Something Wicked This Way Comes....

[Rovers]

Yet another heat wave here and eventually, behind it comes some nasty weather. This was different. VERY different.

 

Sky turned incredibly dark as the clouds approached. I was not a quarter mile away from my house when the first raindrops hit the winshield. At the same time, the wind kicked up. Two houses away from mine, a large branch from a tree that was at least 40 yards away blew by just in front of my truck. I stopped the truck in the middle of the road away from any trees and just watched.

 

NO thunder, NO lightning. No garbage pails blowing around, no hugh winds on the ground, but at roof top level the wind had to be near 100MPH. Trees were bent at 90 degree angles. It lasted not five minutes, but the streets were flooded. After it passed, I took a drive. Lots of very large branches down all over the place, but few trees completely down. Split in half, yes, but not down. I'm talking branches that were 15 to 20 inches diameter. Almost like tree trunks.

 

About 4 houses away, I saw destruction the likes of which virtually never happens here. Tornadoes are extremely rare here, but I believe this was a small tornado. The path of destruction was maybe 20 yards wide, and the easy to see path was about a quarter mile long. Entire trees not just blown over, but picked up and moved yards away from the hole left where the roots once were firmly in the ground.

 

I've been through a hurricane or two, and this was worse than either of them, but it was so strange. How could such a storm not blow garbage pails around? No lightning, no thunder at ALL. Biblical rainfall. Lasted five minutes. I got lucky, nothing down. That tornado (and I could care less if NOAA decides to call it one) also took down 4 telephone/power poles down right in a row. Again, I got lucky, I am not on that part of the grid so I still have power. Those folks will have to wait days before the trees can be removed, the poles replaced and they get power back.

 

So.... is this what it's like to live in tornado alley?

[Chief Dick]

Yet another heat wave here and eventually, behind it comes some nasty weather. This was different. VERY different.

 

Sky turned incredibly dark as the clouds approached. I was not a quarter mile away from my house when the first raindrops hit the winshield. At the same time, the wind kicked up. Two houses away from mine, a large branch from a tree that was at least 40 yards away blew by just in front of my truck. I stopped the truck in the middle of the road away from any trees and just watched.

 

NO thunder, NO lightning. No garbage pails blowing around, no hugh winds on the ground, but at roof top level the wind had to be near 100MPH. Trees were bent at 90 degree angles. It lasted not five minutes, but the streets were flooded. After it passed, I took a drive. Lots of very large branches down all over the place, but few trees completely down. Split in half, yes, but not down. I'm talking branches that were 15 to 20 inches diameter. Almost like tree trunks.

 

About 4 houses away, I saw destruction the likes of which virtually never happens here. Tornadoes are extremely rare here, but I believe this was a small tornado. The path of destruction was maybe 20 yards wide, and the easy to see path was about a quarter mile long. Entire trees not just blown over, but picked up and moved yards away from the hole left where the roots once were firmly in the ground.

 

I've been through a hurricane or two, and this was worse than either of them, but it was so strange. How could such a storm not blow garbage pails around? No lightning, no thunder at ALL. Biblical rainfall. Lasted five minutes. I got lucky, nothing down. That tornado (and I could care less if NOAA decides to call it one) also took down 4 telephone/power poles down right in a row. Again, I got lucky, I am not on that part of the grid so I still have power. Those folks will have to wait days before the trees can be removed, the poles replaced and they get power back.

 

So.... is this what it's like to live in tornado alley?

 

Pretty wild. We get those here in KC all the time. No tornado, just pure chaos for a few minutes. Glad you are ok.

[rattsass]

So.... is this what it's like to live in tornado alley?

Yep. Fun huh?

[Rovers]

Well, if this is what happens in the midwest, it's no small wonder they are mostly God fearing christians out there. That was some scary chit. I was at least 40 yards away from the nearest tree, and branches were still flying by my truck. Getting out was not an option, way too much stuff flyin down the street. I coulda got impaled er sumpthin.

[Chargerz]

As I was growing up in Illinois several tornados came through. I thought it was exciting then, but now I realize they caused alot of damage and some injuries.

[Skippy]

Rovers - about three weeks ago the same exact thing happend here in Pittsburgh. To be more specific it happend in my neighborhood but almost no where else.

