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It's gaming night, so the guys were over. They were in the dining room. I had bratwurst on the grill. The sky was overcast. There were clouds, but they seemed an odd color sometimes, which made me think of tornadoes, even if it wasn't the usual greenish color. It was fairly calm.
I was in the kitchen when I noticed a whine. I went outside. I wasn't sure at first, but it seemed to be a tornado siren in the distance. I mentioned this to the guys, but they couldn't hear it (the house was closed up with the a/c on). One went outside to check, and by that time a nearby siren had started up. I checked a couple of weather apps, and the best I got was "storm watch until 7 pm". Finally someone found "tornado warning until 6:45" (this was at 6:15).
"Should we go to the basement?"
"Nah. We'd be able to hear a tornado coming."
"Really? You didn't hear the siren."
A couple guys go outside as if to stand watch.
Meanwhile I'm pulling the brats off the grill just as the rain is starting. I went outside to stack up the lawn chairs. Then it got really dark.
"We could go to the basement. Just grab our plates and go downstairs."
No response.
Then the wind came up and rain turned nasty. I heard a loud crackling noise. I looked out to find that part of our big maple tree had fallen. There were some really close lightning strikes. Somebody besides me finally says "maybe we *should* go to the basement." Then we had a short discussion about how tornadoes don't come when the rain is this bad. One of the guys called home around 6:30 to see how the wife and kids were handling things. She told him they had just canceled the warning.
"The National Weather Service had issued a tornado warning about 6:10 p.m. Sunday for Washington and Ozaukee counties but canceled it about 20 minutes later."
Around the time the nasty rain started, it occurred to me to let Cindy know of the storm. She was in Milwaukee, so I texted her and told her to stay there. Unfortunately, she was already on her way home. A friend heard about the storm on the news, which said there was a tornado and mentioned that it was on our road. This friend called her and Cindy answered via Bluetooth in her car. When the rain got really bad, she pulled over at a restaurant for shelter.
Later on we had heavy rain a couple of times. We're over two inches for the evening.
So I guess I'll be cutting up firewood tomorrow night. This branch is about nine inches thick. It's all dead wood, but unfortunately it did a little damage to some live wood on its way down.
I was in the kitchen when I noticed a whine. I went outside. I wasn't sure at first, but it seemed to be a tornado siren in the distance. I mentioned this to the guys, but they couldn't hear it (the house was closed up with the a/c on). One went outside to check, and by that time a nearby siren had started up. I checked a couple of weather apps, and the best I got was "storm watch until 7 pm". Finally someone found "tornado warning until 6:45" (this was at 6:15).
"Should we go to the basement?"
"Nah. We'd be able to hear a tornado coming."
"Really? You didn't hear the siren."
A couple guys go outside as if to stand watch.
Meanwhile I'm pulling the brats off the grill just as the rain is starting. I went outside to stack up the lawn chairs. Then it got really dark.
"We could go to the basement. Just grab our plates and go downstairs."
No response.
Then the wind came up and rain turned nasty. I heard a loud crackling noise. I looked out to find that part of our big maple tree had fallen. There were some really close lightning strikes. Somebody besides me finally says "maybe we *should* go to the basement." Then we had a short discussion about how tornadoes don't come when the rain is this bad. One of the guys called home around 6:30 to see how the wife and kids were handling things. She told him they had just canceled the warning.
"The National Weather Service had issued a tornado warning about 6:10 p.m. Sunday for Washington and Ozaukee counties but canceled it about 20 minutes later."
Around the time the nasty rain started, it occurred to me to let Cindy know of the storm. She was in Milwaukee, so I texted her and told her to stay there. Unfortunately, she was already on her way home. A friend heard about the storm on the news, which said there was a tornado and mentioned that it was on our road. This friend called her and Cindy answered via Bluetooth in her car. When the rain got really bad, she pulled over at a restaurant for shelter.
Later on we had heavy rain a couple of times. We're over two inches for the evening.
So I guess I'll be cutting up firewood tomorrow night. This branch is about nine inches thick. It's all dead wood, but unfortunately it did a little damage to some live wood on its way down.
no subject
Date: 2018-08-28 11:12 pm (UTC)From:Since moving to Chicago, I've only had to take cover once after a hurricane warning. I was at NU on a class day, a Saturday, and we all went to the basement along with whoever else was in the building. After awhile, two of the guys in our masters program were all, Pffft-- we're going home, dang it. LOL They went out together and returned together. They had walked out of the building and thought it best not to get into their cars. I was relieved because, yeah, just let's be safe, mkay? lol
I caught C's post about her adventure. So glad she was safe, too.
no subject
Date: 2018-08-29 11:28 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2018-08-29 02:46 am (UTC)From:We have had a tornado, derencho (spelling??), earthquake - but they are all like once in a blue moon thing in Northern Virginia.
Glad all of you are safe.
no subject
Date: 2018-08-29 11:02 pm (UTC)From:Tornadoes are not common, depending on what you think is common. I just checked a database, and found between 12 and 24 per year, for the state. I found half a dozen for our little county in my lifetime.
I was going to say I remember about that many tornado warnings, if not more. The sirens probably go off more often than that, due to unconfirmed tornadoes.