Darkness falls across the land...
And yesterday started out so beautiful. A cool start to the fall. Bright and shiny.
And then it all went to hell.
About a half hour before work was to end, I got a call from my father-in-law that the western edge of the suburb where I work all the way north to where Katie works was under a tornado warning.
Of course, being me, I left work instead of seeking cover. It was still decent enough out so I hightailed it to my truck and got my cameras ready.
Within about five minutes, everything around me was covered in swirling grey clouds. Occasionally, I experience a fast-moving scud cloud of pure white whipping in front of the more ominous clouds above. By the time I got home, the rain was coming down in sheets and tornado sirens were blaring everywhere. Katie was hearing sirens up by her and was also getting hail during her ride home.
We both made it home okay. Obviously.
But, damn if it didn't make for great photo ops. Unfortunately, my digital camera only took one good shot. The rest, I hope, are on my Minolta. I'll have to wait and have those processed to see how they turned out.
For now, though, check out how Batavia and Geneva, IL, looked at about 5:00 p.m. last night...
It's strange that such a scary thing can make such a pretty picture.
Be safe!
Posted by: Hilly | Saturday, 23 September 2006 at 04:34 PM
Wow. Have you ever seen one before? I didn't know you got tornados in that area?
Posted by: Neil | Saturday, 23 September 2006 at 06:48 PM
wow.. all my life I hated those things living in Texas.. here in Seattle we only have to worry about that 'huge' earthquake thats gonna slide us into the ocean.. EEK!
Posted by: Debbie | Saturday, 23 September 2006 at 09:10 PM
My one regret living in the the paradise known as the PacNW is that we don't get much "exterme" weather. It wasn't until I moved to NY that I got to see a really good lightning display.
Not that Tornados are anything to be praised, but I get a big kick out of crazy hail and claps of thunder.
Hurry up and process those pictures, I wanna see!
Posted by: Dustin | Saturday, 23 September 2006 at 11:55 PM
That was wild, wasn't it? Roselle/Bloomingdale had the sirens and heavy straightline winds (knocked over my damn Oberweis delivery guy cooler! You bastard!)
Rain came down so fast the ponds overflowed and three streets in our neighborhood were under water.
Crikey!
Posted by: RW | Sunday, 24 September 2006 at 09:05 AM
Oh yeah the hail - After it got done pelting everythung there was a coating of ice on my deck!
I LOVE the Windy City!
Posted by: RW | Sunday, 24 September 2006 at 09:07 AM
My first thought? Lovely photo. My next thought though was, "Did he lose his mind completely?" Next time, take cover. OK?
Posted by: Dagny | Sunday, 24 September 2006 at 12:31 PM
All we got in Round Lake was the sheets of rain... was there any wind damage in your area?
Posted by: kilax | Sunday, 24 September 2006 at 03:12 PM
Even though (apparently) the UK gets more tornados per squre mile, or something, I have never seen one even though one passed about 5 miles away last year (tiny, a roof moved about a quarter inch or something but it made the front page of the paper... local paper...).
My brother, however, wants me to go storm chasing with him next year. I am THINKING about it and watching National Geographic a whole lot.
Jeez, man, that's beautiful but terrifying.
Posted by: Bec | Sunday, 24 September 2006 at 03:13 PM
Hilly, I was, don't worry.
Neil, nope, never seen one and I've lived in Tornado Alley for 19 years. But my friends who live about 10 miles away saw a big one that day a mile or so from their house.
Debbie, yeah, I'm not sure when that "big one" is going to arrive. You may never have to actually worry. ;-)
Dustin, Sandra complained about that as a result of living in SF as well. She's gonna get a ton now moving to NYC.
RW, we got minimal hail at our house, but there were plenty of flooded streets. Thankfully, it's all dried out now. You gotta love Chicago!
Dagny, sorry, it's hard for me to resist weather photos. I love them.
Kilax, not that I can see just yet. But we really haven't driven around much to examine the results.
Bec, what's weird is that, as a resident of Tornado Alley, U.S.A., I never have heard word one about tornadoes outside our country at all. You'd almost swear that they don't exist outside of our country. Oh, and I've never seen one before either.
Posted by: kapgar | Monday, 25 September 2006 at 06:46 AM
Ugh! I don't miss that. It took me years not to jump and head for the basement when the sirens go off here for the volunteer firefighters.
Posted by: Allison | Monday, 25 September 2006 at 09:56 AM
They use tornado sirens to alert volunteer firefighters? Isn't that what pagers are for?
Posted by: kapgar | Monday, 25 September 2006 at 11:38 AM
You take the best weather-related photos EVER.
Posted by: Belinda | Monday, 09 October 2006 at 12:42 PM
Thank you very much! I can't wait to see how the rest turn out. I really need Katie to process them. The suspense.
Posted by: kapgar | Monday, 09 October 2006 at 01:04 PM