 

It started with the darkness then a crazy sound that I never heard before. Wind that had to be the most intense wind that I have ever seen but it only lasted about 2 mintues. Destruction from trees and things that blew around was all over my street. But as soon as you drove a little east or west there was nothing. The news only made a tiny little mention of it and never said what it was.

 

Like you, I don't care what it was. It was the most wicked thing that I ever saw. Every house has some sort of damage to it but that is only in my area. Three streets away and they think we are crazy.

[Bengal Mania]

Personally, I think its a sign from God.........but don't quote me on that

 

 

 

So let me get this straight........

 

This "storm" kicked around all the trees and other natural wonders of our Green Planet, but left your anti-environmentalist garbage calmly by the curb? Your safety was assured only in your gas-guzzing SUV?

Man, this is gonna be hard to digest.

[gilthorp]

I hear the talking heads on TV talk about wind-shear. It could be?

[SheikYerbuti]

The most violent strom I ever saw.

[rajncajn]

I've been through a hurricane or two, and this was worse than either of them, but it was so strange.

 

Define hurricane.

[whomper]

The most violent strom I ever saw.

 

 

I was too slow

[Rovers]

Personally, I think its a sign from God.........but don't quote me on that

 

 

 

So let me get this straight........

 

This "storm" kicked around all the trees and other natural wonders of our Green Planet, but left your anti-environmentalist garbage calmly by the curb? Your safety was assured only in your gas-guzzing SUV?

Man, this is gonna be hard to digest.

 

Huh? I am a landscaper. I have an F150, and it is my only vehicle. It is a work truck. I've had it a little over a year, and still don't have 5k miles on it yet. It is how I make my living. I use it to plant trees and shrubs, use it to haul yard debris to a dump that recylce it after they turn it into compost, mulch and top soil. Maybe I should drive around in a Pinto with a mower in the trunk? And dispose of organic material in the trash instead of recycling it? In addition I tow an enclosed trailer for my equipment. The pickup is for hauling. Yes, NEW trees and plants, but according to you I suppose I am responsible for killing the planet. .

 

What is hard to digest is morans who spout chit they have no clue about. Miight want to change your screen name from "Mania" to "Maniac".

 

Well, now that we have established I am the eco-Darth Vader of planet earth....

 

While waiting for the storm to pass, I honestly believe the truck was moved just a bit... it was getting buffeted around, and I think it actually slid an inch or so. They will never call it a tornado, but neighbors said that some of these trees were lifted straight up, and set back down. Straight line wind doesn't do things like that.

 

As soon as I saw this black cloud approaching, I knew it was no ordinary storm. You could feel it. I had a breif discussion with 2 people after I left the store before I got into the truck. All three of us sensed the same thing. You could feel the danger, the power of it. 26,000 lost power on Long Island. Amazingly, the power company has already replaced the 4 downed poles. They must have worked through the night.

 

I also got lucky.... no calls from my customers, so I guess they made out OK, I did check on almost half of them yesterday afternoon. The real bad damage was in a straight line, starting about 4 houses away from me and in a line going southeast for a quarter mile from that point. .

[Rovers]

Define hurricane.

 

OK, not a Katrina, but I saw Hurricane Donna when I was a kid, and Gloria, a CAT1 hurricane, and the eye went right over my house at the time, in Bayport, LI. That was a very strange experience too, as the sun came out and everyone came out of their homes to survey the damage before the other side of the eye wall hit. It was sunny and calm. Then all hell broke loose again.

[rajncajn]

OK, not a Katrina, but I saw Hurricane Donna when I was a kid, and Gloria, a CAT1 hurricane, and the eye went right over my house at the time, in Bayport, LI. That was a very strange experience too, as the sun came out and everyone came out of their homes to survey the damage before the other side of the eye wall hit. It was sunny and calm. Then all hell broke loose again.

Obviously not Katrina, but I was thinking more along the lines of some of the other hurricanes that have rolled through here between Camille in 69 & Katrina, which were both Cat 5's. One of the worst wind storms I remember was Elena in 85 and it was "only" a Cat 3. Watched 30" dia trees topple like dominoes in my front yard and would have never known it from the sound alone or feel alone. Pears from the tree in the back yard pelted the back of the house & sounded like the starting lineup for the Yankees was having pitching practice out there. A HUGH tulip tree fell across the front of our house & the plate glass exploded like a bomb from the pressure. One of the strangest things I've ever seen after a hurricane was pine needles stuck into the bark of a tree like a spear.