Tell me about a time the weather caught you off guard while you were outside.

B Natural answer

Last autumn, I went for a long bike ride along a river trail, and the weather changed very quickly. When I left home, the forecast seemed harmless, but halfway through the ride, dark clouds rolled in. A few minutes later, I felt a sharp wind coming across the water, and the temperature dropped much faster than I expected. I had planned to keep going for another hour, but it was obvious that the weather was turning, so we had to head back. The ride home was slower than planned because I was fighting the wind the whole way. I wasn’t really worried, but I did realize I should have checked the radar more carefully. Since then, I’ve learned that even a short trip outside can become a lesson in paying attention to the sky.

Key phrases in this answer

• dark clouds rolled in — dark clouds moved over the area“Dark clouds rolled in before the storm.”
• a sharp wind — a strong, cold wind that feels unpleasant“A sharp wind blew across the trail.”
• we had to head back — we needed to return to where we started“The storm got worse, so we had to head back.”
• out of nowhere — suddenly, with no warning“The rain started out of nowhere.”
• caught me off guard — surprised me in a way I was not ready for“The cold snap caught me off guard.”
• the sky turned the color of wet steel — a vivid way to describe a dark gray storm sky“The sky turned the color of wet steel before the rain.”