By late afternoon yesterday, temperatures had reached 85. By 6 pm or so, the sky to the north east started to darken and the National Weather Service issued a tornado watch. A couple of hours later, a storm developed to the southwest, though we didn’t hold much hope for rain–a large lake in that area usually causes even the most organized storm to split in two and go around our part of the city.
It quickly became apparent, though, that wasn’t the case this time. Here are a few photos I snapped around 8 p.m.
The storm passed without much fanfare, and we went to bed a bit later.
At 1 a.m., I awoke to a terrible storm–there was near constant lightening, roaring thunder and wind so strong I was afraid our open windows were going to break off. I’m sure my senses were heightened because of the midnight wake-up call, but it was really scary! We grabbed the girls and headed down to the basement. We turned on the TV to find that we were in a tornado warning–there was radar-indicated rotation in our area. We could hear the doors and windows rattling upstairs, and Bryan said the trees he saw on the way down looked like they were going to blow over.
It was all over within 45 minutes, and we didn’t lose a single tree (or window!). Two city residents claimed to have seen a tornado, but the trained spotters in the area did not. The National Weather Service said the storm produced straightline winds up to 80 miles an hour. Incredible!
I saw about seven or eight downed trees on the way into work, but all in all, the damage was surprisingly minimal.
Smith Family Weblog 
Posted by Double L on May 2, 2008 at 9:22 am
We received strong storms overnight, too. Coca usually sleeps downstairs, but she came up to our bed when the thunder became violent. Scott promptly sent her back downstairs. I calmed her down a little bit and put music on to provide background noise.
If it were up to me, Coca would have stayed in our bed. Unfortunately, Scott is right– I am training her to be afraid of storms by cooing and responding to her inappropriate behavior. To be honest, I am a little afraid of storms, and I enjoy the extra cuddling with the dog. Apparently, in the end, it’s all about my needs and not about the dog’s fears.
I can see already how easy it is to spoil kids…
Posted by smithfamilyweblog on May 2, 2008 at 10:24 am
I hear you. Ava was already in our bed. 😉
Posted by Karyl on May 3, 2008 at 7:43 am
Great photos, Rebecca – I did hear that there were tornado touchdowns in Kansas City – on the eastern side. It is frightening to be in the middle of all that! BTW – Muffy sleeps on our bed most nights, however, anytime it is thundering or lightening, she is underneath the bed – her safe spot!