On Monday afternoon and evening, with the temperature at 90 degrees, most of eastern North Dakota and western Minnesota was placed under a tornado watch by the Storm Prediction Center of the National Weather Service.
Unlike most other severe weather episodes this summer, the evening turned out to be a quiet one with no tornadoes and no hail. The evening had passed with just some rain, a lot of lightning, and some non-severe 35- to 45-mph winds.
To me, the atmosphere had certainly looked ripe enough for severe storms of some kind, but the elements just did not come together for the big show as they had so many times this summer.
As the lightning gradually faded into the eastern sky late Monday night, I found myself thinking of first frosts and first snows and other seasonal milestones coming up. And it occurred to me that the night sky all lit up with lightning was a beautiful sight.
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