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About 7-8 years ago, I was out in Iowa helping a friend work on his house. It was a beautiful summer day, the kind that just breed thunderstorms. As evening was coming on you could see the clouds building in the west. As time went by, you could see the storms approaching. I say "storms" because you could definetly see one towards the north and one towards the south, and then one directly to the west.

We drove out on this country road about a mile maybe 2 from his house, and watched the storms come in. What a show. Gods creation was really putting on a show that night. When the storm arrived, the wind PICKED UP about a minute or 2 before the rain came down. And when I say rain, I mean fire hose rain.

Went back to his house, and since there wasn't anything that could be done outside, except try to coax lightning down, we went in and watched a movie. My buddy had a nice big screen with an awesome stereo system. He had a huge assortment of movies, so he asked what I wanted to watch. I browsed through and as soon as I saw it I knew it would be a good movie for that night.

Twister.

There were no tornados that night, at least near where we were. But the T-storm was pretty strong. Gave a little more realism to the movie :)

I used to stay at my grandparents or my aunts, in Michigan when I was a kid. I can remember real well, what it was like when those storms would come in out in the country. City storms seldom seem as strong as country storms, unless of course the city storm has a tornado in it.

Watching Twister always takes me back to those country storms when I was a kid.

I was working on a high rise being built in downtown Chicago about 20 years ago. About 30-40 stories up, open sides-no windows, and a strong storm came in. No matter where you stood, rain came in. I swear it seemed like it blew in one side of the building and went out the other. The wind up at that height is always stronger than on the ground.

Made it down a few floors to wear windows were in, and able to get out of the rain. We could see Lake Michigan about a mile away, and maybe 1/2-1 mile out in the lake was a pretty good size water spout.

THAT was ...Interesting.

Ahh, but no cows. (If you've seen Twister)
Respect The Wind

Prayers up for those in Miss.

MM -- I'll reply to the post you wrote in a moment. :)

I just uploaded the photo I spoke of above -- the one I took of the tornado in Adams County, CO. I believe it was in 2000, but I'd have to look at records to make sure (I'm not good at remembering to date my photos).

Anyway, this was too far away for us to feel any wind at all from this funnel clouds. Where I lived is kind of on a ridge "above" Denver (if one were to be able to see the topography of the area still). This tornado was moving almost due South, but I don't know how far away it really was. Plus, I don't remember HOW I got this photo -- whether I saw it and grabbed my camera, or whether the TV was on and I was looking for it after hearing a warning.

Anyway, here's the pic of the only true "tornado" I've ever seen... Wish my camera was better, but I'm not really complaining. I'm lucky to have caught it in the first place!!!

Tornado in Adams County, CO - 2000 or 2001

Your description of watching the storms come in sounds amazing... My husband and I have always loved watching the storms (when we’ve got a good view). (Colorado was especially awesome for watching strange cloud formations coming in off the mountains.)

That’s funny with you all watching “Twister”. In what was pretty bad timing on Saturday, while I was on the live thread here at FR for this tornado the CW (TV Channel) in my area was playing “Where the Heart Is”, and there is a scene in the movie where a little girl almost gets ripped out of the storm cellar because the door hadn’t closed! That wasn’t too fun to watch while listening to what was going on down South on Sat., but I can totally see how the storm would add atmosphere for watching Twister! LOL

I know what you mean about the country storms seeming worse... It’s got to be because there is just nothing to stop the wind except a few trees here and there... Although for some reason I feel safer when actually in the country with storms than in the town or city... I think it’s because in-town you can’t see it coming. Where I live now I didn’t see the tornado that hit a few blocks over because there are too many houses and especially trees along the river...

Very cool about seeing the water spout on Lake Michigan! I grew up outside Chicago, so I’ve heard of them, but never saw one (except on the TV News — I wonder if it was the same one you’re talking about! LOL). I know exactly what you mean about the winds being stronger that high up as well. Plus, just being in the city on a windy and rainy day is interesting. The way it whips through the buildings and swirls is crazy sometimes... Especially in the heart of “the Loop”.

That is a really cool video — thanks for sharing it!
Especially amazing re: the deer running from one in a part of Jim Reed’s footage... And then that one guy a bit later!?!? I’ve never seen anyone appear to try to do a “suicide by tornado” before!!! What was he doing? And how did he know it was going to break up??? INSANITY!!!

I especially like the lightning shots at the beginning. My sister and I used to watch the lightning from my bedroom window at night and count how far away they were... Speaking of which — I saw one of those HUGE bolts one time when my Mom and I were in the car. It was GIGANTIC with what looked like a million tentacles coming off of 2-3 main “arteries”. I’ve got a ton of lightning stories (one close call, two about burning transformers), but that one when I was probably about 8 or 9 yo, is the one single bolt of lightning I can remember clearly in my mind to this day (wish I could draw! LOL).

Anyway, thanks for sharing your stories. God’s creation is certainly beautiful, and downright terrifying at the same time once in a while! Always amazing though.