Woo Hoo! I got to chase a tornado
05-14-2006, 03:41 PM
#1
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Woo Hoo! I got to chase a tornado
OK...... I am a weather nut and today I got to do something I have wanted to do for as long as I remember, chase a tornado. I was returning from Georgetown and was about 4 miles outside of Florence when I noticed some really crazy updrafts... the kind I have seen only during microbursts. I noticed a suspicious dip in the cloud line on the horizon and went to phone my roomate to see if he could give me any information when I saw the debris cloud... I can't describe the rush of adrenaline I got. BTW, this was at 6:00pm today.
I threw the flashers on the pulled off onto the shoulder and took a look for about 20 seconds. I then jumped back into the car and turned onto a side road to head it off. I got to the intersection of Palmetto and 327 and could clearly see it ahead and just to the left of me. I gunned it once green (327 is just a connecting road to I95) and crossed the railroad overpass. When I crossed I looked to my left and it was a quarter of a mile down on the tracks. I pulled off immediatly after getting off the bridge, jumped out and turned around to watch it pass... the wind and noise was crazy. Once it passed I looked up and appearently a few trailers had been destroyed because there there was cloths, insulation, and huge peices of tin flying through the air. The tin was what got me.. peices were coming down all around me so I jumped in the car and took off about a quarter mile down the road and then turned and came back. I pulled over ontop of the over pass and snapped some pix (minus the first two) with my cell phone.....
Looking back at the overpass, tornado just passed and is out of image to the left...
Circulation in the cumulous'
After tornado "Mulder" passed (It was beginning to weaken by this point)
OMG THAT WAS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I threw the flashers on the pulled off onto the shoulder and took a look for about 20 seconds. I then jumped back into the car and turned onto a side road to head it off. I got to the intersection of Palmetto and 327 and could clearly see it ahead and just to the left of me. I gunned it once green (327 is just a connecting road to I95) and crossed the railroad overpass. When I crossed I looked to my left and it was a quarter of a mile down on the tracks. I pulled off immediatly after getting off the bridge, jumped out and turned around to watch it pass... the wind and noise was crazy. Once it passed I looked up and appearently a few trailers had been destroyed because there there was cloths, insulation, and huge peices of tin flying through the air. The tin was what got me.. peices were coming down all around me so I jumped in the car and took off about a quarter mile down the road and then turned and came back. I pulled over ontop of the over pass and snapped some pix (minus the first two) with my cell phone.....
Looking back at the overpass, tornado just passed and is out of image to the left...
Circulation in the cumulous'
After tornado "Mulder" passed (It was beginning to weaken by this point)
OMG THAT WAS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
05-14-2006, 04:31 PM
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Wow, how funny. I've always had an obsession with tornados. When I saw those passing north of us, I told Lisa we should try to go chase them and get some photos.
She said no....
She said no....
05-14-2006, 04:52 PM
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Originally Posted by tidalwdave,May 14 2006, 07:31 PM
Wow, how funny. I've always had an obsession with tornados. When I saw those passing north of us, I told Lisa we should try to go chase them and get some photos.
She said no....
She said no....
Bad Lisa... bad
05-14-2006, 04:54 PM
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Here is the radar image, if I had your number Mybad, I would have given you a call, it was heading toward Wilmington..
The cell that made the storm is the one over Florence.. this as taken at the exact time I was at the overpass...
The cell that made the storm is the one over Florence.. this as taken at the exact time I was at the overpass...
05-14-2006, 04:58 PM
#6
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Well, now that you've done it once, never do it again! Its not the funnel that will kill you, its the piece of metal being flung a half mile at 150 mph that will. I bet it was an awesome experience though.
05-14-2006, 04:59 PM
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Well, if you like hurricanes, I've got a job for you!
Its called a Red Cross Governmental Affairs Liason and it means you get to be in your county's Emergency Operations Center during the storm. You'll have real time reports of all the action access to the most sophisticated weather radar, and will coordinate Red Cross activities with Emergency Management officials as they arise.
Are you man enough?
Its called a Red Cross Governmental Affairs Liason and it means you get to be in your county's Emergency Operations Center during the storm. You'll have real time reports of all the action access to the most sophisticated weather radar, and will coordinate Red Cross activities with Emergency Management officials as they arise.
Are you man enough?
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05-14-2006, 05:02 PM
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Dude, right after it passed.... and I mean I was about an 8th of a mile away when it did... I looked up and saw huge chunks of trailer (tin, insulation, cloths, furniture) flying over my head. I saw this piece of tin dropping out of the sky and at first I figured that it would land in the woods but it kept coming straight for me. I didnt think I could get the car out of there in time, but I jumped in (no seatbelt 
) and floored it. THAT was scarey.... but damn what a rush!
) and floored it. THAT was scarey.... but damn what a rush!
05-14-2006, 05:04 PM
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Very cool! And great pics...BTW, were you in the S?
Seeing a tornado is such a rush (a common site growing up in Nebraska). I've only been in/near one but the noise and wind was so intense, and of course after making sure everyone was safely in the basement I was outside dodging debris getting a better look. The wind was so strong that the door I opened was immediately ripped off its hinge and landed several houses down. I LOVE storms!
Seeing a tornado is such a rush (a common site growing up in Nebraska). I've only been in/near one but the noise and wind was so intense, and of course after making sure everyone was safely in the basement I was outside dodging debris getting a better look. The wind was so strong that the door I opened was immediately ripped off its hinge and landed several houses down. I LOVE storms!
05-14-2006, 05:05 PM
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Originally Posted by MyBad,May 14 2006, 07:59 PM
Well, if you like hurricanes, I've got a job for you!
Its called a Red Cross Governmental Affairs Liason and it means you get to be in your county's Emergency Operations Center during the storm. You'll have real time reports of all the action access to the most sophisticated weather radar, and will coordinate Red Cross activities with Emergency Management officials as they arise.
Are you man enough?
Its called a Red Cross Governmental Affairs Liason and it means you get to be in your county's Emergency Operations Center during the storm. You'll have real time reports of all the action access to the most sophisticated weather radar, and will coordinate Red Cross activities with Emergency Management officials as they arise.
Are you man enough?
Hell yes.
My stepfather is a SC HWY Patrol officer. They live EAST of 17, and we never evacuate. Every storm that comes I head to the house (which sits on the bay, 3 miles from open water) to ride it out. I love it! I love going out in them even more! At 20 miles out the roads are closed to eastbound traffic, but I get by them b/c of my stepdad. Its the weirdest thing to drive 20 miles and be the only car heading in that direction. If you are serious, hell yes I am game.
BTW, meteorology was my #1 choice of majors but UNC was the closest school to offer it and I couldn't afford the out of state tuition.