After reading my post about the M & M Divide, a woman sent a note that she’d lived there as a child. The weather was spooky, she admitted. It could be raining, snowing, or monsoon-like conditions on one side, but once you crossed the divide, it could be sunny and calm. I couldn’t find anything about this phenomenon on the internet, so I asked on the Historic Guthrie County Facebook page if anyone else was familiar with it.
Yes! Tim said he’d lived on the divide most of his life and “it’s all true.”
DP reported that when he moved to the divide 23 years ago, his grandma told him he’d “better have good tires for your buggy.”
Debra, who had lived along the divide for 25 years, said that sometimes the weather was strange, “even to the point of raining on one side of the house but not the other.”
Tim has seen tornadoes on either side of the divide, but he’s never seen a a funnel touch down on the divide. “They usually die out before they get there.”
Nadine said that she’d lived 50 years on top of the divide and that the tales were true. The weather is different and often crazy. “Temps, fog, wind, where system skips, starts, ends. Great view though!”
Doris told about traveling from west of Guthrie Center to Des Moines for an appointment with a relative when it started snowing. It got so bad on the way home that they had to stop to clean off the windshield wipers. Her relative left for her home in Audubon, to the west, right away. When she got to the M&M divide and on west, “there was no snow at all.”
“I’ve lived on the divide for more than 50 years,” wrote another reader, and “it’s a different world on the divide!”
What a fascinating weather phenomenon.
I believe every word, Joy. I’ve seen such phenomenon right here in FL.
Wow! Any idea what causes it there?
No clue. But even the birds seem to notice at that intersection and only sit on one side of the road – the sunny side of the street! lol
Love this. And what a strange experience for all to live in a spooky, unpredictable place weather-wise….especially early settlers. I bet there are amazing Native American stories about the area. Thank you, Joy, for sharing. 🥰
I’ll bet you’re right, Vicki!
🥰😉🥰
I’d never heard of the M & M Divide. It would be fun to visit, but I don’t think I’d want to live there. At this point in my life, I want predictable.
We ladies “visited” that one day but didn’t notice anything remarkable. That’s why I’m so taken with these stories from folks who’ve lived there.
Certain areas seem to have pockets of land where bad weather will track north or south of it. “Tornado alleys” are probably caused by similar reasons. The divide does seem bizarre though. 🙂
Strange how even a modest uplift can cause such drastic alterations of weather. Sounds like an exciting place to live!
Pretty amazing, Joy, Mother Nature doing her thing.