They occur most frequently in the spring and
summer, when very sudden changes of temperature take place. The
thermometer has often been known to drop 25 degrees within half an hour.

A great deal of damage is always caused, trees which have taken years of
care and trouble are ruthlessly uprooted, roofs blown off, windmills
blown down, haystacks turned over, and valuable animals struck by
lightning. The terrible closeness and stillness which generally precede
a "tormenta" are certain forerunners of bad weather and storms. A
terrible hailstorm which took place some time ago will always be
remembered by its spectators. The usual signs of it were evident; the
atmosphere had become very close and it had been extremely hot for some
hours before. Though only about 4 p.m., it got peculiarly dark and a
strong gale began to blow, and distant sounds of thunder were heard. A
sudden lull came, which meant that the storm was about to break; sheets
of lightning of every description were followed by deafening peals of
thunder, which made man and beast tremble. Then there came a downfall of
huge hailstones; they were just like big lumps of jagged ice; some of
them measured about six to eight inches round and weighed over half a
pound. This storm did a fearful lot of harm; not a leaf was left on a
single tree, and hundreds of birds lay dead all around. Though very
violent, this hailstorm did not last more than ten minutes, in which
time an incalculable amount of destruction took place.

In September, 1909, a very bad cyclone suddenly came on us. The sky
turned black and blacker, and the clouds looked horribly wicked.
Suddenly a terrific gale got up, which caused every window and door to
rattle in a most alarming manner, though they had all been as well
secured as possible. The dust seemed to filter in just the same, and in
five minutes the house was an inch thick in it. We heard a loud bang and
then another over our heads, and on looking out of a window we saw the
roof of one of the outer buildings lying on the ground; part of it had
been blown over our house and had carried away the chimney, a big iron
one, on its way. We were told afterwards that the cook had had to use
all her force against the kitchen window to keep it from bursting open,
as, if the wind had got in, it would have carried away that roof as
well. This hurricane lasted for about an hour and a-half; as soon as it
had abated somewhat we went out to see the result. Everywh