Skywarn Spotter? Ever asked if you're a storm chaser from the decals on your car?

[Stephen Barabas]

Being a Skywarn spotter can be interesting, especially if you have the Skywarn logos on your vehicle. People tend to ask the most interesting questions. If you've had these kinds of experiences, whether it's on the road or at the gas station, tell them here!

[Stephen Barabas]

So. Even though I started this thread, I suppose I'll introduce one weird conversation I had with a person. I was coming out from Ritz Camera and a lady approached me once I got to my truck. She noticed the decals I have on it as well as the make shift rigged weather stations. Immediately she asked if I was tracking anything. . . but it was a perfectly calm and clear day. In any regard I replied to her with a simple no and explained to her that I am an atmospheric science student with a passion for severe storms, filming, photography and research.

Yes . . . I know, not that interesting of a story. But it's still funny to someone like me!

[Rob Wadsworth]

I have the eSpotter/NWS stickers on my rear windows.
One person thought I was hunting for illegal immigrants...lol!
Of course...I said no...

[mikedeason]

Can't say I get much reaction, but then again I don't display logos or anything unless I'm cruisin' for chicks.

[Jesse Risley]

I don't have stickers, just a few antennas, but it seems like every chaser convergence or pit stop for gas strikes up a conversation with the locals about nader chasing.

If you really, really want to pick up chicks, you need a lightbar as opposed to just those Skywarn stickers.:D

[mikedeason]

If you really, really want to pick up chicks, you need a lightbar as opposed to just those Skywarn stickers.:D

Dang, so that's what I've been doing wrong. :D

The only decals I ever put on my vehicles were ones I made of the plotting symbols for a cumulonimbus and thunderstorm. They were inconspicuous so that only anyone with a deep interest in weather an meteorology would have known what they represented. I guess I've never been one to advertise my presence while out chasing or spotting.

[Jason Boggs]

Since I have a local TV station sticker on my Xterra, I always get locals asking me about the weather when I'm out.

[Dean Baron]

There've been a couple times, not on my car but on people's car who I'm chasing with. Nothing real funny, just farmer Joe coming out to look at the scary looking clouds instead of going to the basement during the tornado warning.

Actually, there was a guy down in Missouri on June 7th this year who made for a pretty funny moment. Just imagine Larry the Cable Guy but not talking like that on purpose.

[Jim Saueressig]

Mennonites stopped to see what I was doing the other day with my fancy camera. They were pretty amazed at the little picture viewer since they didn't even own a TV.

[Skip Talbot]

http://www.skip.cc/temp/dome1.jpg

The acrylic dome I'm using for a video camera enclosure always gets the locals going. On June 6 in Nebraska there was one bearded character at a gas station staring at it for a minute. He finally came up and asked, "You really think that thing is gonna save your life?" Hilarious.

[Joe beier]

"You really think that thing is gonna save your life?"

ROFL! That's bordering retardation ...

[Stephen Barabas]

ROFL! That's bordering retardation ...

Haha. I agree. Then again. . . most everyone who storm chases is asking to die when we go out and do what we do. That's what makes it so thrilling. You never know what the weather is going to do!

[Adam Lucio]

Ive gotten approached many times but nothing off the wall.

Usually they just ask where to go to stay safe and I tell them not to follow me.

A more interesting encounter I had was on June 5th in Nebraska with a local...one who appeared quite intoxicating.

He asked me what way the storm was moving and I said SE and that set him off.

"SEE!!! Will you tell them lying sons a b**ches at the NWS that this s**t ALWAYS comes from the northwest...not the soutwest like they be always saying" I didnt feel like going into the technics of it, but it was pretty funny.

[Tony Laubach]

My favorites are always the locals who have lived there for 30 years and come up and make chat with you about chasing, then say something along the lines of "its too *insert excuse here* for tornadoes"...

I always wish I can run into them later in the day after several tornadoes have touched down. The first, most memorable of these was the Cactus/Tulia day where someone said it was too cold for tornadoes that afternoon. Obviously that was not the case...

And this season, some guy in a church parking lot (my chosen accent to talk to this church goer was a story all on its own) mentioned how there wouldn't be any tornadoes saying the lack of a dryline and cold front were the main reasons. He forgot warm front, and several tornadoes touched down near the warm front.

