A Cowgirl's Heart: Run For the Cellar!!

SIGH.

Here I go with yet another weather-related post! Yesterday was just "too much," though, to let it go on by without being put on record.

As Older Son was leaving for work early yesterday morning, I was out front checking out the morning, as usual. OK ... here's what-all it was doing:

Foggy, you couldn't see the elevator a few blocks away.
Sunny, the sun coming up over in the northeast.
Blue sky up above.
Showery clouds in the west.
And eventually ... a rainbow. Not just "a rainbow," but a FULL DOUBLE RAINBOW.

Of course my obsessive nature took over and I got tons of photos on my phone of the beautiful rainbow and the clouds. Obsessed, I tell you! I've always had an interest in clouds, even from a young age, they are just gorgeous and interesting, I love seeing them. Then I am compelled to take pictures. ha ha

So .... I went to work for the day and came back home later. Older Son got home from work later in the afternoon. (Younger Son is home and out of school for summer break.) Then our friend called Hubby, and picked him up to go do some hay raking.

I was diddling around on the computer, as usual, dovetailing that with house chores. So though I am computer-addicted, I can get things done. I knew there were some clouds forming here and there, they had structure to them, but wasn't really paying attention. But then, I started to hear rain. So I got up, and checked out the front door, watching the rain. Younger Son came in and watched with me.

Then, it started to have tiny hail in it. "Tink! Tink!" You can hear it anyway, but you can really hear it on our neighbor's metal car port. You could see it bouncing up out of the grass after it hit, like popcorn popping. Older Son came downstairs, and the three of us watched the rain and hail. It was about dime- or nickel-size at first. The boys picked up some of the bigger pieces. (Younger Son had to try to put his hail piece down the back of Older Son's shirt. Boys. Love 'em, wouldn't trade 'em.)

Younger Son found a hailstone that we thought might be half-dollar size?

Suddenly, my phone went off. It was Hubby, saying, "Take shelter now!!!" "OK, we will!!!" I replied and hung up. Then the three of us kicked into action.

Now, they always say, "have a plan," for if a tornado threatens. I've always had a plan, and have kind of "been ready to act" at times. But this was the real deal. The "plan of action" got fully implemented!

The blog post title says, "Run For the Cellar!!"

The tornado scene from the 1939 movie "The Wizard of Oz" is completely convincing. I don't care if it was early technology and they used pantyhose to make the twisters .... it is totally scary and realistic! (As opposed to the comparatively recent movie, "Twister," which had computer-generated tornado images that were UN-convincing.) Dorothy's family had taken cover in the underground cellar out in the yard. Dorothy, who had been caught out in the storm, tried to pull the cellar door open as the twisters were bearing down. Unsuccessful, she took cover in the house, which is where she got bonked on the head with the window frame that came loose, and had the dream which made the movie story.

We don't have a basement. There's an old cellar on the next-door vacant property, but it's a little "iffy" about using it. But we do have a good inside, middle-of-the-house closet in our bedroom. (Our house may be a wreck and old, but it's sturdy!) That is our safe place. I threw a pillow in, and had more within reach in case we had to cover our heads. I had my little sturdy flashlight in my jacket pocket. I had my phone in the other pocket. I had the little NOAA weather radio nearby and ON, listening. I had my mother's Bible tucked in the closet. I had my purse in the closet. The dog was nearby on the bed, with her harness and leash on. She wasn't pleased with any of the ruckus, she was a little nervous.

Younger Son and I kind of hung out in the closet at times, checking things at times. Older Son got in his truck and went north of town to do some "spotting." This is what was on radar at the time. I've seen lots of storm warning boxes and the red tornado warning boxes over the years. (I also have a map and weather radar obsession.) It was very disconcerting to see US RIGHT SMACK IN THE MIDDLE OF A TORNADO WARNING. (Phone camera shot of computer image.)

The big town siren was going off, over and over. The police were going up and down the streets over and over with sirens going, alerting residents. It was raining. The hail kept coming and going. At one point, we were hearing some serious thumps on the roof, as if some pretty big hail was coming down. It didn't occur to me to turn the TV on and see what the local channels had to say. But later, a friend posted on my Facebook page these photos from the TV channel:

This is an example of the clouds that were over us during the storm. (Looking north out our bedroom window, as I dared to peek out and take a picture!)

All during this time, Hubby was out southwest on the other side of the storm, on a tractor, and saw the whole show. He said all in all, FOUR twisters formed, two were full-fledged tornadoes. He got video of two of the four.

Finally, the tornadic part of the storm passed to the east, and we were in the clear. Older Son came back home. Younger Son and I ventured out to see what-all was going on.

Well! What do we have here? A rainbow! Didn't I just see one of these? Yes. Yes, I did. Though it wasn't a double one like the morning's rainbow earlier, it was pretty full, and just as beautiful.

Younger Son and I ambled around to the back yard to see stuff there.

The rain gauge overflowed again. In the process of moving and this and that through the last ten or so years, this rain gauge had gotten put away, and it has only been the last year or so that I finally have had it out. It's a good one from the National Weather Service up by where we used to live in Kansas. It's sturdy and can measure several inches of rain. I think it's had more of a workout this month alone than perhaps all the 30 (??) years since I first got it!