Sunday, May 22, 2011

Storms coming...

We had a severe storm overnight.  No damage (except one of my little tomatoes on the porch got hit by a flying trash can).  Today has been variably overcast but we knew the storms were coming again.
The boys and I were out working on the north side of the chicken coop.  We were just finishing putting up the second sheet of OSB sheathing, knowing the sky had been darkening, when we heard the tornado sirens wailing.  Right now, we're looking down the barrel of a storm heading directly for us.   There are unconfirmed reports of at least one tornado from this.  We'll be taking shelter soon.
I'll be sure to keep you updated.

Update at just after 4 pm.
The worst of the storms have slid just to the northwest of us.  But only by a few miles.  In fact we're wondering if the above picture is a rain wrapped tornado just to the north of us.  We heard reports of a tornado on the ground crossing a highway just northwest of us moving east.  It looked much more impressive in real life.
We're not totally out of the woods yet since there are still a few dangerous cells on the way.  But the worst seems to have spared us.

Update about 6pm.
There are no reports of damage...  At least not that I have heard.  There were several funnel clouds spotted nearby and large hail (2 to 3 inch!!).  We had hail with the last cell that came through about an hour ago.  Pea sized hail (quite a bit!), heavy rain and wind.  We had just over an inch of rain in a short time.  I haven't ventured out to see how the garden fared.  I would probably sink.  Maybe it's a good thing that I'm so far behind that I didn't get most of the summer garden planted.
It looks like the weather should calm down in the near future and looking ahead at the long weekend... so far it looks lovely.  Cross your fingers.

8 comments:

  1. Hope there is no damage your way!

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  2. Glad it went around you and you guys are safe...not fun at all...

    I didnt even hear the sirens going off... usually I do... My son Dave texted me and said we are under tornado warnings.. Then my daughter in laws mom called me saying tornado warnings and she couldn't get a hold of her daughter or my son...I called my Son and he answered and said they heard the sirens and were heading to the basement.. So we gathered all the animals and headed to the basement..

    We had planted everything we had to plant...and was praying no hail please...

    Oh!! your chicken coop is looking fantastic... You guys do wonderful projects..

    Stay safe...
    Lisa

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  3. Erin- We seem to have fared pretty well. I haven't heard reports from just north of us yet where there were tornados sighted on the ground. Ick.
    Lisa- glad you fared well as well. We did get some pretty heavy rain and hail with the last storm that went through. It was only pea sized but there was quite a bit of it and it looks like just over an inch of rain. With the hail, I'm glad I'm behind and didn't have my tomatoes and peppers planted out yet. We had such wind here I was worried they would have some wind damage on the porch. They are all knocked over but look to be OK.
    Judy

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  4. glad to hear! Can you imagine if you had your peppers and tomatoes out? I shudder! Glad they weren't in yet :)

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  5. There is just no end to this horrible spring weather is there. Glad you are alright. Lets hope we can all get under a new and improved weather pattern real soon.

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  6. whoa- I bet that sky was impressive. Photos never quite capture the omninous sky. Glad all is OK with you guys.

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  7. The thought of a tornado just makes my blood cold. I am so glad you came out okay - there was so much damage elsewhere.

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  8. My heart goes out to all those people who weren't as lucky as we were with the severe weather.
    We have a dear friend who lives in SW Missouri. We did hear from him that they are fine. The worst of the storm passed about a mile North of them and all they got was hail, wind and power outage. So lucky.
    Judy

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