Those are just my faves... :)

[jeremy wilson]

Had a gent come up to me this year about a mile from where the pig farm tornados in Oklahoma touched down in 2008. He told me and Jay Brock we were "in the wrong spot to see naders, they just didn't happen in these neck of the woods". I asked him when the last time one touched down around there and he said " we had three last year right over there". I guess they get so many up there that it's not a big deal when you have an outbreak the previous year!

[Mike Hollingshead]

I don't have stickers, just a few antennas, but it seems like every chaser convergence or pit stop for gas strikes up a conversation with the locals about nader chasing.

If you really, really want to pick up chicks, you need a lightbar as opposed to just those Skywarn stickers.:D

This all reminds me of the funny on my last chase while sitting in Valentine. It's a long story(I've never been invited to a party on a chase before lol...should have went). This girl was talking to me, after coming over because her friend thought she knew me. She didn't but the girl stayed there and kept talking and asked what I was doing there. So I explained. She then says that a chaser almost ran into her the other day. Then she says, "They need flashing lights or something." During the conversation she actually mentioned them needing flashing lights twice. I thought it was funny. I was like, yes, yes they do. That or just not about run into people in the first place.

[Brian Hurst]

It always funny people asking you, "how much does it pay," to spot/chase!!You get to hear all there tornado and hail stories some are interesting.Seem like everyone wants there own personal forecast like are we going to have a tornado here.

[D. Hayes]

Since I'm active duty USAF I always get asked if I'm in the weather squadron from the security forces at the base gate and if the Air Force paid for my truck. I wish!

Thing is I rarely ever use the Skywarn magnets since I had one blow off and I don't use stickers. But I do gets lots of people asking me questions. A few week ago one morning at Lowe's I was loading the truck up with lumber and several people came up to me asking stuff like..., "Did you get to see the tornado up in Nebraska last night?" or they inform me of where a tornado was and then act like they are smart . Dumbest ones are "Is there a storm coming?" When I have all my radios on and radar displays up.

Course the look of my truck don't exactly help either.

http://www.impact9.com/gallery/albums/userpics/storm7_%5B640x480%5D.JPG

[Tim Stoecklein]

Don't have the Skywarn stickers on my vehicle, but with a couple antennas for ham, a nice parking spot on the side of the road, and a camera pointed out your window......it's amazing how many people you can slow down if they don't have a radar detector :)

[Jim Hawkins]

Being my first season chasing I didn't have any decals on my car...just my laptop and my scanner radio. Hence I didn't have any real crazy encounters, but on the days I was leaving to chase, I did have my co-workers looking at me in a forelorn and foreboding way, emploring me to 'stay safe', and 'hope to see you Monday'...as if I was going into something like an F5! I was LOL at this inside, of course knew their hearts were in the right place, and I was careful on every chase (hence have lived to tell the tales).

[David Drummond]

The ones that never fail to amaze me. I have in big letters 11 with an NBC logo and FIRST ALERT STORM CHASER and they come up and ask if I am a storm chaser? English reading as a second language I guess.

Not as amazing though as the ones that see me in it, ask me where the tornadoes are when it's December and 30F outside and spitting snow.

[Jason Boggs]

Or when you're out watching a big *ss storm chugging your direction and someone pulls up and says "are there going to be any storms today?"

[Stephen Barabas]

Since I'm active duty USAF I always get asked if I'm in the weather squadron from the security forces at the base gate and if the Air Force paid for my truck. I wish!

Thing is I rarely ever use the Skywarn magnets since I had one blow off and I don't use stickers. But I do gets lots of people asking me questions. A few week ago one morning at Lowe's I was loading the truck up with lumber and several people came up to me asking stuff like..., "Did you get to see the tornado up in Nebraska last night?" or they inform me of where a tornado was and then act like they are smart . Dumbest ones are "Is there a storm coming?" When I have all my radios on and radar displays up.

Course the look of my truck don't exactly help either.

http://www.impact9.com/gallery/albums/userpics/storm7_%5B640x480%5D.JPG

Ha! Yes, I'm frequently asked if there is a storm coming too when people see my rigged up truck. Then again, you don't see vehicles around in Connecticut set up with anemometers on it. I kind of enjoy when people come up to me and get excited. On occasion I visit my old science teacher from Elementary school and when the little kids see my truck they go NUTS! I let them look at my Kestrel 4000 and they were all fighting over it.

Aaah. That's how I used to be when I was their age. Hell, I still am!

[Stephen Barabas]

The ones that never fail to amaze me. I have in big letters 11 with an NBC logo and FIRST ALERT STORM CHASER and they come up and ask if I am a storm chaser? English reading as a second language I guess.

Not as amazing though as the ones that see me in it, ask me where the tornadoes are when it's December and 30F outside and spitting snow.

Random guy on the street: Hey dar, u evah seen one dem snow twistas? Hear dem sucka's elusive.

[Justin Roberts]

I don't display any stickers or have any flashy LEDs but my car looks like a porcupine with the antennas. I still have people come up to me and ask if I am a storm chaser or what the weather is going to do. I went thru the Sonic drive-thru in Topeka one time and had my laptop open with GR3 going and the girl asked if I was a storm chaser. I made the mistake of saying "I suppose so" and had the entire crew of Sonic workers of the North Topeka Sonic crowding their head thru the drive thru window to ask me questions and look inside my car.

[Justin Roberts]

Or when you're out watching a big *ss storm chugging your direction and someone pulls up and says "are there going to be any storms today?"

As your sitting thru the core with volkswagon size hail, somebody comes up knocking on your window to ask if the storms are going to be bad.

[Tim Stoecklein]

Did have a trucker on I-70 ask me on the CB if I was chasing UFO's once, lol! I said, "If I am, are you going to follow me into the light?"

[Ben Holcomb]

Not as amazing though as the ones that see me in it, ask me where the tornadoes are when it's December and 30F outside and spitting snow.

That reminds me of the Sonic in Denver at the ChaserConvention. Huuurrrrrr durrrrrrrrrrrr.

I had a trucker ask me once on the CB if I was 'One of them stooooooorm chasers'. He apparently saw the laptop and camera and ham plates I guess.

It is annoying when you stop at a fast food place and get a million questions. I was between two storms and was grabbing a quick bite to eat at Wendy's in the drive-thru, and the girl at the window kept asking me questions.. It's like go get me my food so I can get back on the road!

[David Drummond]

I don't display any stickers or have any flashy LEDs but my car looks like a porcupine with the antennas. I still have people come up to me and ask if I am a storm chaser or what the weather is going to do. I went thru the Sonic drive-thru in Topeka one time and had my laptop open with GR3 going and the girl asked if I was a storm chaser. I made the mistake of saying "I suppose so" and had the entire crew of Sonic workers of the North Topeka Sonic crowding their head thru the drive thru window to ask me questions and look inside my car.

I've had that situation result in free food a number of times!

[Stephen Barabas]

And now I must ask this. . .and I feel bad for asking this, and maybe I shouldn't. But I'm going to anyway.

Has anyone ever noticed that at most, if not all SKYWARN meetings, there is AT LEAST one toothless. . .below par intellectual person sitting in the front of the meeting who has all of the mediocre . . .remedial questions that slows everything up, while most are sitting there to endure time and renew their ID cert?

I don't mean to be blunt, but jeez. . . It's like these people just walked out from the hills or something.

I don't know. I just wanted to see if anyone else noticed this as I have. Maybe I just notice too much.

[Jason Boggs]

And now I must ask this. . .and I feel bad for asking this, and maybe I shouldn't. But I'm going to anyway.

Has anyone ever noticed that at most, if not all SKYWARN meetings, there is AT LEAST one toothless. . .below par intellectual person sitting in the front of the meeting who has all of the mediocre . . .remedial questions that slows everything up, while most are sitting there to endure time and renew their ID cert?

I don't mean to be blunt, but jeez. . . It's like these people just walked out from the hills or something.

I don't know. I just wanted to see if anyone else noticed this as I have. Maybe I just notice too much.


I know exactly what you're talking about. We have some of those people at the NWS seminar every other year here in Amarillo. They are definitely one of a kind, that's for sure!

[Will Wilkens]

I don't display any stickers or have any flashy LEDs...... I went thru the Sonic drive-thru in Topeka one time and had my laptop open with GR3 going and the girl asked if I was a storm chaser. I made the mistake of saying "I suppose so" and had the entire crew of Sonic workers of the North Topeka Sonic crowding their head thru the drive thru window to ask me questions and look inside my car.

I had this exact same thing happen to me at a Starbucks drive-thru in Barstow last summer. At least the barista chicks were totally hot, all squealing and giggling with total interest and asking if I knew "that guy with the tornado tank....".. "um, yeaaaahhh...why yes, I do.." :D

[Benjamin Rock]

I pulled in to a parking lot at a walmart and had somebody pull up next to me. They jumped out of their car ran over to me and asked if it was going to storm.. I just stared at the guy... It was raining hard enough to make rivers in the parking lot, the wind was blowing at 30mph measured, and the sirens were going off in the town with a huge mothership rolling in... I finally half giggled and just rolled my window back up and drove off.. What do you say someone like that?

[Stephen Barabas]

I pulled in to a parking lot at a walmart and had somebody pull up next to me. They jumped out of their car ran over to me and asked if it was going to storm.. I just stared at the guy... It was raining hard enough to make rivers in the parking lot, the wind was blowing at 30mph measured, and the sirens were going off in the town with a huge mothership rolling in... I finally half giggled and just rolled my window back up and drove off.. What do you say someone like that?

You don't. You do exactly what you did. It's perfect!

[Rob Wadsworth]

And now I must ask this. . .and I feel bad for asking this, and maybe I shouldn't. But I'm going to anyway.

Has anyone ever noticed that at most, if not all SKYWARN meetings, there is AT LEAST one toothless. . .below par intellectual person sitting in the front of the meeting who has all of the mediocre . . .remedial questions that slows everything up, while most are sitting there to endure time and renew their ID cert?

I don't mean to be blunt, but jeez. . . It's like these people just walked out from the hills or something.

I don't know. I just wanted to see if anyone else noticed this as I have. Maybe I just notice too much.
Yeah, that guy - it was me!
:D

[Kyle Soldani]

I've only been approached a couple times, lightbar is on only when stopped on the side of the road (front of the lense is painted black now, only rear can be seen) and i have a small sticker. Folks just ask typical questions, can't say I mind answering really. Afterall, we're there for them.

I had a guy at a gas station ask me if I had driven through a tornado before, it was rather hard to keep a straight face so I just pointed at the TIV and he promptly went to bug Sean :D

Then when I go through the occasional drive-thru the window guy has to stop and ask you about weather or they make a douche comment about having a computer in your car.

[Jim wyman]

Ha! Yes, I'm frequently asked if there is a storm coming too when people see my rigged up truck. Then again, you don't see vehicles around in Connecticut set up with anemometers on it. I kind of enjoy when people come up to me and get excited. On occasion I visit my old science teacher from Elementary school and when the little kids see my truck they go NUTS! I let them look at my Kestrel 4000 and they were all fighting over it.

Aaah. That's how I used to be when I was their age. Hell, I still am!

Nice! That's the way we need to be with kids today. Let them get their hands on the real stuff! That's how they get and stay interested instead of the iPods and Xbox360s and getting fat on the couch... :)

[David Drummond]

Nice! That's the way we need to be with kids today. Let them get their hands on the real stuff! That's how they get and stay interested instead of the iPods and Xbox360s and getting fat on the couch... :)

Storms chasing isn't a cure for fat, that's for sure! I've seen plenty of bellies on chasers (including myself)! LOL

[Steve Miller TX]

Just some food for thought (not flashing a stormchaser police badge or anything).....

A long time ago, I used to get a little irked when locals would come up to me and ask about what the storm was doing or if prior to initiation what was expected that day. It's easy to get a little worn out from answering the same question a 1000 times over. :-)

Then I started thinking that these folks chose me to get information that likely would impact their lives...particularly deadly weather. It is a pretty good bet that they aren't watching the latest SPC mesoscale discussions....watching that outflow boundary on radar...a rotation couplet...VILs...spotter reports on a storm 10 miles away and approaching...etc etc.

Their homes and lives are in the middle of our "playground" so to speak. To think that they had enough will to walk up to a total stranger and inquire about severe weather potentially impacting them or their livelihood (like farmers) makes me feel honored and humbled. I always make it a point to provide as much information as I can as the situation allows...even if it is "I don't really know".

After all, being nice to that stranger might pay off later if they are the one pulling me out of a ditch with their tractor or truck. :-)

Now, as I say all of that, it IS frustrating what they sometimes do AFTER you tell them that the storm ahead is potentially tornadic and chunking out pieces of ice as large as softballs (as the sky is all blueish, greenish, purplish like the bowels of hell).....and they drive right into it. I sometimes call that the "moth-to-a-flame effect". LOL!

[Stephen Barabas]

"Moth-to-a-flame effect." HAHAHA. That brings back funny images of campfires. . . Aw man.

[mike scantlin]

I don't mean to be blunt, but jeez. . . It's like these people just walked out from the hills or something.

I think you are mistaking "blunt" for "ignorant"... I thought we were adults, not high-schoolers...

Just some food for thought (not flashing a stormchaser police badge or anything).....

A long time ago, I used to get a little irked when locals would come up to me and ask about what the storm was doing or if prior to initiation what was expected that day. It's easy to get a little worn out from answering the same question a 1000 times over. :-)

Then I started thinking that these folks chose me to get information that likely would impact their lives...particularly deadly weather. It is a pretty good bet that they aren't watching the latest SPC mesoscale discussions....watching that outflow boundary on radar...a rotation couplet...VILs...spotter reports on a storm 10 miles away and approaching...etc etc.

Their homes and lives are in the middle of our "playground" so to speak. To think that they had enough will to walk up to a total stranger and inquire about severe weather potentially impacting them or their livelihood (like farmers) makes me feel honored and humbled. I always make it a point to provide as much information as I can as the situation allows...even if it is "I don't really know".

After all, being nice to that stranger might pay off later if they are the one pulling me out of a ditch with their tractor or truck. :-)


Couldn't agree more. There's absolutely no reason to be a DICKHEAD to someone that is actually interested or asking for info. These are the people who are in danger, and if we are REALLY out there for public safety (like so many of us claim to be) there is no reason not to pass along some tidbids of information. Anyone that is too selfish to handle that is a yahoo chaser, IMO.

[John Olexa]

Just some food for thought (not flashing a stormchaser police badge or anything).....

A long time ago, I used to get a little irked when locals would come up to me and ask about what the storm was doing or if prior to initiation what was expected that day. It's easy to get a little worn out from answering the same question a 1000 times over. :-)

Then I started thinking that these folks chose me to get information that likely would impact their lives...particularly deadly weather. It is a pretty good bet that they aren't watching the latest SPC mesoscale discussions....watching that outflow boundary on radar...a rotation couplet...VILs...spotter reports on a storm 10 miles away and approaching...etc etc.

Their homes and lives are in the middle of our "playground" so to speak. To think that they had enough will to walk up to a total stranger and inquire about severe weather potentially impacting them or their livelihood (like farmers) makes me feel honored and humbled. I always make it a point to provide as much information as I can as the situation allows...even if it is "I don't really know".

After all, being nice to that stranger might pay off later if they are the one pulling me out of a ditch with their tractor or truck. :-)

Now, as I say all of that, it IS frustrating what they sometimes do AFTER you tell them that the storm ahead is potentially tornadic and chunking out pieces of ice as large as softballs (as the sky is all blueish, greenish, purplish like the bowels of hell).....and they drive right into it. I sometimes call that the "moth-to-a-flame effect". LOL!


Amen!! ^^ Good post.

[Shane Adams]

After so many years, it becomes automatic to answer the same questions over and over. Sometimes it annoys me, but like SiM-TeX said, it's a kind of honor to be in that position. Being out on the Plains answering the same old questions means I'm out there doing what I love, and that ain't a bad thing.

And once in a great while, you even save a life or two.

[john.sibley]

One of my favorite encounters is I'm sitting in a fast food joint parking lot with 5 other chasers waiting on a storm to come out of a rural area and a local asked if it was going to rain.

Another favorite was I was chasing a storm and I needed to find a hill. How perfectly the Walmart parking lot was on top of that hill. Now I do have the Skywarn decal for local PD so they know why we're "loitering", so I kinda stand out. So the storm is tornatic (and a lovely shade of green), the sirens are blasting, the power has gone out, golf ball size hail is falling, and a driver from Florida boxes me in to ask me if it's ok to drive.
Seriously?!?

The main thing about the general public is some of the comments the person thinks they're being funny, like asking a convoy if it's gonna rain. The public just knows what they see on TV.

