J-BAR #18287 Posted April 2 Share Posted April 2 in our Springfield, Missouri neighborhood. I finished brushing my teeth and came into the living room to watch the storm progress. Lawdog and Shortcake had 1.5" hail in Bolivar a couple of hours ago. Mizzoorah weather is not for the faint of heart. 4 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpo Posted April 2 Share Posted April 2 The first time I went to Mule Camp, I was staying in a hotel in Oakwood, which is a little town a few miles south of Gainesville. Mule Camp was still at Cherokee which is in Gainesville at the time. I think it was 2000. Anyway, I'm in my room and I hear this siren going off and it's going on and on and on. And I'm wondering what's that all about. Later someone comes and knocks on my door. They wanted to know if I was all right, because I had not come to the lobby. Why, I asked, should I have come to the lobby? Didn't I hear the tornado siren?? The what? Couple years ago I was watching this show called Bull. That's where Tony went when he quit NCIS. And they're in a courthouse in Texas, and the tornado sirens went off, so everybody went down in the basement. There's an online story, and they are campaigning in a little town in Oklahoma, and the tornado sirens go off, and they all went down in the basement. Apparently tornado sirens is a thing everywhere. Except here. Before that Mule Camp trip, I not only never heard any before, I had never heard of any before. We have tornadoes occasionally. But we don't have tornado sirens. Is Florida the only place that don't have them? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Riot Posted April 2 Share Posted April 2 I recall tornado sirens in Arkansas when I was a kid. A very ominous sound when you’re walking home in a storm and that siren kicks on. The first time that happened a lady came out of a brick building and waved at me to come inside. I did. It was a law firm. We all went to the basement. We were down there for a while. Maybe 45 minutes or so when someone that was listening to a little AM radio said it was all clear. When I got home my Mom was so happy to see me. She was in a panic because I was missing, in her mind. I thought it was really nice of that lady to bring me into their business and down in their basement. The second time it happened my first thought was “Weird! Tornadoes occur as school lets out.” This time I ran home so my Mom wouldn’t worry. When we lived in Alabama I know they had tornado sirens, but I don’t recall ever hearing them. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 Posted April 2 Share Posted April 2 2 hours ago, Alpo said: The first time I went to Mule Camp, I was staying in a hotel in Oakwood, which is a little town a few miles south of Gainesville. Mule Camp was still at Cherokee which is in Gainesville at the time. I think it was 2000. Anyway, I'm in my room and I hear this siren going off and it's going on and on and on. And I'm wondering what's that all about. Later someone comes and knocks on my door. They wanted to know if I was all right, because I had not come to the lobby. Why, I asked, should I have come to the lobby? Didn't I hear the tornado siren?? The what? Couple years ago I was watching this show called Bull. That's where Tony went when he quit NCIS. And they're in a courthouse in Texas, and the tornado sirens went off, so everybody went down in the basement. There's an online story, and they are campaigning in a little town in Oklahoma, and the tornado sirens go off, and they all went down in the basement. Apparently tornado sirens is a thing everywhere. Except here. Before that Mule Camp trip, I not only never heard any before, I had never heard of any before. We have tornadoes occasionally. But we don't have tornado sirens. Is Florida the only place that don't have them? New England does not have them. Ages ago it was believed they never came here. There was a suspected twister in Worcester but it was never believed or confirmed. Many years later another one happened and weather science had advanced a tad so they could look at the evidence and conclude that, yes, it was a tornado. They are more rare than getting hit by lightning. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sassnetguy50 Posted April 2 Share Posted April 2 Hope you are damage free J-bar. The tornado procedure here is wait for the siren, put the kids in the cellar, then stand on the porch to watch it. The contractors are still fixing the damage from last year's tornado. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rye Miles #13621 Posted April 2 Share Posted April 2 We have tornado sirens here in Ohio but they very very rarely go off here in the Northern area , I think Lake Erie has something to do with them fizzling out before they get up here. It’s mostly in southern Ohio. There was just a bad one a few weeks ago about 4 hours southwest of here. Lots of damage in a small town. They said it was a half mile wide!! Yikes!!! 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warden Callaway Posted April 2 Share Posted April 2 Just stepped out and seen the moon shining bright. I hope the sun comes out. Rained all night. Heard something that sounded like hail but can't be sure. We put the Ford under roof yesterday just in case. