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As for me, give me a good tornado warning and I'll be outside on the porch looking for funnel clouds!
I've done that a 1,001 times. About 10 years ago I was out on my porch in 180-mile-an-hour winds when a small tornado hit about five blocks away from my house and flattened about 15 other houses. I'm a real Midwestern.
At that time I had a coworker who had moved to the Midwest from New York City. She was so cute. Every time they would issue a tornado watch, she would literally crawl under her desk, screaming and crying, "We're going to die!" That was just for a watch--not a warning.
I've lived in the Midwest in Tornado Alley for more than 50 years. We're so nonchalant about tornadoes. They're no big deal.
I've done that a 1,001 times. About 10 years ago I was out on my porch in 180-mile-an-hour winds when a small tornado hit about five blocks away from my house and flattened about 15 other houses. I'm a real Midwestern.
At that time I had a coworker who had moved to the Midwest from New York City. She was so cute. Every time they would issue a tornado watch, she would literally crawl under her desk, screaming and crying, "We're going to die!" That was just for a watch--not a warning.
I've lived in the Midwest in Tornado Alley for more than 50 years. We're so nonchalant about tornadoes. They're no big deal.
I know the feeling. Here in NE Texas we live in what is called "Tornado Alley." I've lived here for over 25 years. We get tornadoes and tornado warnings every year and nearly every month in this area. April is the biggest month for tornadoes around here and get this - I'm excited. I don't understand why it excites me but it does. Maybe it has something to do with when I was a kid living in Japan and WOW they get some hellacious storms and hurricanes! We had a big picture window in the living room and I remember sitting there watching storms and spectacular lightning and wind that would bend the trees nearly to the ground - I was never afraid and I credit my mom with that. She would sometimes sit with me and we'd watch the storms together and squeal in excitement at the lightning. We had a maid who was Japanese and she thought we were absolutely crazy. She'd cry and quiver and hide in a corner of the kitchen murmuring in Japanese - to this day I don't know if she was praying or muttering about how crazy we were!
I also lived ten years in Georgia on the Alabama line and they got a lot of tornadoes there too. And huge spring storms in general. My friends who live in that area now experienced their first tornado of the season a few weeks ago. They are still finding papers and receipts and things like that in their yards from as far away as fifty miles!
When we lived in VA and MD they didn't get so many tornadoes but they did get hurricanes, which I thought was cool.
One time when we lived on Fort Hood, I think it was in 1999, there was a big storm/tornado that did a lot of damage to trees and quarters and buildings (20 percent of the base's buildings were damaged) - and $600 MILLION in damages to a fleet of Apache helicopters! That was pretty exciting! https://www.nytimes.com/1989/05/20/u...w-copters.html
And when I was a kid living in NC, we had a tornado come through while we were at school, and we had to get in the hall and "assume the position." A guy mowing or doing something out on the football field was killed, and our gym was destroyed. That was pretty interesting too.
I wonder what this spring will bring. I've lived in this neighborhood for 5 years. When we moved here, we asked how old the roof was. The inspector said "It's four years old. All the roofs in this neighborhood are four years old." That's when I realized that most of the tops of the trees were missing as well. Hmmm. We haven't had a tornado hit this particular neighborhood but we did have one in Van, TX (about 15 miles away) that did a lot of damage and killed several people, and then one in Canton, TX the next year that also did tons of damage and killed some people. It hit Interstate 20 and I remember that they found cars with people in them, some alive and some not so lucky, tossed around pastures. It also hit a car dealership - so cars were literally everywhere. The one in Van hit a school but fortunately it was at night so no one was in the school at the time. During that storm, my husband was out of state and I have a video I recorded and sent to him while the tornadoes were close by because I was standing out on the porch, couldn't see anything because it was pitch black outside and I was saying "I don't know what's going down out there but something big is happening!" My gosh, the sound of the wind!
During the day I can tell when a tornado is cooking up because the sky turns a sickly sort of greenish color and right before the rain and wind comes, everything gets very quiet. And my dogs get weird.