[John Olexa]

Another favorite was I was chasing a storm and I needed to find a hill. How perfectly the Walmart parking lot was on top of that hill. Now I do have the Skywarn decal for local PD so they know why we're "loitering", so I kinda stand out. So the storm is tornatic (and a lovely shade of green), the sirens are blasting, the power has gone out, golf ball size hail is falling, and a driver from Florida boxes me in to ask me if it's ok to drive.
Seriously?!?



Reminds me of Bill Engvall " Here's your sign" :D:D

[Daniel Beuchert]

Indeed John, indeed!

I've had one time, when I was fueling up, and a family caravan was next to me ... the father asked if I really was a chaser (I have stickers, so hand to forehead moment), and then tells his kids that I'm a storm chaser ... that was kinda funny but cute at the same time.

Probably the one I'll remember the longest is the time I was chasing in central MI, saw a white crown vic flip a U behind me, and looked down at my speedometer ... I slowed down and waited for the lights. When I looked into the rear view again, I noticed a Skywarn license plate, and pulled over to chat - he had seen the funnel cloud on the storm I was on before it turned into an HP hurricane. Funny how you meet other chasers sometimes!

[Marcus Diaz]

I always get that look when I pull in a gas station in another state, with my Texas plates, Skywarn decal, and my loud Mazda roaring to a stop, the look of "...you don't chase in THAT do you?" Haha, I always tell anyone I like to have the ability to get to or away from a storm quickly rather than slowly chug along.

[Ryan Kruspe]

I have only one skywarn sticker on my back window. I have not ever been asked about it, probably because around here, not many know what Skywarn is. The only reason I have it on my car is to reduce the chance of some whackjob cop coming up to me while photographing storms and giving me a hard time. You never know what people might think since around here you cannot take pictures inside malls because of homeland security or some such bull. Once I was in an empty parking lot photographing a supercell and there was a cop there. Kinda odd and made me a little cautious but he may have been there the same reason I was. Damn the city!

It always funny people asking you, "how much does it pay," to spot/chase!!You get to hear all there tornado and hail stories some are interesting.Seem like everyone wants there own personal forecast like are we going to have a tornado here.

I love this. It usually is the first thing out of peoples mouths..aside from "Ooh like in Twister!" My general answer is "It costs more than it pays" and tell them that I do not do it for money and probably never would.

The personal forecast thing is rather irritating. My family are the ones that do that. They will ask me what is going on and when I tell them, they try to tell me otherwise. This is irksome when I am sitting in front of a laptop with radar up and all the forecast discussions..then they say "check TWC" -.- No, YOU check TWC :P

[Tyler Allison]

I don't have any stickers...but I did buy 2 kids Tshirts for my 4 and 6 year old.

They say: "My dad's a storm chaser. What does your dad do?"

I guess it's kinda bumper sticker

[Bryan Draper]

I had someone the other day see my truck with the skywarn decals on it and came up and asked me if I was on the "Storm Chasers" show. (Though i was on Vortex 2 and was on CSWR team and was on the weather channel) I said no. I find it funny how people assume that just because we're out looking at storms means we must be on TV or something..

[mskinner]

I've been spotting for a few years now and only have had a hand full of people make comments.

I remember being at Home Depot early this spring, loading up some landscaping material in my expedition and the store clerk noticed my antennas and skywarn stickers. He started to ask the normal questions as one would expect, but then proceeded to ask one of the best ones yet..."Whats it like to be inside a tornado?"...all I could do is answer with a simple "I have no idea". haha

Another instance happend this summer as I pulled up to a stop light. I noticed an elderly man in his car looking at the rather small skywarn stickers I have on my truck. He was pointing at the sticker and giving a huge smile along with a thumbs up. Made me feel proud for providing storm spotting services for the public. I have no idea if he just thought it was neat or if he was "thanking" me for being out there helping out. Maybe he had an encounter once with mother nature and it scared him...who knows, but he was happy and it made me feel good.

73's Matt

[Keith Mullen]

Our Skywarn program up here in the NW doesn't have any stickers, logos or anything. I would totally put one right next to my NaFC sticker - just cause I'm that kind of guy.

I wonder if I should ask them, "Hey, I've been spotting for you NWS guys for years - where's my sticker?"

Heck, just did the refresher/training last week again as a matter of fact. Still no stickers.

:P

[Skip Talbot]

"Whats it like to be inside a tornado?"...all I could do is answer with a simple "I have no idea". haha

Matt, that is just begging for a Twister quote: "It was windy."