[This is a repost of an entry which had outdated links. That original entry and reader comments are here.]
As is mentioned in my bio, my desire to become a meteorologist was rooted in a phobia of thunder and lightning. A lot of kids are scared of thunderstorms, but mine went way beyond a normal childhood fear. I was petrified at the sound of thunder or the flash of lightning, especially at night.
I'm not sure exactly how old I was, but probably sometime during elementary school age I snuck into my parents' room and hid under their bed all night because I was worried there MIGHT be a thunderstorm.
My father, upon awakening in the morning, couldn't find me. Finally he did. The subsequent exchange went something like this:
"What in the world are you doing under there?!"
"I was worried there'd be a thunderstorm."
"But Stu, there's not a cloud in the sky!"
That fright is what triggered my curiosity, fascination, and even obsession with the weather. It has lasted my whole life. Fortunately, my phobia has not, although in certain situations lightning still makes me more uneasy than most people. For awhile I actually went too far in the other direction and became a little too nonchalant ... until a couple of close calls jolted me (figuratively, fortunately not literally).
With that background, I was quite interested to hear about a new study on weather phobias (focusing specifically on severe thunderstorms and tornadoes).
There even used to be a website (now defunct) which was exclusively devoted to storm phobias, and I'm certainly not the only one who has experienced some of these phobic symptoms!
