Toledo Tales

(Toledo, OH) Powerful storms raced across Northwest Ohio last night, toppling trees and power lines, flooding streets, but leaving local weatherman Robert Shiels at a loss to describe the event with a pithy name.

"All the big storms have great names, like 'The Blizzard of 1978' or 'The Palm Sunday Tornado of 1965,' but this one is stumping me," admitted Shiels. "I mean, just say the words 'Hurricane Katrina' and everyone knows what you're talking about. We need that here."

In the Toledo area 5 inches of rain fell in five hours, while firefighters used rubber boats to rescue motorists stuck in the high water.

"We were thinking of 'The 2006 Thunderstorm with Lots of Heavy Rain and Lightning Bolts,' but that seemed a bit clunky," said the WTOL meteorologist. "And 'Really, Really Wicked Summer Storm of 2006' doesn't quite seem to capture the intensity of last night's weather."


Wind gusts reaching up to 60 mph roared through the area, and golf ball-size hail pelted cars and houses. Shiels said that, until the storm gets its own catchy name, residents will be deprived of the "cathartic nomenclature" needed before they can move on.

"Let's face it - telling your friends your tree got ripped up in 'The Major Storm 0f June 2006 that Didn't Quite Kill Anybody' is not as therapeutic as, say, 'Hellstorm Hugo,'" he said. "There are a lot of people counting on us getting this one right."