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Any thunderstorm enthusiasts here? (1 Viewer)

Todd H

Go Dawgs!
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Todd
Count me in as a thunderstorm lover.

I live in rural Georgia in a house surrounded by open fields. So whenever a nice thunderstorm rolls by, I have an unobstructed view of the action. The only bad part is that my house is a lightning magnet, as it sits on top of a hill. My antenna has been struck numerous times. Once I was sitting at my kitchen table and lightning struck the antenna at the back of my house. The antenna was only about 10 ft. away from the kitchen, so I actually felt the electricity in the air. Very scary. What was even scarier was having to replace all the burned coaxial cable that was destroyed.

I've also seen a small tornado in the field across from my house. We had a nice supercell passing by one day with lots of rotation and a nice wall cloud. As usual I was sitting on my porch watching the show. Suddenly, a small funnel started forming at the base. It slowly began descending until it made a touchdown, kicking up lots of dust in the dry field. It only lasted about a minute, but it was exciting to say the least. It was probably only an F0, but it was the real deal. Ahhhh, living in the south. We get lots of this type of weather here.

I also missed a very large and destructive tornado by a matter of minutes once driving home for the weekend from college. It was at night and I was driving through a very bad storm. It was very intense, with lots of lightning, wind, and hail. I eventually made it home. When I got there my Mom was worried. She said there was a really bad tornado south of Athens. Turns out if I had left for home a few minutes later, I probably would have driven right into the thing. On my way back to school I passed where the tornado struck. The damage was incredible. You could see the damage path cut across the road I was on. Houses were gone. A church had been destroyed. Trees were twisted like bow-ties. It did a lot of damage and was rated an F3 I believe. The damage is still visible to this day.

I've always wanted to take one of those tornado chasing tours. Two weeks of chasing storms in the spring-early summer in tornado alley. Maybe next year.
 

Julie K

Screenwriter
Joined
Dec 1, 2000
Messages
1,962
I love thunderstorms. California doesn't get near enough of them.
When I was young, my parents and I were in a small boat in the middle of a large lake. A large thundercloud started to form but I don't recall anyone being too concerned. Until the lightening started, of course. It seemed to "chase" us across the lake as we raced towards shore :D
I think this was the start of my love and fascination with lightning.
 

DeathStar1

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Dec 28, 2001
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Real Name
Neil
>>The thunderstorms up here in the Northeast can't compare to the deep South or Mid-west. >>
You should have seen the one we had here in the Jersey Shore this Friday. We left North Jersey during the one that reached our area, got ahead of it, drove through another one, got ahead of that one, and when we finally arrived in South Jersey, one of the two caught up to us.
You should have SEEN the lightning we got out of that one. As stated before, we now have a second floor on our newly remodeled house, and we are one of the taller things around this area of flatlands. We could see the lightning strikes miles around us an hour or so before it got here. Would have been great if I could have turned on my computer and worked while watching it, but I didn't dare...
Lightning Questions, though....I'm not afraid of storms as I used to be when I was a kid, but I'm always afraid that one of 'em will strike our house, even though we're surrounded by trees, and not the talled thing around in our year round home... How often does lightning hit homes throughout the years?
Second, someone mentioned driving in a car. Isn't it safer to be sitting in a car during a storm than sitting in a house? I was home by myself down here and started to get nervous as one started up, so I took the car out to the beach parking lot and watched the light show from the 'saftey' of the car...Can't help but wonder if that's a stupid move.
Other than that, I plan to bring our digital camera down here next week, and hopefully we'll have another lightning storm like we did on Friday. Maby I can catch one hitting the water tower across the street, even though it'll probably scare the shitzu out of me :).
 

PhilipW

Second Unit
Joined
Mar 5, 2001
Messages
268
You all will change your minds when you live through a F5 tornado with 316 mph winds. Trust me.
 
Joined
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I *used* to love thunderstorms, until our house was struck by lightning about 20 feet above our bed. It blew a 4 foot hole in the roof, split a roof rafter in half lengthwise, and peppered the ridge with little holes. I was picking up shards of cedar shingles, tar paper, and plywood for weeks. Lucky it was raining so hard, else the house would've burned down.

It knocked out all the dimmers on the second floor, fried the whirlpool tub motor and popped all the GFIs. All HT components were hooked through a Monster power center, and all were spared.

I haven't been able to sleep through a lightning storm since.
 

Kevin Potts

Second Unit
Joined
Feb 17, 2001
Messages
328
I absolutely love them. Whenever it starts getting nasty out, as it does quite often living in Kansas, I'm usually outside watching from the back porch, or out chasing it in my truck. Bad thing is, my girlfriend is terrified of them and always wants me to stick around the house.

Although there have been several tornadoes that have hit around town in the years I've lived here, I've yet to observe one in action. Seeing a tornado firsthand is one of the many things I'd like to do before I leave this great Earth.
 

Marshall Alsup

Second Unit
Joined
Jul 9, 2001
Messages
497
I dig them but I think its because we NEVER get them. I grew up in a desert area of Washington State (Yakima Valley if you've heard of it) and we hardly ever got thunderstorms.

