Not a tornado but I was caught right in the middle of Cat 4, Hurricane Michelle in Havana - Nov 2001.
The experience was quite surreal really. We were confined to the hotel for the duration. Although I doubt they could have stopped anyone leaving, the hotel staff stood guard on the entrances throughout and got very agitated if anyone whet too close to the door way.
The hotel lost power early on and with that the water went too. So we spent 24 hours without lifts and flushing loos which makes a busy hotel interesting. And the night was spent by candlelight. Furthermore this was an old colonial hotel in Havana and suffered many of the long term maintenance problems that are a feature of Cuba. So the building was leaky. Shutters at the windows flapped or broke away and the stair wells weren't so much leaking as flowing with water. Going up 6 floors of an well worn stair case, running with rain water, with broken or no existent handrails in pitch darkness with nothing but a bit of candle was another experience I won't forget.
Other wise the hurricane resulted in very grey skies, sheets of rain, next to no visibility and relentless and very loud winds.. We stood at a window in the earlier part of the event and watched corrugated steel sheets, that made up the rood of the Havana State Ballet opposite, just peel off and fly away. They looked so flimsy and insubstantial but would have been sheets of steel of 12 foot square or more.
The other memorable moment was watching a palm tree bowling down the street in the wind. Apart from the root ball, it looked like a small branch or twig the way it somersaulted and bounced. One had to remind oneself that it was a whole tree we were watching and not just a twig.
I just wondered if any of you had experienced a tornado and what it was like? I think they are amazing things of nature though they very sadly kill. I would love to go storm chasing but my parents would kill me and I'm too chicken. My cat gets the fright of his life when I watch the videos on YouTube.
I wonder how realistic the movie Into The Storm is compared to real life.
About 40 minutes ago as I was going back to the car, after visiting Mum's grave, I saw two of them fly over head with their landing gear down. They were small dark and noisely.
If you mean the other kind, no, I've never seen one in real life, and I don't want to either.
About 40 minutes ago as I was going back to the car, after visiting Mum's grave, I saw two of them fly over head with their landing gear down. They were small dark and noisely.
1962.
Bristol.
They played "Telstar".
They used to back Billy Fury.
I'm surprised no one has said.
"A tornado is like a woman.
When it comes it's very wet and very windy.
When it leaves half your bloody possessions are gone"
Once in Cambridgeshire, they are supposedly quite common but I've only seen the one. We were driving along and could see it a way off in the fields. It obviously wasn't very strong, it came with fairly heavy rain and hail. I think it might have done some minor damage somewhere, I can't remember for sure.
There is a lot of driving and sitting around waiting involved. All the stuff you see on TV makes up a very small part of the actual chase. I am not one to start whooping and cheering either, often you have to concentrate on getting photos and making sure you stay safe from other weather related things like hail etc!
... making sure you stay safe from other weather related things like hail etc!
And cows*. I saw that documentary.
* I'm not sure if that is "cows" or "one cow, twice" as I never had a chance to review the footage and there was only one person who asserted the 'twice' hypothesis.
Comments
No, I haven't seen one (a tornado, I mean. I've seen a good many tomatoes), but it must be an awesome and scary thing to witness.
The experience was quite surreal really. We were confined to the hotel for the duration. Although I doubt they could have stopped anyone leaving, the hotel staff stood guard on the entrances throughout and got very agitated if anyone whet too close to the door way.
The hotel lost power early on and with that the water went too. So we spent 24 hours without lifts and flushing loos which makes a busy hotel interesting. And the night was spent by candlelight. Furthermore this was an old colonial hotel in Havana and suffered many of the long term maintenance problems that are a feature of Cuba. So the building was leaky. Shutters at the windows flapped or broke away and the stair wells weren't so much leaking as flowing with water. Going up 6 floors of an well worn stair case, running with rain water, with broken or no existent handrails in pitch darkness with nothing but a bit of candle was another experience I won't forget.
Other wise the hurricane resulted in very grey skies, sheets of rain, next to no visibility and relentless and very loud winds.. We stood at a window in the earlier part of the event and watched corrugated steel sheets, that made up the rood of the Havana State Ballet opposite, just peel off and fly away. They looked so flimsy and insubstantial but would have been sheets of steel of 12 foot square or more.
The other memorable moment was watching a palm tree bowling down the street in the wind. Apart from the root ball, it looked like a small branch or twig the way it somersaulted and bounced. One had to remind oneself that it was a whole tree we were watching and not just a twig.
About 40 minutes ago as I was going back to the car, after visiting Mum's grave, I saw two of them fly over head with their landing gear down. They were small dark and noisely.
If you mean the other kind, no, I've never seen one in real life, and I don't want to either.
1962.
Bristol.
They played "Telstar".
They used to back Billy Fury.
I'm surprised no one has said.
"A tornado is like a woman.
When it comes it's very wet and very windy.
When it leaves half your bloody possessions are gone"
You tend to keep your distance but I have certainly been very close (within half a mile) to a few.
The biggest one I was close to was the El Reno one https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_El_Reno_tornado that was a monster.
There is a lot of driving and sitting around waiting involved. All the stuff you see on TV makes up a very small part of the actual chase. I am not one to start whooping and cheering either, often you have to concentrate on getting photos and making sure you stay safe from other weather related things like hail etc!
A nice pic, that. The western end of Thirlmere, unless I'm mistaken....
* I'm not sure if that is "cows" or "one cow, twice" as I never had a chance to review the footage and there was only one person who asserted the 'twice' hypothesis.