Thursday, February 19, 2009

My first Tornado watch

Ok, for you west coasters... Tornado watch is a little bit, just a tad, scarier then STORM WATCH.  :)  

For you east coasters that read this... in california where I am from, when ever it rains, it is STORM WATCH and they make a big deal... :)

Yesterday at 5, Jim was gone working, and I was home ALONE with the kids.... Thunder and Lightening happen like I have never seen before... shook the house... all that.  SO I called my friend, Crystal.  I wanted to ask her if lightening could hit our house.  She assured me that it could but isn't likely... (and as my friend Kimberly reminded me, it is out of my control)

As Crystal and i were talking all of a sudden hail comes down... in sheets.... I couldnt even see my street in front of my house.  The kids and I run to the front window to watch it.... Crystal is still on the phone with me... She CALMLY tells me... "Ummmmm stef, you should probably get away from the window and go down stairs to your basement with your kids."

To my amazement... and I know some of you wont believe this, but I was semi-calm.  For me at least... Once we were downstairs... the hail pretty much stopped and really it was windy... but NOTHING like California Santa Ana's... 

It lasted no longer then ten minutes and then the sun came out and all was fine.  

Jim came home afterwards... of course. :)  He missed all the fun.

Over all, it was kinda scary, but I think if we had a "plan" for when these things happen, I would feel 10 times better.  

Jim and I were talking.... the winds here (In Georgia) have never been more intense then California's Santa Ana's but the thing that gets us is we are USE to California's winds.... We know what to expect of them.  Our fence might blow over, maybe a tree.... but not a tornado.  Here Jim and I dont know if the wind means Tornado.... 

How did the kids respond... they were bummed that the "snow" didnt stay and that they couldnt go play in it.  That's it... 

2 comments:

Lesley said...

I never got used to the tornado watch stuff, even after living eight years in Texas. (I'm sorry, that probably doesn't make you feel better.) Everyone always used to say, "But didn't you experience earthquakes?" And I was always like, YES, but you can't predict earthquakes! With a tornado you know it's coming but you're just sitting there, waiting....

You may want to invest in a weather radio, which comes in handy if the electricity goes out. Usually we just turned on the TV to see if the tornado was anywhere in our range.

Jessica said...

We are having our first real snowy snow day!I am not looking forward to the tornado watches either.