I've done that a 1,001 times. About 10 years ago I was out on my porch in 180-mile-an-hour winds when a small tornado hit about five blocks away from my house and flattened about 15 other houses. I'm a real Midwestern.
At that time I had a coworker who had moved to the Midwest from New York City. She was so cute. Every time they would issue a tornado watch, she would literally crawl under her desk, screaming and crying, "We're going to die!" That was just for a watch--not a warning.
I've lived in the Midwest in Tornado Alley for more than 50 years. We're so nonchalant about tornadoes. They're no big deal.
My SO is in Ft. Benning, GA. He was really close to the bad tornado in Alabama earlier this month. He wrote to me in a letter that when they got those warnings, everyone in his platoon was scared to death, but he, a born and raised Texas, was calm as hell lol.
He once saw a massive tornado whiz by while hiding in a barn for shelter.
Not to say that it's wrong to like a change of seasons, but I personally don't see why people like it so much.
Living in the New York metro area, an area that gets 4 very distinct seasons, I can't stand it. Especially the change from summer to fall when it's that awkward point in late September/October and you don't know what to where because it's 40 degrees in the morning and 75 by 1 in the afternoon. Don't even get me started on winter. I'd rather have a year long summer/warm climate like So.Cal or Texas/Florida
Anyone else feel this way?
I absolutely agree and I wish for this, too. I tolerate high heat rather well, but cold I can't handle. (Also don't like grey skies and I live in the PNW)
Fall is the worst, because it's warm and everything is growing nice and then cold death begins. It's all down hill from there. I am actually considering moving to Gainesville, FL or back to AZ for this reason, although I want to check out Santa Fe first, just because it's so beautiful there..
I have one word for this time of year in NE Texas.
Pollen.
I took these two pictures just driving home yesterday. Thankfully, pollen doesn't get to me too badly. Meanwhile, the temperature was 70 degrees and the sun was brilliant!
Next week my husband and I are taking a road trip to peruse wild flowers - they are everywhere this time of year and supposedly this year is a bumper crop of 'em.
The nonchalance is unfortunately the reason for mass fatality events like Joplin and Tuscaloosa. People think its time to take action when that storm is right on them, so when its too late. And then they go on the news and cry “we had no warning”.
Well actually in EF5 tornadoes (and may EF4s), there's not much you can even do. When a tornado sucks everything off the foundation, you're going too. A tornado that huge can even suck people out of a basement!
Sometimes it's just your time.
To put things in perspective, you have a much higher chance of slipping and dying in the bath or shower than you have of dying in a tornado.
The nonchalance is unfortunately the reason for mass fatality events like Joplin and Tuscaloosa. People think its time to take action when that storm is right on them, so when its too late. And then they go on the news and cry “we had no warning”.
When you KNOW you live in tornado-prone areas plans should of course be in place for these emergencies. NOAA radio. Keep up to date with weather reports. What's hard about that?
If you can't manage that them move to a lesser prone area.
Four seasons??
Have 4 very différent seasons and love them...winter is getting a little annoying right now, we're ready for spring here...had 24 in snow, now will have months of spring and new, lush growth, then summers up to
83F or so....fall is lovely with turning leaves and moderate temps...then it starts over again.
I absolutely agree and I wish for this, too. I tolerate high heat rather well, but cold I can't handle. (Also don't like grey skies and I live in the PNW)
Fall is the worst, because it's warm and everything is growing nice and then cold death begins. It's all down hill from there. I am actually considering moving to Gainesville, FL or back to AZ for this reason, although I want to check out Santa Fe first, just because it's so beautiful there..
I'm kind of the opposite and can't handle the heat, especially heat with really high humidity.
Quick question, though: One of your three options is not like the others. Gainesville and most of AZ are hot for a good part of the year and mild in the winter. Have you ever been to Santa Fe in the offseason, though? I agree that it's beautiful, but at 7,200' in elevation, it has a large daily fluctuation in temps which means it's pretty cool at night in the summer, and can be downright frigid from, say, November to April.
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