Having lived the first 9 years of my life in Kansas and the next 9 in Ohio, I can say that Massachusetts really doesn't have much in the way of storms. Also, particularly in Kansas, the storms are often extremely scattered, and it wasn't uncommon for our back yard to be inundated while our front yard was bone dry, or vise verse. As for lightning, well, I cringe anytime I see someone walking around with an umbrella in a thunderstorm, but perhaps it's best if they get out of the gene pool sooner rather than later...