Thursday, February 19, 2009

What an Adventure!

I seem to recall, a few posts ago, I told everyone how much I LOVED driving to/from work in thunderstorms. Well, last night, I got the great pleasure of doing it ALL again! I am so fortunate!

My afternoon started with a phone call from my mother that started like this..... "Robin, we are under a tornado warning, but I've got the kids and we are in the basement!" WOW, that was a shocker! So, we immediately pulled up the weather radar to see what was going on. I was horrified to see that the worst of the storm looked like it was sitting directly over my little hometown....and right where my mom and kids were! Fortunately, as we watched it move past, I called my mother back, and they were fine. They didn't even get a drop of rain. PRAISE THE LORD!

My mother was terrified that I would be caught driving in the storm, so she told me to just wait until that wave passed before trying to make it home. So, I watched the storm on the radar and waited for the tornado warning to expire that had been issued where I currently was; and left for my 90 mile journey home. This is what the sky looked like when I left....



Not too bad! I should have plenty of time to make it home before it gets too late, right?? WRONG!!!

As I pulled onto I-20, I get a frantic phone call from one of my co-workers telling me that they just heard there was a 50 car pile-up on I-20 somewhere near the Georgia/Alabama line.....GREAT......AND, there was another line of severe thunderstorms with a possible tornado heading right up I-20 again.....DOUBLE GREAT! I just LOVE being stuck on the Interstate DURING a tornado!!

So, I decided to turn off I-20, and make my way home on US Hwy 78, which runs parallel to I-20. As I slowly make my way to Hwy 78, I finally find a radio station with local weather updates. As I listen, THINGS ARE NOT SOUNDING GOOD! Because I am so lucky, wave after wave of severe thunderstorms begin to form over I-20. As one line moves through, another one forms to quickly replace it. There are several cars still on the road in front of me, so I decided to continue driving. I end up driving through THREE waves of thunderstorms! I was TERRIFIED!! Twice, as I was driving through some little rural towns along the way, the weather sirens started to blare....
scared the poopie out of me!

As I get closer to home, I think I am finally through it all, when another alarm begins to sound....now there is a tornado warning just a few miles away from where I am!! I come to the top of a hill, look to my left, and see a possible funnel cloud in the distance. EEEEEKKKK!! Fortunately, it was moving in the opposite direction, so I kept on driving....quickly!

Finally, after driving for 2 1/2 hours, I made it home safely. I've never been so glad to see my house in my entire life!

Today, I asked a friend of mine who is a meteorologist to send me the radar loop during the time period I was on the road (A BIG THANKS TO ELLIOT!!). After seeing it, I think I would have spent the night in Georgia!
Here is what I was driving through.

(My journey was from right-to-left, marked by the white line)




(Pardon the black dots....I have no idea what those are all about....lol)
Here is the "real time" radar... http://www.rap.ucar.edu/weather/radar/displayRad.php?icao=KFFC&prod=bref1&bkgr=black&endDate=20090219&endTime=0&duration=2

I hope all of you that live in the Southeast made it through the storms OK!

12 comments:

  1. You have a 90 minute drive to and from work??? WoW!

    ReplyDelete
  2. YUP! It's 90 miles each way. BUT, I only work two days a week. That's the only way I agreed to go back to work there.
    Thanks for visiting.... you know I'm a little star-struck, right? :o)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Beeno, I'm so glad you're OK, I thought about you when I heard about the pile up on I-20, The Good Lord was watching over you :) Sharn Jean

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thankfully, I missed it!! Did you get any bad weather?

    YIPEEEE! It looks like you have the blogger thing figured out!!

    Love ya!

    ReplyDelete
  5. As one of my favorite tv characters would say "Holy crap on a cracker!" It sounds awful, but those radar pictures show how bad it really was! You definitely had an angel on your shoulder and I bet you were as limp as a noodle when you finally got home. I certainly hope you got to relax today and did not have to drive anywhere! Glad you made it home safe and sound, Kathy

    ReplyDelete
  6. Wow Robin! I am so glad that the Lords protection was over you and your family! That would of scared the POOPIE (teheee) out of me too.

    ReplyDelete
  7. i saw where the worst weather had hit.. and thought about you. hate to hear you were smack in the middle of all that!! i simply hate driving in heavy rain, much less tornado warnings!
    glad you made it home unharmed. :)

    blessings,
    Tracie

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oh boy! Glad you're ok, Robin!...Christine

    ReplyDelete
  9. In the words of my Southern friends:
    Sheeet!

    Glad you got through it!

    ReplyDelete
  10. We got heavy rain and some hail, but not too bad thank goodness.

    ReplyDelete
  11. You have to have guts to drive I-20 anywhere between Birmingham and Atlanta even in good weather. Glad you made it home safely.

    ReplyDelete
  12. KBeau....You are so right!!!! LOL!!!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you so much for taking the time to comment on my blog! It really means a lot to me!!
{{HUGS}}