Beautiful, isn’t it?
Photo: Michael Chow / The Arizona Republic
Unless, of course, you’re sitting in an airplane waiting to take off in the midst of this storm, as Judy and I were last night. For one awesome ten-minute stretch as we sat on the tarmac at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport, lightning was striking several times per second all around us, and microbursts were blowing trees sideways.
We sat on the plane for more than three hours waiting to take off, as the storm appeared to leave the area and then circled back twice to sit over the airport and deliver more of the light show. After the first two-hour wait, we had to go back to the gate and refuel. We finally made it home just before 4AM, nearly four hours later than originally scheduled.
When we lived in the Phoenix area, we saw storms like this one every summer. The amount of damage they can cause is truly astonishing. I don’t miss them at all and I would gladly have skipped this one. I also don’t miss the summer temperatures. According to the Arizona Republic, the Phoenix area has already set a new record this summer with more than 11 days where the low temperature – that’s the low, mind you – has been over 90 degrees. And monsoon season is just getting warmed up.
Ed Bott 
my town right outside of new york in jersey was hit by a microburst two weeks ago. we’re still recovering. my power was out for four days, the main streets were closed for a week and many areas still have trees down