Thursday, October 14, 2010

You Call That Hail? Are Brooklynites "Weather Wusses?"

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(photo courtesy of Triada Samaras)

Kansas Hail

(photos courtesy of Ron Mosher,  Auburn Hills Public Golf Course, Wichita Kansas)


Are Brooklynites wusses when it comes to weather?  After last month's tornado and  Monday night's hail storm, a Carroll Gardens resident originally from Kansas , thinks so.  To illustrate her point, she sent me the photos above of golf ball-sized hail, which pelted the Auburn Hills Public Golf Course in Witchita, Kansas on September 15, 2010  
"Dorothy From Kansas" writes:
"Brooklyners are such whiners. I would be embarrassed to show pictures of pea-sized hail as some big deal. Now this is a picture of grapefruit sized hail sent to me by my friend in Kansas. And Kansas tornados - in comparison to a Brooklyn tornado? Park Slope's tornado was just a big blow!"
Granted, those hail stones, at 7.75 inches in diameter, were the largest ever recorded in Kansas, but they do put our little Brooklyn ice pellets to shame. 


So, dear Reader, do you agree with Dorothy? Are Brooklynites whiners? Should we be ashamed to make such a big fuss over our borough's recent weather events? Would love to hear what you think.
To see a video of the September 15th storm over Kansas, click here.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Of course, Brooklynites are whiners, and not just about weather. Everything perceived as even the slightest inconvenience or interruption of their entitled bliss sets them off.

Anonymous said...

No, Brooklynites are not whiners or wusses. We're not accustomed to the violent weather we've been having lately. The hailstorm, and last month's severe storms resulting in tornados, were truly frightening to those of us who have never experienced such extremes. I suppose if I were a Mid-westerner, I would have taken it in stride.

Anonymous said...

Well first off that reader needs to actually go and look at a grapefruit before comparing the hail in that picture. Judging by the size of the dog and the hail, it looks golf ball size. Impressive, but let's not exaggerate it.

Secondly, yes it is a big deal when a tornado hits a major urban area in the north east. This isn't some farm out in the middle of rural Kansas. It's Brooklyn. We don't drive everywhere like they do in Kansas. We walk, sometimes a good 10 minutes to get to the subway from our homes. We do that in downpours, blizzards and sub zero weather. While it may not seem like a big deal to her, try walking home in what you think is just typical thunderstorm only to find out half way to your apartment, without any warning a tornado is about to bear down on you... IN BROOKLYN. It did tear off roofs and take down trees. In fact, a woman actually died. So yeah, I think that's a pretty big deal.

Anonymous said...

Toto, We're not in Kansas anymore. kathleen

Anonymous said...

She is right, those events were fairly minor if we put them in perspective

Anonymous said...

Hey, I'm from Nebraska, and I was here for both storms, and they were bad. Brooklynites are NOT whiners, and someone from Kansas should be way more understanding.

Anonymous said...

bah...go the fak back to Kansas.

Anonymous said...

It's not the size of the hail or the speed of the winds. It's the fact that it happened in New York City.

I'm a mid-westerner and I've been blown away by the weather this fall! Pun intended. In the mid-west we grow up with these things and have tornado drills in school. We sit on our front porches and watch the sky turn green. Big deal. It happens 10 times every summer.

It all boils down to novelty - seeing something in a place you would never expect to see it. Kinda like how a guitar-playing semi-nude cowboy would cause a hell of a stir in a small Kansas town. :)

Katia said...

Well said. I couldn't imagine the Naked Cowboy anywhere else but in Times Square.