My afternoon started with a phone call from my mother that started like this..... "Robin, we are under a tornado warning, but I've got the kids and we are in the basement!" WOW, that was a shocker! So, we immediately pulled up the weather radar to see what was going on. I was horrified to see that the worst of the storm looked like it was sitting directly over my little hometown....and right where my mom and kids were! Fortunately, as we watched it move past, I called my mother back, and they were fine. They didn't even get a drop of rain. PRAISE THE LORD!
My mother was terrified that I would be caught driving in the storm, so she told me to just wait until that wave passed before trying to make it home. So, I watched the storm on the radar and waited for the tornado warning to expire that had been issued where I currently was; and left for my 90 mile journey home. This is what the sky looked like when I left....
Not too bad! I should have plenty of time to make it home before it gets too late, right?? WRONG!!!
As I pulled onto I-20, I get a frantic phone call from one of my co-workers telling me that they just heard there was a 50 car pile-up on I-20 somewhere near the Georgia/Alabama line.....GREAT......AND, there was another line of severe thunderstorms with a possible tornado heading right up I-20 again.....DOUBLE GREAT! I just LOVE being stuck on the Interstate DURING a tornado!!
So, I decided to turn off I-20, and make my way home on US Hwy 78, which runs parallel to I-20. As I slowly make my way to Hwy 78, I finally find a radio station with local weather updates. As I listen, THINGS ARE NOT SOUNDING GOOD! Because I am so lucky, wave after wave of severe thunderstorms begin to form over I-20. As one line moves through, another one forms to quickly replace it. There are several cars still on the road in front of me, so I decided to continue driving. I end up driving through THREE waves of thunderstorms! I was TERRIFIED!! Twice, as I was driving through some little rural towns along the way, the weather sirens started to blare....
scared the poopie out of me!
As I get closer to home, I think I am finally through it all, when another alarm begins to sound....now there is a tornado warning just a few miles away from where I am!! I come to the top of a hill, look to my left, and see a possible funnel cloud in the distance. EEEEEKKKK!! Fortunately, it was moving in the opposite direction, so I kept on driving....quickly!
Finally, after driving for 2 1/2 hours, I made it home safely. I've never been so glad to see my house in my entire life!
Today, I asked a friend of mine who is a meteorologist to send me the radar loop during the time period I was on the road (A BIG THANKS TO ELLIOT!!). After seeing it, I think I would have spent the night in Georgia!
Here is what I was driving through.
(My journey was from right-to-left, marked by the white line)
(Pardon the black dots....I have no idea what those are all about....lol)Here is the "real time" radar... http://www.rap.ucar.edu/weather/radar/displayRad.php?icao=KFFC&prod=bref1&bkgr=black&endDate=20090219&endTime=0&duration=2
I hope all of you that live in the Southeast made it through the storms OK!
