Posted By FarmerJ on June 23, 2011

We had another one of those whacky weather days this past Monday.  You can pretty much plan on a good storm when the forecast says “Particular Dangerous Situation Tornado Watch.”  A typical tornado watch usually doesn’t have the ‘particular dangerous situation’ verbiage included.  So, when it is, you sort of sit up and take notice.

I’d actually been tracking this storm for a couple of days ~ one of my favorite websites is NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center.  The local storms began Sunday evening around 7:00 p.m. and carried on until about 4:00 a.m.  The EBS radio finally quieted down and we were able to get a couple hours sleep before the alarm blared at 6:00 a.m.  Anyway, in the process of tracking Sunday’s storm, I learned that Monday was going to be even greater.

And, greater it was.  Twenty-five tornadoes were reported as a result of Monday’s storm, not including those it created in Kansas, Colorado or South Dakota.  The EBS radio started squawking early, at about 8:40 a.m.  I’d already done my research on the NOAA site, so I wasn’t surprised.  Very groggy from the lack of sleep, but not surprised.  I am always absolutely amazed at the accuracy of the meteorologists’ discussions and predictions.  I mean, I know that knowing the weather is their job and all, but seriously, to be able to predict down to a specific hour when Mother Nature is going to unleash her wrath?!  These weren’t storms that you could see ‘moving in’ ~ these were storms that popped and blew up out of absolutely nowhere.

For our area, they had predicted the first round of storms to hit and intensify between 3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.  The first tornado in Nebraska was reported to the National Weather Service in Hastings at 3:05 p.m.  Law enforcement reported spotting three tornadoes at that time.  Just like that.  More funnels were spotted in Phelps County, then a tornado four miles south of Elm Creek damaged several homes in western Buffalo County.  Another tornado did heavy damage to a home in the Amherst area.  All before 5:00 p.m.

All of this activity was happening to the west of us, approximately 45 miles, but the sky was changing around here as fast as I could snap the pictures.  I haven’t yet figured out how to describe with words the sensation of looking up and seeing the entire storm system rotating above you.  It’s phenomenal.  And, a little nerve wracking, too.  Husbie had called to say he was going to have to ride this storm out at the facility because of stuff happening there and he couldn’t leave.  Little Big Brother hadn’t made it home from errands in town yet.  So, I was prepared to manage getting the three animals and myself into the storm shelter if the situation called for it.

Does a trained storm spotter sitting in your neighbor’s driveway constitute a ‘situation that calls for it’?    If you enlarge the photo by clicking on it, you’ll see streaks.  Those streaks are raindrops.  I didn’t have my lens on any fancy setting ~ the drops were just coming down at a fast and furious pace at that moment.

A few minutes later, Little Big Brother arrived home, but decided he wanted to sit out in the truck and ‘watch’ the storm. At least he was home ~ if he saw me fling the door open with animals in each arm, he’d be able to help me herd them into the shelter.   By now, tornadoes were being reported near Rockville, York and Silver Creek, which is approximately 45 miles from us in the other direction (east).  Five separate tornadoes were spotted on the ground in the Hampton area.  Praise God there were no injuries, but there was quite a bit of damage.   Four or five homes were completely lost, and several grain bins and outbuildings, power poles, and center pivots had been destroyed.  Semi-trucks had been overturned and trains had been derailed.

Shortly thereafter, somewhere around 6:00 p.m., Darling Husbie arrived home.  I’d been tracking the storm on the radar, and it appeared as if the rotation of this entire monster was going to put us in the ‘eye’ of it, so to speak.  The whole storm was a line of tornadoes in a complete circle, and we were in the middle of it, where it was now eerily calm and peaceful.

It’s not difficult at all to count your blessings in the comfort of your home, meanwhile the message on the EBS radio is saying “for the protection of your life, take cover immediately.”  During a typical tornado warning, the message says, “if you see a funnel cloud, or other signs of a tornado, take cover immediately.”  This particular message was referring to the tornado that had just crossed I-80 near the Bradshaw exit and was continuing north…and continued for quite some time.

Our evening, here at the Prairie Farmstead, did end peacefully, and we never had to bale into the shelter.  Even the teenage boy took note of it and called me outside to take this photo.  The clouds look like sand ripples on a beach ~ amazing.  Do enlarge the photo to take a peek at something rather incredible.

It’s incredible to me, at least.  The fact that the sky over our head could be so peaceful and soothing, yet just a few miles away, they’re contending with these:

This is a compilation of videos capturing some of the tornadoes occurring Monday evening.  In the sections you can here the spotter’s EBS radio announcing warnings to take cover ~ you can rest assured our radio was in my hand and I was listening to the same messages!

I’ll share a little secret with you ~ I won’t be sad if we don’t have another ‘Particular Dangerous Situation Tornado Watch’ day this summer.  Can you blame me?!  ♥

Categories: Plainly Ponderings
Tags: