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Some tropical weather systems can hit like a speeding freight train.

We learned that with hurricanes Charley and Wilma.

Others can be slow to come and slow to go, without falling apart.

We learned that from Fay, which was a wheezing tropical storm when its center groped ashore early Tuesday and seemed to get better defined as it spun north and east.

Though Fay to us was more of a rainmaker than a brute, the sustained winds we did see renewed our respect for gusts of even modest velocity. The experience should have reminded us all to pay attention to and prepare for all approaching storms — and follow their progress.

And the news is not always bad, as we saw late Monday night as Fay crawled in from Key West.

Southwest Floridians get high marks for heeding law-enforcement officials’ pleas to stay off the streets during and after the worst of the storm.

We learned that if we must lose electricity, as thousands of us did, it is better to do so when the weather is cool and cloudy rather than blazing hot.

We were impressed anew at the help that flowed freely for neighbors with the occasional downed tree or powerless refrigerator full of perishables.

We were informed and amused by TV reporters. One instructed how deceptively shallow the water can appear to be on a street flooded up to her knees. Later, when the flooding had subsided, she poured water from one of her boots to show ... well ... how much water was in there. Another news report warned of a new, hidden danger in flood spots — ants.

If we must have tropical weather events, we learned Tuesday is the best time. We have the weekend to prepare, and we can go to work on Monday to prepare for what might happen Tuesday and beyond. If we’re back to work on Wednesday, that is a happy day.

Schools are sure to be among the happiest places in the region. They are undamaged and ready to embrace a new year of teaching and learning.

Our community got lucky with signs. Politicians and their supporters did a nice job of rounding up their placards, which could have become missiles, for reposting later. Some other yard signs, for homes for sale or rent, were left out. So were some signs showing the way to Collier County precinct polling places for Tuesday’s elections.

Bottom line: People can be tempted to look at a storm like Fay from the wrong angle.

They see a concerted warning coming from the media, followed by an event that is far from catastrophic, and dismiss it all as a scheme to sell papers and hurricane shutters.

But really, it is a concerted warning based on a high degree of uncertainty surrounding a number of factors, including the storm’s exact path, its potential to gain strength and the interaction between the storm and the tides, which can worsen storm surge. The fact that it proves to be less than catastrophic is a blessing. The warnings and preparations serve as trial runs for the vigilant.

While not a disastrous storm, Fay shows the power of nature to take control of our lives. That is always a stressful, exhausting lesson. We are always grateful to be able to walk away from it with so little damage.

When we can watch TV coverage of any local storm — especially one so slow and mild that shelters are preparing to close in Collier before the storm arrives in Charlotte — we have had a good day.