I saw my first tornado today

LaurieLovesLearning
LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,573 admin

I may have seen it a bit closer, as our area was the first one warned, and the rotation was supposedly coming our way & 7 miles away...so we were in the basement. I figured with the noise of constant thunder & heavy rain, we were best off in the basement. My...it was so humid outside. It's better now.

It touched down south of here & was at one point a twin. No news yet of damaged property or deaths (unlike the bad larger one a few days ago). This one seemed smaller.

My pictures have trees in the way, but it was cool for all of us to see it, even from that distance.

There were some beautiful pictures that chasers took closer to it.

I thought our tornado season was kind of done, but it looks to only have possibly begun.

Comments

  • naomi.kohlmeier
    naomi.kohlmeier Posts: 380 ✭✭✭

    Wow! That's a great picture! Isn't nature beautiful even when it has the potential to be destructive? Glad you're safe!!!

  • Torey
    Torey Posts: 5,679 admin

    Glad it wasn't any closer to you! I have never seen a true tornado. Small dust devils from time to time and a few water spouts but nothing like this. There are occasional reports of small tornadoes in our area but the damage is usually limited to small sheds or a small stand of trees and is gone as quickly as it started. Far too many hills and valleys here for them to get going for any distance or develop into any size.

  • Linda Bittle
    Linda Bittle Posts: 1,518 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I've seen a couple of small ones, and NEVER want to see a larger one! They scare the pants off of me. Glad you have a basement to go to.

  • Lisa K
    Lisa K Posts: 1,933 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @LaurieLovesLearning Great picture! Hope you stay safe!

  • Grounded
    Grounded Posts: 153 ✭✭✭

    We had a tornado touch down less then a mile from our house and the wind at the house was bad. We were lucky to have only one medium-sized branch fall in the backyard.

    Where the tornado did touch down, there were roofs removed or caved-in, trees and branches down everywhere and power interrupted for several days.

    I remember back in college sitting on the roof of the dorm looking for tornadoes. I am very glad we never saw one and have come to respect their destructive power enough to take appropriate shelter when one is in the area.

  • GardenMama
    GardenMama Posts: 95 ✭✭✭

    Great picture! We just had quite the string of them here. 9 confirmed I think. I'm so glad others see the beauty in the storms

  • VickiP
    VickiP Posts: 586 ✭✭✭✭

    We had a large one about 1 mile from our house it took out a big black cherry tree we had, I hated that, but it hit town and destroyed the school and numerous houses 1 death. That was a couple of years ago. These things are scary.

  • judsoncarroll4
    judsoncarroll4 Posts: 5,490 admin

    Glad you are safe. I've seen a few.... from a distance, thank God!

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,573 admin

    I should clarify that this tornado was quite some distance away by the time it was fully developed & visible, & by the time we came out of the basement. It certainly was not heading our way. If it was, I am not sure we would have been outside at the time I took that picture.

    The storms do bring to me a good level of fear. I respect them. I take warnings seriously. But those storms are certainly powerful & definitely beautiful.

  • andrea745
    andrea745 Posts: 89 ✭✭✭

    I have seen a few from a distance. I live in hurricane country and they can be down right scary. We were evacuated during Irma and had to drive seven hours to get out of harms way. Our house did amazingly well and we were without power for two weeks, but I prefer hurricanes to tornadoes because you get so much warning . Tornadoes on the other hand can be very small, striking one neighborhood and not another. It is a toss up...

  • ltwickey
    ltwickey Posts: 369 ✭✭✭

    Mother nature gives us such amazing and diverse weather patterns. Each with their own beauty. But also demand respect. I've been through tornadoes, hurricanes, typhoons, dust storms, and blizzards. By far the eeriest was the grayish-green sky with a hollow silence right before the sound like a thundering train coming at you, a tornado! Missed us by a few miles but absolute terror for about 30 minutes!

    Glad you and your family are safe! Great photog skills!

