This picture was taken a full 30 mins AFTER the hail had stopped! The size range on this hail was between marble sized, all the way up to golf ball. We had almost NO warning...Here's how events played out last night:
I knew there was a chance for severe weather, since, as stated in a previous post, I am "weather aware". I pulled up the National Weather Service web site around 5:30 pm and checked radar...we were under a tornado watch, but no storms yet...I checked it again 20 minutes later, still clear. I went about my normal routine, and the phone rang a little after 6:00, and it was my mom, followed by a call a few seconds later from my friend Kim...
"Are you watching the weather???" Were the first questions from both...NOT A GOOD SIGN!
A large wall cloud was forming, with circulation, only a few miles to the SW of me, headed my way.
CRAP!!! I turn on the weather, then go outside with hubby and watch the looming black wall cloud closing in on us. I went back inside to go bring my son's dog in the house, as the rain drops started. Within 30 seconds, they had turned to hail. And not just any hail...the kind that crushes crops (my poor pansies look awful), the kind that you fear will break out your windows, THE KIND THAT WON'T ALLOW YOU TO LOAD UP YOUR SMALL CHILDREN AND DRIVE TO YOUR FRIEND'S SAFEROOM!
Not only was this hail massive in quantity...it was possessed! Instead of falling or slanting toward the NE, the direction the storm was moving, at close to 50 mph...IT WAS COMING DOWN HORIZONALLY FROM THE WEST!!!!
"This can't be good!" I say over and over to my husband.
Of course not, the damn thing has a serious updraft, which means it's sucking air up inside the wall cloud, which we have already established is rotating, and therefore organizing, so it can drop down a tornado at any point and take us all to OZ!
Luckily for us, the storm WAS moving so fast, that by the time it did produce a tornado, it was about 6-7 miles past us.
WE have dodged the first bullet of May, but I am sure there will be a few more before it is all said and done.
For more pictures, go check out Skeeter's post...http://atomiczebra7.blogspot.com/2008/05/another-tornado.html...he works about 4-5 miles NE of my house!
Terri
6 comments:
So glad you're okay! I thought of you last night when I was watching the weather channel and they were highlighting all the super cells popping up in Oklahoma. I'm not sure I could live under that threat my whole life. I must be spoiled from living in relatively serene Maine.
Take care.
Mary
I guess I'm just used to it.
We don't get as much warning as those on the East coast awaiting a hurricane, but we USUALLY get more of a warning than those on the West coast before an earthquake!
:) Terri
Wow, that's a pretty dang dramatic story-- well done.
You do indeed sound quite Weather Aware-- care to keep an eye on the Chicagoland area for me, as a side project? lol
My mom called me and warned me. Woke me up from a nice nap. We did not get any hail at all, just a lot of rain. I was in the drive through at Freddy's when it finally touched down miles and miles away.
mmmm chili dogs......
I'm so glad you were spared anything beyond smashed pansies!!
Smashed pansies and MAJOR hail damage on my vehicles...didn't even notice until days later when my daughter pointed it out! At the time, I was just worried about the glass!
:) Terri
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