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cypress Sun Posted April 2 Share Posted April 2 (edited) Hope everything is okay with you, J-Bar and the folks in the path of the storm. I know that some of the spring storms can get quite dangerous with tornadoes and super-cell tornadoes. My ex was in the Zenia tornado/super outbreak and was scared to death of them, with good reason. A few of the beach cities around Pinellas County, Florida have hurricane sirens...I don't know why, you'd have to live under a rock not to know one is coming. I've never seen or heard about any tornado sirens in Florida. They do have Emergency Management phone alerts but I shut off that feature during the plague when they were sending out alerts for "Safe this and safe that". The final straw was when they sent out an "emergency message at 11:00pm about "Safe boating, maintain 6' distance while boating"...have these idiots ever been on a boat? The sirens that would have made me very concerned (if they went off) were the ones around and near the Crystal River nuke plant. It's been shut down and decommissioned for many years but when it was up and running, it always had problems. I don't know if they ever went off but I sure wouldn't have wanted to be there is they did. Edited April 2 by Cypress Sun 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocWard Posted April 2 Share Posted April 2 We’ve had a couple of tornado outbreaks here in the past few weeks. The first did a lot of property damage in our county, the second hit hard two counties north, killing three. A year ago yesterday we had one that did a lot of damage on n and around the road I live on. The system that caused J-Bar trouble is heading our way. 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cold Lake Kid, SASS # 51474 Posted April 2 Share Posted April 2 No tornado sirens here in Ottawa, Ontario, although we did get a Derecho a few years ago that did a lot of damage, shingles, siding, taking down a lot of trees, knocking out power for a few weeks in some areas etc. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warden Callaway Posted April 2 Share Posted April 2 We had a "strong rotating cell", they called it, come through last July and devastated the trees on our farm. I put a lot of effort into clearing the damage, fences and trails. Just drove a trail yesterday and more stuff has fallen across trail and elsewhere. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forty Rod SASS 3935 Posted April 2 Share Posted April 2 9 hours ago, Alpo said: The first time I went to Mule Camp, I was staying in a hotel in Oakwood, which is a little town a few miles south of Gainesville. Mule Camp was still at Cherokee which is in Gainesville at the time. I think it was 2000. Anyway, I'm in my room and I hear this siren going off and it's going on and on and on. And I'm wondering what's that all about. Later someone comes and knocks on my door. They wanted to know if I was all right, because I had not come to the lobby. Why, I asked, should I have come to the lobby? Didn't I hear the tornado siren?? The what? Couple years ago I was watching this show called Bull. That's where Tony went when he quit NCIS. And they're in a courthouse in Texas, and the tornado sirens went off, so everybody went down in the basement. There's an online story, and they are campaigning in a little town in Oklahoma, and the tornado sirens go off, and they all went down in the basement. Apparently tornado sirens is a thing everywhere. Except here. Before that Mule Camp trip, I not only never heard any before, I had never heard of any before. We have tornadoes occasionally. But we don't have tornado sirens. Is Florida the only place that don't have them? We don' need no steenkine tornado sirens. Our winds simply go in a straight lines and tear stuff apart that way, then the rains come and flush away the evidence. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chantry Posted April 2 Share Posted April 2 7 hours ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said: New England does not have them. Ages ago it was believed they never came here. There was a suspected twister in Worcester but it was never believed or confirmed. Many years later another one happened and weather science had advanced a tad so they could look at the evidence and conclude that, yes, it was a tornado. They are more rare than getting hit by lightning. A friend and former SASS shooter was working in Springfield when a tornado came through, it totaled her car. You could see where it had passed through in a couple of places where the trees were destroyed in a fairly narrow path. That's the worst I can remember in 35+ years I've lived in Connecticut. Occasionally we getting tornado warnings, but they are almost always very small tornadoes and they rarely last very long. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tornadoes_in_New_England Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-BAR #18287 Posted April 2 Author Share Posted April 2 (edited) Thanks for the well wishes. My neighborhood just got wet last night; no limbs or leaves strewn around. The worst of it went north of I-44 apparently. Half of the electricity customers in Pulaski County to the northeast are without power this morning. Lots of photos of hailstones on the news outlets. We got a new roof from a hail storm two years ago so no need to repeat that for a while. We don't have a basement so when the sirens activate, we crowd into an interior bathroom if something is headed our way. Radar coverage is good so usually warning time is adequate. It will be continued excitement for all of April. The warmer the spring, the more tornadoes develop. Stay safe everyone! Edited April 2 by J-BAR #18287 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warden Callaway Posted April 2 Share Posted April 2 Dad was in two tornadoes. Mom in one. The house I was later born in was half destroyed by the second tornado. The barn and other outbuildings totally destroyed. For many years I could trace it's path by twisted and downed trees. Some trees had twisted tin hanging in tops. