No Way!

Ominious and dark sky

White stuff (big pieces of hail) falling to the ground

OK... doesn't it look like snow? It hailed so hard and fast that the streets and sidewalks looked like there was 1-2 inches of snow everywhere
This is what remains - 6 hours later.

At lunch time today, I noticed as I was finishing up that the skies were becoming ominious and dark. As I was starting to leave, the rain began and then the thunder rolled in. So, I delayed my departure to walk across campus and hung out for a few moments. Rain just got harder... so I waited. After about 10 minutes, the rain lightened up and I figured this was my opportunity to get going! Just moments into my walk, I could hear the roar of rain (and something else) pounding on the roof tops of the campus buildings and it was moving quickly my way. Now... I can no longer run (because I'm 7.5 months pregnant), but by god, I was hauling butt as fast as I could to get to the nearest building to take cover. I'm sure anyone watching from the safety of their building or car was cracking up at me. About 50 yards from the Campus Health Clinic, it starts... the hard rain AND the hail. Nickel and dime sized hail was falling! Auuughhhh! So, I finally get to the doors of the clinic and they are closed (apparently no one must need health care on Sundays)! Auughhhh! So, I take cover under the 3 feet deep awning - that didn't help a whole lot. Meanwhile, the temperature has dropped from a comfortable 65 degrees to 47 degrees (thanks to campus bank sign I could tell) and I'm in flip-flops, capris and a light sweater. I try my best to hunker down there but the hail gets worse. I did take pictures with my cell phone, but can't share them with you until I get back to Florida. I'm totally serious when I tell you that the streets and sidewalks were covered with hail and it looked like it had just snowed 1-2 inches. OK... so my feet are frozen, I'm soaked and I still need to get to the next building because I'm already late. When there was a break in the rain/hail (light stuff now), I started to run. Well, we all know I didn't run - that really is impossible for me at this point - it was more like "prego speed walk"! About 5 minutes later I arrived at my building looking like I had just gone swimming in the lake. Not fun. I was freezing. I went straight to the women's bathroom and became friends with the hand dryer for about 10 minutes. I just keep thinking, "No Way"... its June... I can't believe this freak weather.

On a related note, my good friend Laura drove up from Colorado Springs to see me. However, she got caught in the same storm while she was on the interstate and a tornado touched down. Apparently it caused a huge traffic jam and she was stuck for quite a while. After lots of debate, we decided it was best for her to turn around and head home. We are still hopeful we will get to meet up Tuesday morning at the Denver airport and have some breakfast and coffee together. Hmmm... craziness on a Sunday here in Colorado!