Storm Warning!
April 7th, 2006The story of today is the weather. It was about all that Leigh Ann could talk about on the drive from the airport to Dad’s house. Many North Alabama schools let their kids out early today, in anticipation that the storms might arrive early. This system has already killed eleven people in Tennessee, and all you can find on the Huntsville TV stations is weathermen and radar.
We’ve been seeing lightning high in the clouds for about two hours, but not a drop of rain has fallen yet. I can tell that the storms are getting closer, however, because I have begun to hear thunder. I walked outside a few minutes ago and heard a chilling sound: a wailing off in the distance. It was the emergency siren at the Union Hill school not too far from here.
On the TV just now, I heard the weatherman pointing out a probable tornado on the radar, and warning people in the vicinity of Valley Hill Country Club to take shelter. That’s less that half a mile from Kay, so Dad called her to check on her. She and her kids were already in the pantry. I remember huddling in that same pantry with Dad and my sisters when I was about ten years old, on the night of April 3, 1974. The five tornados that roared through Huntsville that night really tore up the city, but fortunately spared us.
They’re now saying they have a sighting of a tornado on the ground on Redstone Arsenal.
The wind is beginning to pick up a bit now, and I’m hearing more and more thunder. They just cranked up the emergency siren again. It’s not even raining yet, but I know it’s coming. This is so eerie.
Update: Just heard a report of a tornado on the ground at the municipal golf course just west of the Parkway near Airport road.
Update: The weatherman believes his radar shows a tornado near Bailey Cove – Kays’ neighborhood. Dad doesn’t believe the weatherman. “He’s had half of Huntsville destroyed already.”
Update, 10:48 PM: Tornado warning in effect until 11:30 for Morgan County (Dad’s county).
Update, 10:55 PM: The rain has finally started, and we’re seeing the most amazing lightning. Flashes all around, and some magnificent strikes out beyond the trees rising stright up into the clouds. One of these occurs every few seconds.
Update, 11:05 PM: The rain is still light, but a few small pieces of hail are falling.
Update, 11:06 PM: Huge hail is now hammering the roof. This is the most noise I’ve ever heard from a storm. Out on Dad’s deck, we can see that the ground is almost white with hail. This is the largest hail I’ve even seen, the largest pieces are almost golfball-sized. I grabbed a few pieces and stuck them in the freezer.
Update, 11:12 PM: The storm has let up a bit, and the satellite signal is back.
Update, 11:16 PM: The rain and thunder have quit.
Update, 11:34 PM: The rain and thunder have returned. Radar shows another thunderstorm cell approaching our area. It’s probably going to go on like this all night.
Update, 11:53 PM: Dad has gone to bed and I’m going to turn in soon. I expect to hear rain and storms for most of the rest of the night.
Update, 11:58 PM: I’m about to sign off as the thunder gets more and more frequent. On the radar it looks like the worst of the current cell is passing to the south of us.
Update, 12:28 AM: In the past five minutes, a couple of close and exceptionally loud thunderbolts have struck. If I had gone to bed, they would have bounced me back out of bed.
Update 6:59 AM: As late as three or four in the morning, I still heard very strong thunder. Now it’s clear here, and the birds are singing.