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tell Sackett SASS 18436 Posted April 2 Share Posted April 2 11 hours ago, J-BAR #18287 said: in our Springfield, Missouri neighborhood. I finished brushing my teeth and came into the living room to watch the storm progress. Lawdog and Shortcake had 1.5" hail in Bolivar a couple of hours ago. Mizzoorah weather is not for the faint of heart. I hear ya!! My wife and I were sitting in a restaurant in Springfield a few years ago when that bad storm went through that sank the duck boat in the lake nearby !! A very memorable storm! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Original Lumpy Gritz Posted April 2 Share Posted April 2 Our kids in Bolivar have some hail damage. In SW SGF, we received about 1/2" rain and a good light show. Temperature is colder now, than it was at sunrise. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgavin Posted April 2 Share Posted April 2 I’m ok with the occasional earthquake here. Tornados are far more frequent and more damaging should you win the door prize. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gracos Kid Posted April 2 Share Posted April 2 In March of 1989, thirteen people were killed by a tornado that struck in the north Gainesville and Clermont, Ga. area all within one mile of my house. The largest tornado in Gainesville, Ga. was on April 6, 1936 and killed 203 people and is listed as one of the fifth most deadly in U.S. history. Prayers are up for all of you in the coming storm area....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PowderRiverCowboy Posted April 2 Share Posted April 2 14 hours ago, J-BAR #18287 said: in our Springfield, Missouri neighborhood. I finished brushing my teeth and came into the living room to watch the storm progress. Lawdog and Shortcake had 1.5" hail in Bolivar a couple of hours ago. Mizzoorah weather is not for the faint of heart. Ohh look at the babies We can send you ours anytime 1 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackwater 53393 Posted April 2 Share Posted April 2 Glad you’re okay, J Bar!! hope no one was hurt by the storms that passed you by. Over the last several years, there have been several devastating tornadoes in our part of Middle Tennessee! One hit just east of us earlier this year. It actually started several miles west of where I live and, skipping and jumping, cut a swath over fifty miles long and in some cases a quarter to a half mile wide! Several lives were lost and damage is STILL not totally estimated! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sedalia Dave Posted April 2 Share Posted April 2 14 hours ago, Alpo said: The first time I went to Mule Camp, I was staying in a hotel in Oakwood, which is a little town a few miles south of Gainesville. Mule Camp was still at Cherokee which is in Gainesville at the time. I think it was 2000. Anyway, I'm in my room and I hear this siren going off and it's going on and on and on. And I'm wondering what's that all about. Later someone comes and knocks on my door. They wanted to know if I was all right, because I had not come to the lobby. Why, I asked, should I have come to the lobby? Didn't I hear the tornado siren?? The what? Couple years ago I was watching this show called Bull. That's where Tony went when he quit NCIS. And they're in a courthouse in Texas, and the tornado sirens went off, so everybody went down in the basement. There's an online story, and they are campaigning in a little town in Oklahoma, and the tornado sirens go off, and they all went down in the basement. Apparently tornado sirens is a thing everywhere. Except here. Before that Mule Camp trip, I not only never heard any before, I had never heard of any before. We have tornadoes occasionally. But we don't have tornado sirens. Is Florida the only place that don't have them? When I was a kid all the towns had Civil Defense Sirens. They doubled as Tornado Sirens. Covered the entire town. Maintaining them became expensive and with improvements to the cellular network almost all of them have been decommissioned. There are still a few active sirens. They are located near parks and outdoor recreation areas. My heartburn with this that the alerts they send via cell phones cover way too much area and don't contain enough information. First one I ever got on my phone was a tornado warning telling me to take cover immediately. I was driving down a highway and where I was the sun was shining and the birds were singing with only a few scattered clouds. So I ignored it. later I found out the warning was for a tornado 60 miles and two counties away. Surely they can figure out a way to localize the warning to the area actually impacted. The other thing desperately needed is geographical information about where the warning is for. Hard to make an intelligent decision about what action to take when you don't have even the most basic of details. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texas Maverick Posted April 2 Share Posted April 2 When growing up in Woodward, OK I lived through 2 different tornados. The first one wiped out all the houses across the street from ours and we didn't find any damage for the most part to our home. The second time it actually took out the homes on both sides of our home and left ours. Guess we were living right because it was unreal the devastation to the homes and we escaped it both times. Then my sisters house was completely destroyed and totally gone from the F4 that hit Moore, OK many years ago. Luckily they were with neighbors that had a storm shelter. They are just very unpredictable and very dangerous.. TM 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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