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what's the worst storm you have experienced?

Iron Woode

Iron Woode

Elite Member
Super Moderator
for me it was the Blizzard of 1977.

That was the only Snow Day we ever had in elementary school. We weren't hit as hard as the Niagara/New York region, but it sure was nasty. We ended up with nearly 3 feet of snow and drifts over 6 feet. I remember looking out into the backyard and realizing that our cedar hedge (6' tall) was buried under the snow. I had a great time playing in the snow and tobogganing.

The second place storm was a very intense thunderstorm (not sure exactly what it was) that hit us in the summer back in 1988. It was like a tornado with howling winds and rain that created a white-out condition. It lasted maybe 10 mins and ripped huge trees right out the ground. The power was out for 24 hours. It looked like a hurricane hit my neighbourhood. The affected areas were scattered and most of the city was unaffected.
 
Don't get many bad storms in Northern VA. I'd have to say The Blizzard of 96, but I don't remember much except being fascinated by the fact that I was up to my thighs in snow (I was 9 years old). Seemed awesome to me at the time. 🙂
 
how about being in the cargo hold of a 30' fishing boat in the middle of a typhoon trying to get to the airport? I think I was 10 at the time.
 
Tornado hit my college (U of MD, College Park) while I was living in the dorms.

I was playing PS2, and was right next to the window. I could see some massive winds outside and tons of lightning, so I was gonna go outside to check it out, but my friend made me play another round of SSX.

Halfway through the round of SSX, all hell broke loose. The sound of the tornado was incredibly loud, and we all knew immediately we had to get the bsaement as quickly as possible. Our window was open, and due to the vacuum created by the high winds, we could barely open our door to get into the hall. Once in the hallway, there was shit flying everywhere and people panicking like crazy. Everyone got to the stairwell and ran down. On the way down I saw a large dumpster levitating outside the 2nd story window.

We got to the basement and it passed rather quickly. No significant damage to the dorms, but the parking lot was an absolute disaster. There was a particular spot I would always stand to watch thunderstorms (I'm fascinated by them). As I walked past the spot I noticed an air conditioning unit had smashed right through the door I usually stand at. PS2 saved my life!

A few things I remember vividly:

- Basketball hoops turned 90 degrees (cemented into ground)
- Steel-body Jeep with the entire front peeled back like a banana
- Corvette sitting perfectly on top of another car with absolutely no damage to either vehicle
- Every single vehicle had no windows left

Sadly, the tornado picked up a car with 2 female students in it, threw it over an 8 story (yes, 8 story) dorm, and into the woods. They were the only casualties.
 
I've been in a few, particularly two floods in San Antonio that I can't remember the years and then Ike here in Houston.
 
Ice Storm in 1998 in Upstate NY (same one hit Canada) and a Microburst that hit Upstate NY around 1994 or 5. I've been in blizzards, but I lived in the Adirondacks, so tons of snow was kinda normal.
 
Originally posted by: Redfraggle
Ice Storm in 1998 in Upstate NY (same one hit Canada) and a Microburst that hit Upstate NY around 1994 or 5. I've been in blizzards, but I lived in the Adirondacks, so tons of snow was kinda normal.
Click to expand...
This is hitting close to home. What town did you live in? (I believe the Microburst was during the summer of '95)
 
The scariest one I've been in was last summer. I was cleaning out my shed so most of the stuff was out in the yard. I went in to eat lunch, and one of those fun "surprise thunderstorms" popped up. So I rushed back outside to put things that needed cover back in the shed, and then there was a lightning strike within a quarter mile of me - probably much much closer. It was so freaking loud I screamed like a little girl, and I am not normally easily startled. It ended up sending some voltage through my home network and power lines and fried several items (three routers, one of my HDMI ports on my TV, hottub circuit board, etc.)

I've been in much worse storms but that was the first time I was truly scared.
 
We had a big storm roll through mn in sept of 05. I was playing golf in the SW metro area and saw the front move in. I had never seen so much convection currents so high up. The clouds were rolling over themselves at 30K+. It was about 90+ with high humidity and this front was rolling in from the plains of SD and was cold. The cloud tops were reported to be in the 60,000 foot range.

While I didnt get to be directly in the line of the storm I did witness it from the south and waited it out in a parking ramp. My house looked like somebody shot it with a shotgun from the hail. All of my siding and the roof had to be replaced. While there was no tornado we had straight line winds upto 90 MPH. My poor wife was freaking out as the sirens were going off and the cats were freaking out. She thought it was the end. I managed to race up the interstate in between storm lines and inspect the damage. It was actually kind of peaceful as the last lines ran through the metro are to the north of us in Elk River. The lightning and thunder was calming to me for some reason while I inspected the damage.

