Another line of severe thunderstorms, this one hundreds of miles long, rolled across the Midwest yesterday. I assume that most of the world heard what happened a few days ago in Joplin, located in the southwest corner of our state. The death count - such a cold term - from their tornado is now 125. Hundreds more are still missing. So when tornado warnings were issued for our area around noon, people got nervous.
I sent my staff home about 3:15 PM. One other lawyer and I decided that, if a twister struck, we would be safer in the stairwell of our steel and concrete office building than our wood frame houses. The warning sirens started going off repeatedly about 4 o'clock. We followed the storms on the web. Reports of funnel clouds came from all around. Several areas had tennis ball sized hail. There were high winds and driving rain but no tornadoes seem to have touched down.
I had a hunch this morning that something dramatic might happen so I brought my good camera. This shot was taken from my office window at 4:40 PM.
I had a hunch this morning that something dramatic might happen so I brought my good camera. This shot was taken from my office window at 4:40 PM.
9 comments:
Scary.
Been following it on the news and in the papers here in CT. So sad. I'm glad that a twister didn't come your way through downtown. Amazing shots.
Wow. This is dramatic. Tragic that it is part of a weather system that has caused unimaginable destruction of life and property .
Good call on your part, Bob ... both the photo op advantage and considering the stairwell. Glad St. Louis was spared the Joplin devastation. Mother Nature seems to be more and more voracious!
Your photo reminds me of a storm I watched from the Hyatt in Minneapolis. Impressive power!!!
Mother nature is a monster killer sometimes. Your photos are spectacular, both of them. Glad you sent your staff home early but you're right: an old wooden home may not be the safest place... Plus staying on at the office gave you a great vantage point :-)
Glad you are safe B. It's frightening that it continues with such vengeance. I have a photo to share soon that I can't verify but it's scary nonetheless.
This is certainly a timely image of your arch.
V
Wow, these are some dramatic photos of the sky. There is a webcam that points toward the Old Courthouse and the arch behind it. I went to that site several times on Wednesday and saw some very threatening skies and a lot of wind. I called my sister in Springfield to see how they fared and they, like you had rain, wind and hail but no tornados thankfully.
Terrific shot.
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