1 Year Ago...
03/14/2009 12:19
I was sitting on my couch catching up on episodes of LOST (which I've unfortunately gotten sucked into)... saw a flash of lightening in the distance and immediately had a strange feeling. I didn't recall that we were supposed to have severe weather until the next day... but that feeling in my gut stayed with me.
I started following the storm on radar as the lightening became really intense. I saw the velocity couplet and knew things were about to get interesting. Being the sensible person I am, I went outside!
The air was disconcertingly still. Just lots of lightening and thunder... no rain... no wind... nothing. Suddenly very large hail started to fall. The air continued to feel unnaturally still. Not good.
Then came the roar above. It sounded like it was really windy high above the trees, but nothing at ground level yet. It got louder and the tops of the trees started to really move. Intense and very scary... I knew what was happening. I just felt it in my gut. Curiosity and awe kept me frozen in place.
I live in a 1940's bungalow with no basement (no foundation built on piles). My center hallway closet was probably the best place to be, but I didn't go there. I just stood with my kitchen door open, watching everything going on outside. I just couldn't move.
The tornado touched down just two miles south of my location.
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I keep a running history of notable weather events for Atlanta and update/add information often.
You can find the entry (including more pictures and videos) for the 2008 Atlanta Tornado here:
http://atlwx.com/wxhistory/files/20080314-atlanta_tornado.html