Today's sky report

Orange and black skies dominate today's report.

Orange: A week ago, I was reading in bed when I heard the sounds of a woman screaming next door.  I soon realized that she was screaming because her house was on fire.  I called 911 and learned that the fire had been called in and trucks were on their way.  I quickly dressed and headed out the door - by the time I got to her driveway (the woods between our houses are so thick and in a swampy area that you can't walk through, especially in the dark), a policeman was there and said that everyone had gotten out.  It was still 5 more minutes until the fire trucks arrived.  At this point, the house was "fully involved" and flames and sparks were shooting up in the air.  We stayed on our yard, watching the glow and the sparks through and over the trees.  There were about 10 different towns that responded, and because we were out of reach of any fire hydrants, the trucks lined up 8 deep bringing water to the scene.  We were out there for hours, talking to all the different neighbors and watching the horror of it all.  Unfortunately, the house was a total loss.

Black:  Tuesday, as related by my wife, the skies turned black and wind began to blow.  The weather was scary enough, but then the hail came.  Her car now looks like somebody had a nutty with a ball-peen hammer.  There are a couple of hundred dents on all the surfaces of the car.  The windshield is cracked as is a lot of the turn signal plastic.  The sunroof held so there was no inside water damage.  Unfortunately, the car was a total loss.