Raise your hand if you've ever seen a tornado

[Minerva]

I mean in person, real life not on TV or someone else's video tapes, etc.

Windy+suck+freight train noise just don't add up. When it moves across a road with power poles and the wires cross and light up that's a sight to see for sure!

Oh and yeah those flying cows, picnic tables and trailer roofs. Gotta be careful there, Cleedus.

 

[ViviTheMage]

Yup, F5

 

[Freshgeardude]

a weak tornado went over my house once. it was kinda freaky to see things in the wind spinning around.

no damage at all though

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

I've seen a few in Florida

 

[edro]

Let's also count how many people respond with "no" or some other non-yes answer.

Current count: 2

 

[Minerva]

Yup, F5

Holy shit! Where?

Been through lots of 2s and 3s. Had a 4 go by next town, we got hailed on size of grapefruits. Damn that messes up the cars real bad. (roof too!)

 

[x-alki]

Yes.

 

[GuitarDaddy]

Yes, seen many, was in a house hit by 1. But hell I'm over 50 and live in tornado alley in Texas, it would actually be freaky if I hadn't seen a few

 

[Minerva]

I love storms except lightning. It's ok but a few years ago one of my favorite oak trees (400 yr old!) got skinned and now she's starting to die.

 

[disappoint]

Ok, but how are you going to know if I raised my hand or not?

 

[911paramedic]

I've seen a few in Florida

I've seen plenty of waterspouts while out on boats, but never an actual tornado.

 

[Uppsala9496]

Been through 2. Last one was a good 20 years ago.

 

[Train]

does it technically have to touch down to be a tornado?

I've seen a few funnel clouds, but none that have touched down.

 

[FuzzyDunlop]

ok, but how are you going to know if i raised my hand or not?

need poalage

 

[BoomerD]

I've seen a couple...at a distance. Never had to actually "live through" one.

 

[Drako]

Yes, when I was a kid living in Ohio. Have not seen any as an adult - moved to California after college.

 

[Juked07]

F4 about 5-10 miles from my house when I was 10.. All I remember is a lot of wind/rain.

Was Ohio also, maybe the same one as you Drako =P

 

[Drako]

F4 about 5-10 miles from my house when I was 10.. All I remember is a lot of wind/rain.

Was Ohio also, maybe the same one as you Drako =P

It was in 1974, around the time of the infamous Xenia tornado.

We lived farther north.

 

[nageov3t]

on vacation in Oklahoma with my parents. it was pretty small and didn't hit anything, though.

 

[Uppsala9496]

On March 27, 1991, Lemont was once again hit with a twister through the town in a selective manner, demolishing one home, not touching the other. The tornado destroyed 15 homes and damaged 180 more. First downing a 100 ft. microwave relay tower at 127th St. west of town, the tornado erratically veered in a northeast path through residential Peiffer, Warner, State and the Blue Hill (neighborhood around SS. Cyril & Methodius Church ) area. It then rammed the McCarthy Pointe subdivision off of McCarthy Road, then traumatized Franciscan Village on Main St. (near Walker Road) and continued on Main Street, it badly damaged the Powell Duffryn Terminal. Still following a northeast pattern, it tore the roof off St. James Church in Sag before dissipating.

The first home that was destroyed was just across the practice baseball field. Was at practice when the weather turned to shit. Had a great view of the tornado go right over the high school.

 

[punjabiplaya]

saw one when I lived in WI - don't know how strong as it was quite a distance away
slept through one here in TX - it was less than a 1/4 away but most likely an f1

 

[daw123]

Nope, I have never seen one and I thought they were very rare in the UK, until I read this:

6 How often do tornadoes occur in the United Kingdom?
On average, 33 tornadoes are reported each year in the United Kingdom. This average is based on a 30 year period, though in reality the actual yearly figures may vary dramatically from year to year.

http://www.torro.org.uk/site/tfaq.php#faq4

 

[mizzou]

How about a water spout?

 

[sportage]

It's the ones you don't see that are really scary.
One went thru downtown a few years ago. I was driving down the street at the time.
It went right down the street here in my midwest town, but I did not see the usual funnel thing.
Just stuff ahead started flying around (paper, tree limbs, trash/junk).
It was moving towards my car (I was stopped at a light). As it passed over/thru, my car shook violently and felt like it was about to take flight. Then it passed. If I had been standing outside my car I would have been swept off the ground. Looking in the rear view mirror I could see this force traveling down the street behind me tossing street potted plants around, doors to buildings flying open and closed, junk flying all around.
It was like an invisible power moving down the street causing havoc.
No funnel, no fog or clouds other than the junk it tossed around.
But you could actually see it moving only by the damage it caused as went along.
But having also lived in So. CA for years, earthquakes were worse.
Just the tremors that hit often. Much more of a helpless feeling. Heart pounding.
Tornadoes are nerve racking. Earthquake tremors were heart stopping.

 

[DrPizza]

I've put on a lot of miles in the car trying to see one. Failure so far. But, I think that on one encounter, I was damn close. Driving down the road through a rural wooded area. The wind really picked up; the water kicked up from the tires of the car in front of me was blowing at a right angle to the car's path. As if you clicked your fingers, the wind direction changed 180 degrees. The whole area looked like I was in a tree Cuisinart - shredded leaves everywhere.