The next Spring a tornado went right over the top of us and landed a mile directly to the east in Rogers. We got lucky on that one. All was calm while the storm showed up then all of a sudden wind was blowing through our home at mach 3. Then it died down in 1 min. The news then flashed a tornado landed directly east of us on a east path. I mean if it was light out, the thing probably went right over the top of our house and I could have looked right up its arse.
 
Originally posted by: Iron Woode
for me it was the Blizzard of 1977.

That was the only Snow Day we ever had in elementary school. We weren't hit as hard as the Niagara/New York region, but it sure was nasty. We ended up with nearly 3 feet of snow and drifts over 6 feet. I remember looking out into the backyard and realizing that our cedar hedge (6' tall) was buried under the snow. I had a great time playing in the snow and tobogganing.

The second place storm was a very intense thunderstorm (not sure exactly what it was) that hit us in the summer back in 1988. It was like a tornado with howling winds and rain that created a white-out condition. It lasted maybe 10 mins and ripped huge trees right out the ground. The power was out for 24 hours. It looked like a hurricane hit my neighbourhood. The affected areas were scattered and most of the city was unaffected.
Click to expand...

Great Blizzard of 1978
 
Hurricanes during the first 21 years of my life in FL.

A wind storm here in Seattle a couple years back was kind of shitty.
 
Originally posted by: Genx87
We had a big storm roll through mn in sept of 05. I was playing golf in the SW metro area and saw the front move in. I had never seen so much convection currents so high up. The clouds were rolling over themselves at 30K+. It was about 90+ with high humidity and this front was rolling in from the plains of SD and was cold. The cloud tops were reported to be in the 60,000 foot range.

While I didnt get to be directly in the line of the storm I did witness it from the south and waited it out in a parking ramp. My house looked like somebody shot it with a shotgun from the hail. All of my siding and the roof had to be replaced. While there was no tornado we had straight line winds upto 90 MPH. My poor wife was freaking out as the sirens were going off and the cats were freaking out. She thought it was the end. I managed to race up the interstate in between storm lines and inspect the damage. It was actually kind of peaceful as the last lines ran through the metro are to the north of us in Elk River. The lightning and thunder was calming to me for some reason while I inspected the damage.

The next Spring a tornado went right over the top of us and landed a mile directly to the east in Rogers. We got lucky on that one. All was calm while the storm showed up then all of a sudden wind was blowing through our home at mach 3. Then it died down in 1 min. The news then flashed a tornado landed directly east of us on a east path. I mean if it was light out, the thing probably went right over the top of our house and I could have looked right up its arse.
Click to expand...


I recall that Rogers storm. Sadly, there was one casualty - a child.

The worst (non-snow) storm I can recall being directly in the path of was fall of 2005. Straight line winds/microburst made me think the windows were going to be blown out. Plus the sky had that green tinge to it just before the worst of it hit and I retreated to the basement. A lot of branches in my yard but whole trees downed for blocks around. There was also the '87 summer storm, but where I lived at the time the worst of it was all the rain which resulted in some minor flooding.

Worst snowstorm would have to be the '91 Halloween blizzard - 27" over 2 days. I've heard stories about the Armistice Day blizzard of 1940, which was quite a bit more violent.
 
Originally posted by: SphinxnihpS
Originally posted by: Iron Woode
for me it was the Blizzard of 1977.

That was the only Snow Day we ever had in elementary school. We weren't hit as hard as the Niagara/New York region, but it sure was nasty. We ended up with nearly 3 feet of snow and drifts over 6 feet. I remember looking out into the backyard and realizing that our cedar hedge (6' tall) was buried under the snow. I had a great time playing in the snow and tobogganing.

The second place storm was a very intense thunderstorm (not sure exactly what it was) that hit us in the summer back in 1988. It was like a tornado with howling winds and rain that created a white-out condition. It lasted maybe 10 mins and ripped huge trees right out the ground. The power was out for 24 hours. It looked like a hurricane hit my neighbourhood. The affected areas were scattered and most of the city was unaffected.
Click to expand...

Great Blizzard of 1978
Click to expand...

This - lived in Lockport NY at the time. I remember my brother and I walking up a giant snow drift to the roof of the house. There was also a similar storm in the late sixties if I recall correctly, maybe 1966-67.

 
blizzard of 1996... I remember snow drifts that were as tall as I was and snow banks that dwarfed me.

runner up would probably have to be a hurricane in the mid-90's... I forget which one, but we were vacationing in Maine and the remnants of it totally knocked out our power, which meant having to go to the bathroom in the late for a week 😱
 
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