A.J. WATERMAN

My interest in weather began almost as far back as I can remember. Growing up in Canton, Massachusetts, a town just south of Boston, it was easy for me to become fascinated by weather. When I was just about 4 years old, I had experienced severe thunderstorms, a hurricane, and a blizzard all in the same year. The first severe thunderstorm I remember was in the spring of 1996. I can remember hearing the distant rumble and then running into my house minutes before the storm arrived. I watched the sky turn black as rain, wind, and nonstop lightning turned a nice warm day into a frightful scene. At the time, I was fearful of my house being struck by lightning when, just then, a tree was hit across the street. The storm was quickly over leaving my house unscathed, but ingraining severity of thunderstorms into my memory forever... During the summer of that same year, I was staying with my family on Humarock Beach in Scituate, Massachusetts, when a hurricane hit seemingly out of nowhere. I..