It was Oct. 17, 1998. I was an editorial assistant on the San Antonio Express-News City Desk. I spent most of the morning watching on TV the effects of a 100-year flood wreak havoc across the city, and yet there I was, driving/floating into work.

I came to a large culvert on Wetmore Road that looked harmless enough. Sure, there was some water gushing over it, but there were no “no crossing” barricades blocking it. I was young, inexperienced and late for work. So I gunned it and proceeded to stall midway. In addition to stalling, I came up off the ground and began to float.

As I floated to the other side, I thought to myself, “God, am I really about to die in a 1989 Dodge Caravan?” Would my friends read a headline the next day: “Fat, aspiring journalist found dead in a 1989 minivan lodged up a tree”. Subhead: “Minivan had a spoiler, brand new rims and broken tape deck; ‘Tubthumping' by Chumbawamba found playing on a loop”.

God said no. That was a day when weather changed my life. To this day, I can't listen to Chumbawamba without getting nervous.

With this in mind, I began watching a series on The Weather Channel, “When Weather Changed History,” airing at 8 p.m. Sunday nights.

This show is not the end all of documentaries, but it's a sound show with interesting topics and good flow between experts and footage and all the other bits and pieces that go into the fun documentary shows we see on channels such as History Channel and National Geographic.

 The biggest surprise to me was I had no idea The Weather Channel did anything other than scroll local weather stats at the bottom of the TV while constantly playing over and over again the ski outlook and weather forecasts of the north and southeastern United States.

So when I stumbled across the “Race to Nome” episode, I was caught off guard. I had make sure I was on the right station.

I ended up finding out how the Iditarod was born from a 1920s diphtheria epidemic in Alaska. Now, this was not an Earth-shaking, history-changing event, but, for sure, a moment when weather changed history for those involved.

Other topics such as how weather played into the space program with regards to NASA and World War II when weather turned military plans on end are featured.

Then there's the story of those tough old bastards of Bastogne, also known as the “Battle of the Bulge,” or, in other circles, “The 101st Kicks Some Nazi Ass.” At least, that is what my grandfather called it.

So far, the episode about the “Battle of the Bulge” and its horrendous weather has been the best episode. But try as I might, turning the air conditioner down to 50 degrees, leaving the windows open at night while playing “Call of Duty,” just does not capture the same feeling.