Metro to Mountain Journal

Winter in the south is always interesting and unpredictable. We follow the weather regularly by watching the Weather Channel and our local favorites on television and by also checking with online sources.

Our forecast for yesterday was for a storm to pass through Nashville. The temperatures had been warm, very warm for February, but the temperatures were predicted to change. A cold front was going to push through and the leading edge of the front was probably going to bring high winds, thunderstorms, and even tornadoes.

We knew the potentially bad weather was coming because we had heard the forecast over and over. Of course, just because it has been forecast, that doesn't mean it is going to happen. The word forecast really seems to mean guess. We were not taking the storm very seriously. Over the winter, every storm that was predicted to hit us, either tracked above or below us.

As the storm approached the temperature was even warmer than predicted and it was very windy. We read these signs as the storm might even be more intense than we first thought. Then, we saw a couple of other tell-tale signs ... on the early evening news we found out the local Emergency Operation Center was bringing in more workers to the "War Room." Wow, the storm must really going to be a big one. And, to guarantee the severity of the predicted storm, we learned that the Weather Channel's Jim Cantore was in town.

Now, Jim is our favorite weatherman. We love watching him holding fast to a pole in the face of fierce winds to report the severe weather. Wow, he's the man, but we were not really excited to hear he was coming to our town, because he was not here to watch the Opry! He was in town for the storm. Suddenly, we took the storm seriously.

We turned off the computers and at least reviewed our storm plans in our heads. The winds blew hard and rattled the windows. We listened to the thunder and awed at the lightning. The tornado warning alarms blasted. Jake, the dog, took shelter in the stairwell and we were all on alert until the storm moved through the region.

Thankfully, the storm passed without many issues. We read this morning that the tornado alarms went off by mistake, but there were power outages and a few downed trees. The town came out remarkably unscathed for 94 mph winds (reported near a neighboring lake) and Jim Cantore being in town!

Jim Cantore is now, probably off chasing another storm and Nashville is happy not to be in the weather spotlight. We are happy not every forecast comes true!

Happy Stormy trails