They don't mention these in the Lonely Planet guide to Poland !
In the UK we have a little rumble of thunder and occasionally Mr Lightning may decide to join in and this "meeting of elements" occurs approximately once a year.
In Poland, the sky turns black, the cloud breaks and armageddon is a being played out over your head. It doesn't go away in a few minutes but can last a few hours and any childhood fears you had shaken off regarding thunderstorms come back to visit, turning you into a whimpering wreck who just wants to hide under the table.
I really think Poland should do something about their thunderstorms as it's rather off putting for tourists.
I'd say thunderstorms are an interesting event of nature, and they may attract tourists rather then scare them off.. I love driving in the rain during a thuderstorm, listening to Riders on the storm.. and the air after a storm it is so fresh especially in the polluted Silesia ; )
I remember one of the worst storms in Pomorskie region (i was in Gdańsk at the time) back in the year 2000, It was July or August summer time, the weather was brilliant, very hot & not a cloud in the sky for days, suddenly, out from nowhere came clouds, rain & thunder & lightening, i have never experienced anything like it before or since.
The rain was so bad that roads & buildings were collapsing, the thunder was so strong that i thought the house i was in was going to fall down.
In the centre of Gdańsk was a kiosk across the road from the prison, it was built next to the railway line which was about 15-20meters below from this kiosk, a little old woman working there had to be evacuated due to the rain, just after she exited the kiosk it fell down onto the track.
This was my worst experience by far of a storm, but i agree with "frd" they are very exciting to be a part of.
Thunderstorms in Poland are quite commonplace if you ask me ... I remember last summer that every friday night for weeks on end there seemed to be the mother of all thunderstorms , lasted a couple of hours & then gone !! ( or maybe I just had too much to drink after work !)
I suppose the government could ban them during the tourist season....and fine any that take place at the wrong times.... I quite like the storms , exept when the trees come down , and take out my power lines to the farm , we get some great storms here in the forest....
Saying that, i think one is building up at the moment in Kraków. Could someone please inform the Government that i have to go to work and I don't have a rain-jacket? Pesky little storm must have slipped under the radar:(
In the UK we have a little rumble of thunder and occasionally Mr Lightning may decide to join in and this "meeting of elements" occurs approximately once a year
Dont know what part of the UK you are from but that isnt my experience especially during the flooding events in 2000 and 2007 and the storms of the late 80s. Massive storms lashing down rain, hail coupled with strong winds, thunder and lightning, not lasting a few hours but days. Lots of people with damaged property.
Last year we had a series of storms that were very heavy with torrential rain during the summer, lots of "drowned rat" tourists. Joys of living in Lincolnshire!
well actually i love Thunderstorms.. they are an amazing part of nature! =)
i've had some crazy experiences last summer... like once.. in Krakow, it was a nice, sunny, and quite hot day.. the temperature was about 32C!! everything looked nice. Later, me and my mom were going to the Post office to send some spices to a friend in another city.. on our way there.. alot of clouds started forming out of nowhere and fast... we went inside the post office and things outside turned black and grey quickly!! next thing i know, it starts to rain INSANELY and the winds Picked up fast!!!
think that sounds crazy? well listen to this.. it Started to hail as if Hell's Winter just awoke!
hail Hail Hail.. i could hear the balls fall everywhere.... the weather continued to go crazy for about 15minutes...
finally when things calmed down.. i decided it was safe to go out.. the raining stopped but it was Cold!.. the whole Ground was covered with white snowy hail! the Temperature dropped from 32C to 18C!!!! and then a nice layer of cold fog started to form from all the ice that was melting on the ground... finally.. all the clouds started to disappear and the weather came back to being.....nice and sunny!!! although there was water everywhere and the temp was about 22C.
think that sounds crazy? well listen to this.. it Started to hail as if Hell's Winter just awoke!
Yep i remember that, it was soooooo cool, my gf almost had a heart attack when i went on the balcony as i love storms, even i didnt realise the hail was the size of golf balls, it done alot of damage that day :)
Yay, recent! Anyway in those storms it was mainly wind damage.
I thought there was going to be a storm last night with the colour of the skies over Warsaw but no. Don't worry, those in Warsaw who are scared of storms, as long as I am here waiting eagerly to see these amazing storms you probably won't get any :)
I thought there was going to be a storm last night with the colour of the skies over Warsaw but no. Don't worry, those in Warsaw who are scared of storms, as long as I am here waiting eagerly to see these amazing storms you probably won't get any :)
I came back across this thread and now find it quite ironic :)
I know right! I'm a thunderstorm lover, and especially out in the villages and rural areas of Poland where I have been the sky literally turns dark as black and you can feel the winds creeping up on you, and then that morbid silence and then BOOM mother nature strikes with hard rain and lightening. I love thunderstorms and when I was in Poland they were the best!
Here are some pics taken in Poland, some of them are mine :-D.
I absoutely love thunderstorms, always have done! It makes me feel cosy in my house. I open the window and close the curtain and listen to the rain falling. What a wonderful expression of nature's power!
I loved the tornado video. The gormless buffoons waited and then charged on into it, LOL.
Lol, you could hear them, "wait for it, what is it, look at it, what's it doing"; then once it actually forms, he says "Drive forward" right into it. lmao
