The Storm

This was the first sign of trouble. Dad pointed it out while we were working on the planter while Over East.

He turned on the radio in his pickup and, sure enough, radar indicated tornado warning. They said at the time that it was 5 miles south of Garden and headed east.


Here is what the storm looked like 40 minutes later. I guess this is what they call a possibly-rain-wrapped tornado (because you can't really tell if there is a tornado on the ground or not.)
It was about this time Chris texted me that the storm had changed directions and was headed our way.I stopped a few times on the way home to photograph the multiple funnels, some of which merged before my eyes.


I pretty much floored it all the way home after this shot.

And here is my deer in the headlights shot. Headed. Straight. For. Me. Can't. Look. Away. This one must to have dissipated just as it was upon us. It's nice because I can look out the back door and be in the basement under my desk in about ten seconds. Probably not a good thing...
This funnel missed Frosty's place by less than a half mile.

Meanwhile, this is what the storm looked like from 10 miles to the southeast (The farmstead pictured is Jay's.) This shot had to be taken just about the time I was huddled in the basement. Anna and Betsy were in town. The main funnel must have passed right over the northeast corner of the quarter the farm is on (which is located on the southwest corner), judging from the pieces of Plymell Dairy scattered in our field.THIS IS NOT MY PICTURE! I stole it from here.

Here is a shot of one of the ancillary funnels. This picture is taken about 3/4 mile south of the Finney county line. The black spot on the horizon just to the left of the funnel is the oil tanks located on the southwest corner of Ida Ruth's quarter. This is the same funnel you will see in my video just before I make my second trip to the basement. This one must have missed Boyd's place by a quarter mile at the most.ALSO NOT MY PICTURE! You can see the video I took this from by visiting KSN's Website.


And here is some of my own video: