Fresh when it gets here from
Julie Barrett
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
We had some interesting weather blow through North Texas today. And no, I didn't get a thing done at all, between snapping pictures, watching the radar, and calling relatives.
There's some really
dramatic video at our local NBC affiliate of tractor trailers being thrown a couple of hundred feet into the air.
Here's video of a
tornado in Arlington. That system passed just to the west of where my mother and sister live. They're fine and sustained no damage. The same system hit the west side of Plano. Here on the east side the sirens went off several times.
Here's a picture take during the first warning. No, I'm not a fool. The bad activity was maybe ten miles to the right (or southeast) of the frame. The sirens go off on a county-wide basis, so it's possible to have sunny skies in one part of the county while another part is being slammed by severe weather.
A few minutes later, after the sirens stopped and the Creepy, Disembodied Voice of Doom (TM) was announcing "tornado threat." That's a smoke tree in the foreground. You'll see more of that later.
Then it rained for just a bit and let up:
Then it got really dark. The street lights briefly came on:
Then we got slammed with rain. I took the obligatory artsy-fartsy traffic picture:
And boy, did it ever come down! I think we still have standing water in the yard in a few places. Here are a few obligatory randrops on flowers photos:
And now the clouds are breaking up.
Update: 5:13 PM: Some hail the size of small marbles:
Hope you and yours are safe.