

 

[Joe Zemek]

how to overcome fear of lightning

When I was about 2, lightning struck a tree across the street, sending Mom and me hurtling across the livingroom. I had occasional lightning nightmares for the 19 years afterward, and while I loved storms, I never ever considered chasing, or often even being out in the open during a storm.

Then, one late July day in '94, some friends and I were caught on top of iron rich red rock in Garden of the Gods for an unforecasted Pike's Peak surprise, and had to run down the hill in a downpour of rain and numerous close CGs. Anyone who's ever been that close can testify that at such range, you can hear the electrical ZZZZZT! sound the microsecond before the thunder hits like a gunshot. Anyway, after that experience, I respect lightning even more, but got over the fear of being hit. Nothing like confronting your fears, whether you plan to or not :wink:

 

[Anela Hamilton]

Anybody besides me do some of your best sleeping when there's a nighttime storm in progress?

Yes, I sleep like a baby when it is storming outside. I wasn't really scared as a child. I had a hard time getting to sleep though. Not anymore
:wink:

 

[Bridget Beddow]

stormy weather

I sleep very well during a heavy rain with mild thunder in the distance.
If I get woke up during the middle of the night from a thunderstorm with lightning within one mile, I can't go back to sleep until it's gone.

 

[David Draun]

I never feared thunder, but there are those summers with too many nocturnal MCS events, and I get tired of hearing it, especially if it is weak.

 

[Doug Lee]

Never really was scared of thunder, but a sudden loud clap will startle me. :shock:

My house sits to the east of a ridge line, and another ridge is to the north. Some of the echoes seem louder than the original sound.

An old expression I heard long ago described thunder as "somone knocked over the apple cart."

 

[Sarah Albyn]

I used to be scared of thunder when I was 3-6 years old. I never have liked really loud nosies even now ( I still jump sometimes when we see the fireworks on the fourth of July ).

Sometimes I am still scared like at night when storms come through but I think that is because it catches me by suprise. :shock:

I managed to get over it and to this day I still have no idea why I was scared of thunder. I loved to watch the lightning but didn't like the thunder that came after (but it sounds like most kids are scared of thunder).