That was special. (Huntsville, Jackson, Five Points: home, neighborhoods, schools)

[Charles]

Lots of good photos here:

Photos of the tornado that passed over east Huntsville | Breaking News from The Huntsville Times - al.com

and video

Video: Tornado passes over Huntsville | Breaking News from The Huntsville Times - al.com

[DvlsAdvc8]

Originally Posted by tammie2

Were you home?

I said there was a "tornado sky" about 20 minutes before the sirens. If you were home or looking outside, here is what to look for.....

"yellowing sky" that starts to darken but everything you look at still has a yellowish hue.

Usually at this point if there will be a tornado, you will start to see the cloud organizing and one part of the sky will be clear and another very cloudy. Today, there were no clouds to the south of us, and they were organizing to the north.

skys that darken incredibly rapidly(turns from that yellow to looking like the middle of the night in 15 minutes). Depending on your distance, it could be bright by you(sometimes still yellow) and VERY dark in the distance.

We saw a funnel cloud forming, but I walked outside to look(I grew up in tornado country and they fascinate me).

Spot on Tammie... and I can't even give you rep for it... I have to spread it around first.

[33458]

Oh. I saw that truck every few mornings on my way to the school. Wishing the driver well.

[Made_it_To_the_Metroplex]

Wow... Hope everyone's alright!

[rnc76]

Were there two tornadoes? In that video the guy says "that is right near A&M". Of course, there was the one that hit Five Points. That would be a strange path to take. The Five Points one is about 1/2 mile north of my house. My wife and daughter were in a shop in Five Points when it passed, people were looking out the window watching it go by. It must have passed right over my office before it touched down. Scary.

[friday13]

Coming home from work, we took the alternate route through downtown. Historic downtown was in total darkness (Holmes, Clinton, toward Andrew Jackson, California), 5 Points. A really bad damaged house on Holmes - looked like cut in half with fallen trees in front - could've been a tree that fell and sliced it-it was pitch black. Further on Holmes to Star Market intersection lots of emergency responders and police cars. The traffic light pole with the street names on the corner of the intersection in front of Star Market was leaning at an angle (quite menacing, we were debating to detour or "just go thru"). Coming home on Maysville, no damages, we thought that was all (what we left behind downtown). But at Oakwood intersection, westbound was blocked off by police because major damage (power lines down, and heard from a friend about a house being destroyed).
We are half a mile from that site (past the big church at Maysville), right 33458?

[Bamachic80]

I noted the "yellowy" tone of the sky and look outside about 15-20 minutes before the warning of the Tornado. I live off Zierdt Road, so I only heard thunder off in the distance, that glow outside was real eerie and I had the fear that the storm might be getting worse just has it was passing to the North of us. This was not my first Tornado experience, but my first one living in Huntsville. Just watching it on TV with all the non-stop weather coverages was freaking me out. I'm a lifelong Alabama resident and this stuff makes me act like I'm a toddler. I don't see me growing out of it, hope everyone is/was safe.

[33458]

We are about that, yes...it is just less than a mile to the school from my house because of the jogs and if I remember right, I think you are further down? Works out about the same.
The way husband explained it, I could have looked out over my deck or through a window over the driveway and seen the funnel cloud as it descended, the highway being behind it. I have a clear shot.
That would have been quite a view.

[33458]

I wish I knew if Chapman was open tomorrow...the site is down right now.

[Bamachic80]

News just stated that Jackson's Way will be closed tomorrow.