Two summers ago I got to visit Kansas with my grandparents and there must have been lightning every night we were there! It was late May. The lightning was damn cool too. It would chain across the entire sky rather then be in single bolts like home.

-Marshall
 

PhilipW

Second Unit
Joined
Mar 5, 2001
Messages
268
Kevin,

If you see a tornado the size of the one I lived through it might be the last thing you see on this earth.
 

Leo Hinze

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Jan 15, 1999
Messages
222
As an engineer, I love thunderstorms for their sheer energy and power. Imagine the size and power you would need from an SVS sub to put out as much low frequency sound over a large distance as thunder does. Imagine the energy required to move so much air at high speeds.

I have a healthy respect for tornados, and I find them awesome, but I do not think I could ever go storm chasing for entertainment. I was in Georgetown, Texas - a few miles from Jarrell - in 1997 when the huge F5 there wiped out many homes and killed ~25 people. My mother lives in Maryland, not far from the F4 that went through La Plata a few weeks ago. I don't think I could enjoy leisure storm chasing knowing that while I'm enjoying the view, somebody could be dying in the storm.

I am moving from Texas to Virginia in a few weeks, and I will miss watching the huge thunderstorm clouds build up throughout the day in the wide-open Texas sky. The sunsets with such large clouds are often stunningly beautiful.
 

Mike I

Supporting Actor
Joined
Jan 20, 2000
Messages
720
For you thunderstorm lovers, I invite y'all to the lightning, thunderstorm capital of the world, right here in Orlando..:)Mid May to the end of October is peak thunderstorm season almost on a daily basis every afternoon or evening...
 

Kevin Potts

Second Unit
Joined
Feb 17, 2001
Messages
328
Phillip,
I'm glad you were alright. Even if you are a Cowboys fan.;)
I don't know that I would want to get up close and personal with a tornado, I'd just like to observe one from a safe distance. Although it would be one hell of a ride to be inside of one.
 

Ryan Wright

Screenwriter
Joined
Jul 30, 2000
Messages
1,875
I dig them but I think its because we NEVER get them. I grew up in a desert area of Washington State (Yakima Valley if you've heard of it) and we hardly ever got thunderstorms.
Hey Marshall, you must be attending WSU? I live in the Tri-Cities.

I, too, love thunderstorms, but we never get them. Once a year, if that. The area is so dry (it's a desert, as Marshall said), however, that when thunderstorms do roll in the lightning starts fires all over the place. Entire mountains being scorched is a given when a nasty storm rolls through.

Still, I wish we had more of them. I love to just sit back and enjoy all of nature's fury...
 

Todd H

Go Dawgs!
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Georgia
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Todd
Well, we had a nice thunderstorm roll through our town yesterday, with lots of wind and plenty of lightning. It got so bad that my house was struck by lightning....again. The only damage was to my heating/AC unit. And I had just posted to this thread the other day...
 

Marshall Alsup

Second Unit
Joined
Jul 9, 2001
Messages
497
Ryan,
You got it! I'm about to graduate with a CS degree :D
I cant wait!
Here in Pullman the weather is much more moist but there are still hardly any thunderstorms :frowning:
-Marshall
 

Brian Perry

Senior HTF Member
Joined
May 6, 1999
Messages
2,807
I used to love thunderstorms until I bought my house -- now all I do is worry that my basement will flood!
 

Andrew S

Stunt Coordinator
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Sep 30, 2001
Messages
214
I used to like thunderstorms until about 5 years when my friend's father was struck by lightning and killed. We live in small farming community and he was out haying one night when his wagon was struck. Everyone else on the wagon survived with minor burns but he was hit the worst. He was only in his thirties and was either related to or friends with EVERYONE in town, so everyone was sad.
I still think they're cool to look at but I prefer to be indoors.
 

PhilipW

Second Unit
Joined
Mar 5, 2001
Messages
268
Here's a page with some photos of the F5 that tore up OKC 3 years ago. Not something I want to see again.
World's fastest recorded wind speeds
I would have missed the tornado if I had stayed home, however, when you hear a TV weatherman saying you will die if you are not below ground, you try to get underground. My wife and I were trying to get to her parents house but couldn't make it because of the amount of hail and rain. Instead went to my parents house were we were hit. Luckily we were on the outskirts of the ½ mile wide tornado. By the time it made it to us it had shrunk from 1 mile wide and 316 mph to approximately ½ mile wide and 250-300 mph.
The weirdest part was when the power went out. It was dead silent and it gradually built into a roaring noise then gradually faded out. Then all we could hear when we went outside was all of the gas escaping from the broke lines.
Of course within a matter of minutes we had people driving up and down the street taking pictures thinking how neat it all was.:angry:
 

Jenna

Second Unit
Joined
Feb 12, 2002
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485
Real Name
Jeanette Howard
We've had a couple of decent thunderstorms roll through town during the last few days. Even had some marble-sized hail yesterday pounding the roof. The storm today knocked out the cable...but it was great to sit back and watch the lightning.
 

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