My mom saw the famous 1955 (I think) tornado in Dallas when she was very young. She said she walked out her front door, the neighbors were all in the street and looked down the street and she could see it 1/2 mile away.
I almost got stomped in 3 tornados. One touched down two miles from my apartment. My friend called me to wake me up - it was early evening - by this time the rain and the hail were hitting the windows sideways and so hard, I thought the glass would break. I got dressed, put on my running shoes in case I had to hit the ground running, gathered up the cats, the fish and a comforter and hid out in an inner closet until it passed.
2nd time I was out in the open in my car. No place to go. I was in a warehouse district. I pulled under a tree, hiding from the hail, afraid they were going to punch a hole in my convertible top, rain just pouring, the sirens going off - then suddenly it stopped. Dead silence, no wind, no rain, nothing.
I was like, 'Oh shit.'
That slot in the sky opened up blue and the only thing that reassured me was that the sky wasn't the right color. It always turns yellow and green. Then it passed, no touchdown. Whew!
3rd time was when the tornado ground Jarrell, Tx to a pulp and started heading south. I lived south of Jarrell at the time. We were all standing inside, watching the weather when someone said, "Hey the sky's a funny color out here..."
It was yellow, not green, so it passed us by again.
They're exciting weather to be sure, but not much fun to be caught in them.