  • seeker.nancy - Central Texas
    seeker.nancy - Central Texas Posts: 795 ✭✭✭✭

    We've had some warnings here but no touch downs with damage. Several years back there was a big one that went through a small town near here (West); lots of damage and I think some loss of lives. We have no basement...most houses here do not have one, probably due to the rock hard clay. I have, however, found where in the house we have the most protection. So far we have only used it once but it passed us by (thank goodness!). So glad you were able to view it at a DISTANCE @LaurieLovesLearning

  • Annie Kate
    Annie Kate Posts: 680 ✭✭✭✭

    @LaurieLovesLearning I was close to one as a child in Manitoba, but my parents came from an area that didn't have tornadoes, so it just seemed like a super-storm to them and we didn't hide or anything.

    Occasionally we see the beginnings of one here in Ontario, and we've had enormous dust devils, with lawn chairs twirling up into the sky and trampolines flying about, but no real tornado, and I'm glad. The dust devils are scary enough.

    I am glad you are safe and also that you managed to take such a lovely photo. It reminds me of my parents' place. :)

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,573 admin

    I have enjoyed reading everyone's comments. Thanks!

    @Annie Kate Where were your parents while in MB? We live on the northern edge of what the storm chasers call Manitoba's tornado alley.

  • stephanie447
    stephanie447 Posts: 404 ✭✭✭

    When I lived in Austin, Texas in a second floor apartment, I heard a tornado late one night. It woke up me and it did absolutely sound like a train, which was fortunately moving away from me. I really had no place to go and it was like 3 am or something, I so stayed in bed. The next morning I found it had touched down about a mile from me and had damaged a few buildings.

  • Cornelius
    Cornelius Posts: 872 ✭✭✭✭

    @LaurieLovesLearning I am glad to hear that you are safe. When I was a little kid my family lived in Oklahoma (another part of tornado alley) for a year. We hide in the closet during bad storms since we did not have a basement in the event of a tornado.

  • annebeloncik
    annebeloncik Posts: 62 ✭✭✭

    Wow! I grew up in Oklahoma, and still have tornado dreams, like a 5-year-old! 😅

  • COWLOVINGIRL
    COWLOVINGIRL Posts: 954 ✭✭✭✭

    Wow!

  • Hassena
    Hassena Posts: 345 ✭✭✭

    Great photo! Wow. That's kenty close. Glad y'all are ok.

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,573 admin

    Thanks, everyone.

  • Annie Kate
    Annie Kate Posts: 680 ✭✭✭✭

    We were near Carman. Are you up near Brandon? I didn't even know Manitoba had a tornado alley. LOL

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,573 admin

    We are NW of Brandon roughly by about 45 minutes.

    I didn't know that either until I started following storm chasers. My, have they been busy this past month! The EF2 that killed two 18 yr olds was upgraded to an EF3. We went past there a few days ago, and as much as a lot was cleaned up, it still looked devastating. :(

    There was another tornado before that and one I posted above shortly after. There was an angry cloud at Birtle a few days ago that had a funnel. The cloud pictures were spectacular. Then just yesterday, a whole bunch of chasers were following a series of tornado warned clouds from Russell/Roblin to Elphinstone toward the park, then another huge warned storm with strong rotation from roughly that area that went from East of Rapid City (tornado went through there once before not long ago) through to Eden. They figured there was a possible tornado near Moore Park. It was a busy, busy day!

    It just makes me wonder what's up today or tomorrow. The weather has been volatile lately. The lightning has been awesome & clouds absolutely angry, yet so beautiful.

    The storm chasers should just move here for the rest of the season. 😬

    I both love it and hate it. 🤪

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,573 admin

    Well, here we are for the second time in 5 days with yet another tornado watch. 😬 My husband & boys are out swathing for someone, and I am waiting for it all at home with the girls. Right now it is calm & cloudy, but everything is set up and chasers are eager.

    My oldest drove through the last one. At least no confirmed twisters touched down that evening. There were quite the clouds in those storms (a series of them!) and some fantastic pictures were taken.

    With the EF3, we learned that it almost took someone we know off the road. We are glad she is okay.

    These severe storms are sure a lot more plentiful this year.

    To continue the trend, I have heard that we are also headed into a very cold winter with lots of snow. That corresponds with the thought of bountiful fruit on trees bringing a harsh winter. I had remembered that saying from a few years ago. It happened to be true in a past year. I don't doubt that it will happen again this year.