My first tornado.....
Wow.. I'm not sure I can be more articulate than just WOW at the moment.
Shadorn and I were driving home from work this evening. Before we left, we got a couple of severe storm and tornado warnings on our phones, so we were trying to get home fast, and warily watching the skies.
About 5 miles from home, the skies were starting to fill with ominous clouds, darkening and turning that green-black that heralds a serious storm. With my fear of tornadoes (Hey, I was born and raised on the east coast, where we didn't often get tornadoes. I've been through a rough hurricane before but tornadoes scare the hell out of me) I was scanning the skies for funnel clouds and co-piloting. The rain was just lightly starting to come down, and the lightning was stunning.
I saw one far away that looked like it was likely to turn into a tornado, and pointed it out to Shadorn. He looked over to where there was a long dark trailing cloud, with a light one in front of it, and said "Maybe.. But I'm more worried about that one." I looked at it for a second, thinking it was just the layering of the clouds, and then couldn't help but agree with him.
As we drove north up the highway, and neared the site of that cloud, I was certain. A long white pillar was starting to come down, maybe 200 yards from the road. It was about 50 or 60 yards across, and maybe 50 feet from touching the ground. All around it little dark fingers were coming down from the clouds, trying to decide whether they were going to join it.
In front of us, someone in an SUV panicked and flew down into the ditch and across the grassy median, to turn around and drive south down the highway. Looking ahead, I had to disagree with him. The storm was moving southeast (though the funnel cloud seemed to be moving more southwest, toward the road). We could see the lighter clouds a couple of miles ahead, and it definitely seemed a better idea to push through the storm, rather than run with it.
We had just had to slow down to avoid hitting the guy in the SUV, and were going about 50mph when we got right up next to the funnel. The winds were incredible, and the funnel was thickening some, becoming straighter, moving closer. Nervously, I asked Shadorn to pick up the pace and get us past the funnel as fast as was safe.
As we made it past it, I breathed a little easier, but the rain was coming down in torrents, and the wind was picking up, and we still had a couple of miles to go to get home. As we were coming off the off ramp, all around us were those little wispy fingers, trailing down low from the clouds, trying to decide whether to become tornadoes or continue their lives as trailing clouds.
Each mile closer to home, I breathed a little easier, and unclenched my hands from the door handle a little more, despite the lack of visibility and the storm building. We made it home safe and sound, just as the worst of the storm hit.
That was one of the most beautiful and most terrifying experiences I have ever had. I wish I had had the presence of mind to grab the phone and take a picture, but I really was more worried about getting past the tornado, than I was about capturing it. I am glad to have seen it, and gotten home safe, but I can honestly admit I was shaking a little when I got out of the car. That was AMAZING!
Shadorn and I were driving home from work this evening. Before we left, we got a couple of severe storm and tornado warnings on our phones, so we were trying to get home fast, and warily watching the skies.
About 5 miles from home, the skies were starting to fill with ominous clouds, darkening and turning that green-black that heralds a serious storm. With my fear of tornadoes (Hey, I was born and raised on the east coast, where we didn't often get tornadoes. I've been through a rough hurricane before but tornadoes scare the hell out of me) I was scanning the skies for funnel clouds and co-piloting. The rain was just lightly starting to come down, and the lightning was stunning.
I saw one far away that looked like it was likely to turn into a tornado, and pointed it out to Shadorn. He looked over to where there was a long dark trailing cloud, with a light one in front of it, and said "Maybe.. But I'm more worried about that one." I looked at it for a second, thinking it was just the layering of the clouds, and then couldn't help but agree with him.
As we drove north up the highway, and neared the site of that cloud, I was certain. A long white pillar was starting to come down, maybe 200 yards from the road. It was about 50 or 60 yards across, and maybe 50 feet from touching the ground. All around it little dark fingers were coming down from the clouds, trying to decide whether they were going to join it.
In front of us, someone in an SUV panicked and flew down into the ditch and across the grassy median, to turn around and drive south down the highway. Looking ahead, I had to disagree with him. The storm was moving southeast (though the funnel cloud seemed to be moving more southwest, toward the road). We could see the lighter clouds a couple of miles ahead, and it definitely seemed a better idea to push through the storm, rather than run with it.
We had just had to slow down to avoid hitting the guy in the SUV, and were going about 50mph when we got right up next to the funnel. The winds were incredible, and the funnel was thickening some, becoming straighter, moving closer. Nervously, I asked Shadorn to pick up the pace and get us past the funnel as fast as was safe.
As we made it past it, I breathed a little easier, but the rain was coming down in torrents, and the wind was picking up, and we still had a couple of miles to go to get home. As we were coming off the off ramp, all around us were those little wispy fingers, trailing down low from the clouds, trying to decide whether to become tornadoes or continue their lives as trailing clouds.
Each mile closer to home, I breathed a little easier, and unclenched my hands from the door handle a little more, despite the lack of visibility and the storm building. We made it home safe and sound, just as the worst of the storm hit.
That was one of the most beautiful and most terrifying experiences I have ever had. I wish I had had the presence of mind to grab the phone and take a picture, but I really was more worried about getting past the tornado, than I was about capturing it. I am glad to have seen it, and gotten home safe, but I can honestly admit I was shaking a little when I got out of the car. That was AMAZING!