Storm clouds at night

Last weekend, I attended a SKYWARN^® training session in Manchester CT and thus joined more than a quarter million volunteers who can, with skill and precision, can look to the skies and say, "Uh, oh."

NWS SKYWARN^®

SKYWARN^® is a National Weather Service program that trains emergency response teams and weather nerds in the basics of severe weather. The weather spotters learn about types of severe storms, including details such as wind speed, flooding, rainfall and snowfall rates, ice accretion, hail, and tornadoes. When weather events approach certain thresholds, we can contact the NWS with the details.
And, no, I'm not going to be chasing tornadoes.
Earlier in the day yesterday, while it was still hot, the NWS regional coordinator sent an email to the SKYWARN^® with a review of the short-term weather forecasts. There were indications that the back door cold front might trigger severe weather later in the day.
For the rest of the afternoon, we watched the skies. A few clouds drifted without conviction from east to west, not your normal upper-level wind direction. It was still clear enough by bedtime that the nearly-full moon was easily lighting up the yard. In southern New Hampshire and Vermont, however, the NWS issued warnings for severe storms and even a tornado. (No reports of damage at this writing.)

The storms rumbled through here after midnight with lightning, thunder, rain, and a refreshing wind that dropped the temperature about 15 degrees. The storms didn't even wake Marley.

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7:30AM Update - Sandra reports that I was the one who didn't wake up when the storms first arrived. She and Marley were awake.