April 21

April 21, 2006

11:00pm on April 20th...Forecast says there is a chance of severe weather north of I-10 that might extend to the south. This would occur sometime after 1am.

6:15am

*BOOOOOOOOM...Rumble rumble* I jump up out of bed and grab my phone. Then I quickly run out the garage to see what's going on. Green flashes of lightning fill the sky creating a ufo type scene you might see from a scifi movie. I try a few shots, not catching anything but the light pollution on the low clouds and lights of cars going by.

I go back towards the garage door when the electricity blinks off. I step inside the house and everything goes off. During the next ten minutes the lights blink on and off...as we are rushing for candles, flashlights, unplugging computers, unplugging televisions and turning off the air conditioner.

It's during this time strong winds in excess of 60mph start hitting the area. These winds come off of a strong bow echo (click here for image). Small limbs are all over the place. Forgetting to close the garage door...my sister has to fight with the stinging rain to get the door closed as wind/rain are blowing in.

Carrie and I quickly get dressed as the lights flash on and off a few times. They seemed to play with me...just as I would get some speed going the lights would turn off and I'd run into a wall or door.

We head out the front door into the storm, which has eased some, and go to work. We see this amazing close CG (cloud to ground) bolt with anvil lightning and both of us are yelling in excitement. Carrie grabs the small digicam (Canon A75), but doesn't have any luck getting a bolt on film. The lightning, while beautiful, is striking all over and its several minutes in between bolts.

Carrie suggests pulling off, and another bolt of lightning has me echoing her idea. I pull into the parking lot of a church/school and aim for the towers that are nearby. Many minutes go by with flashes. Then a bolt off camera and another flash. An anvil crawler comes up behind us to the horizon in front of us....AWESOME!!!! Then a single bolt comes off of the tower and disappears into the clouds:)

We have to get back on the road to get to work on time. Driving towards work we see one or two more bolts. The clouds are pretty cool and some scary scud clouds probably have people thinking there is a tornado on the ground as it takes on a funnel shape. It's only scud clouds though.

Right before I pull into the school district area where we work...a purplish bolt hits the ground close to us...an anvil crawler shoots across the sky at the same time....WOW!!!!

I drop Carrie off at her campus and then drive over to my campus. I sit in the car for a bit, hoping for one more bit of lightning caught on camera. A coworker pulls in beside me blocking my view. I get my stuff and get out of the car. I keep my camera around my neck...just in case though;) I'm glad I did, an anvil crawler starts across the sky...I pull up my camera and take the shot...I got it!:) Not very impressive, but I got it!

SEVERE WEATHER POSSIBLE THIS MORNING MAINLY ALONG AND SOUTH OF
I-10...

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT
A SQUALL LINE WILL RACE ACROSS SOUTHEAST TEXAS THIS MORNING. THE
GREATEST THREAT FOR SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE SOUTH OF I-10. THE
PRIMARY SEVERE WEATHER HAZARD WILL BE GUSTY WINDS. A WEAK COOL
FRONT WILL APPROACH THE COAST THIS AFTERNOON AND ADDITIONAL
THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE ALONG THE COAST THIS AFTERNOON.

Maybe I'll get to see some more later. ;) Camera is ready.... *note: images coming as soon as I can download them from my camera.

Images here....

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