[Mgs] OT - tornado

[Councill, David]

I thought it was closer than it really was and it looked like it was headed
straight for the house. But I also was pretty sure it was at least a few
minutes away so getting to the basement was no problem. The tornado sound I
could hear was faint enough to indicate a bit of distance and time. In
reality, it was a bit further east than I thought where it was hitting ground
(pictures are looking due south) and its travel was still in the direction
taking it towards or near the house when it dissipated. Still, it was at least
a < mile away when that happened and still on the other side of the hill.



I probably should mention my last tornado encounter, about 25 years ago, when
a tornado hit the coal mine I was working at, damaging part of the
administration building. But it was right after work so I was about 5-10 miles
away, lying on the ground reattaching the exhaust that had come loose on my
71BGT. The weather was less stormy but I was in an area of total exposure and
no shelter, oblivious to the event as it passed. So in that case, all I saw
was the carnage and there were no pictures of the event AFAIK.



David



From: Dan DiBiase [mailto:d_dibiase at yahoo.com]
Sent: Monday, June 21, 2010 9:14 AM
To: Councill, David; MG List
Subject: Re: [Mgs] OT - tornado



Holy crap! How close do you think it was to your house??

Glad everyone is okay there (including the B's!)



Dan D
Central NJ USA
'76 MGB Tourer
'65 MGB Tourer (Project)
NAMGBR #5-2328
http://dans65b.blogspot.com/
http://dans76b.blogspot.com/
http://dansautoblog.blogspot.com/
http://dans-life-blog.blogspot.com/
twitter: dandibiase





________________________________

From: "Councill, David" <dcouncill at msubillings.edu>
To: MG List <mgs at autox.team.net>
Sent: Mon, June 21, 2010 9:40:05 AM
Subject: [Mgs] OT - tornado

This is a bit off topic but might be of interest. A hail storm hit
yesterday with 2" hail chunks. My Bs are all in the garage except my
67BGT which was in the driveway, exposed. It survived undamaged but as
the hail subsided, my wife tells me to come to the back door as a
tornado was forming in the darkened sky. At first it was just clouds
swirling in an anti-clockwise manner but as soon as the distinct funnel
formed, I ran and grabbed my camera and took pictures as the seven
minute event unfolded. My house is on a side of a hill so I only saw
part of it and it appeared headed our way. My wife and two neighbors
took refuge in our basement while I watched the event unfold into a
narrow funnel and then breaking up. At one point, chunks were swirling
in the air from our convention center about 1/2 mile away which was
destroyed. When the tornado broke up, debris fell over the yard, mostly
lighter insulation. Several businesses were destroyed. Access to that
area was a bit limited so I'll probably walk over and take pictures
later today. But here is the tornado from funnel to end in sequence:

http://www.interback.net/tornado/billings_mt_tornado.htm

David Councill
64 B
67 BGT
72 B