Who here has witnessed a tornado?

[breeze]

I have never actually seen a tornado, but, I was
IN a tornado in March of 1990 in nearby Hohenwald,
where I worked at the small hospital, there, on
the evening shift. Just before 6:30pm, the western
sky turned green, as the black cloud came rolling
into town. We followed the tornado warning
protocol, closing curtains, and moving whomever
we could out into the hallways. I decided to
look out a side hallway door, and, as I
opened it, it was hailing and the rain was falling
straight sideways!! I heard a very loud,
high peircing roar, and, decided that it
might be wise to get myself back in away
from the doorway! That twister destroyed some
homes, and we had one fatality with many
injuries in the E.R. I'd LOVE to see one - from
a good distance away, of course!

[michaelwmoss]

I have noticed alot of people talk of the "Green" Sky when talking about Tornadoes.

I think though a slight misconception that people get is just because you see a Green Sky doesn't mean you have a tornadic storm. The Green Sky actually means Hail is falling from the storm.

But, either way, still a dangerous storm. I'll take that a step farther. EVERY Storm is dangerous

[PTrackerLA]

Why would hail make the sky turn green?

Anyway I've never seen a tornado but I believe I've been through one when I was a little kid. I can remember eating dinner one night and all of the sudden this loud roar came up and a huge tree crashed through our backyard fence. Then the metal top of our chimney blew off and about 20 seconds later it was still again. We went outside to find branches scattered around everywhere and of course the huge tree in our backyard. I don't even think it was raining at the time but it was probably a shortlived F0-F1 twister. Hopefully one day I'll see one, from a safe distance of course.

[weatherlover427]

I don't know if it was a tornado or a huge downburst, but I went through one in FL when I was at work in the summer of 1998. Took the roof off of the gas station across the street and removed the rain gutters of the building next door. All that happened at my work was some damaged foliage. Guess working at a warehouse at the time paid off.

[GAStorm]

Yes,There also was a tornado in Westville(east of DeFuniak Springs),I heard about that.Not a good night to be out driving,huh?

Maybe the one in DeFuniak Springs was the same one? I remember seeing a brief radar loop when I got to the beach, and it did look like it took that path. Anyway, I'm always going to remember that drive!

[Brett Adair]

Well I am not great with dates, but I have a few...

February 1989
My house in Stewartville, AL was pretty much leveled by an F-2. My dad was sucked out the back door and slammed into a tree as he was a moron and tried to see the tornado. I was 4 at this time.

November 24th, 2001
F-2 tornado crossed 100 yards in front of me on Old Birmingham Highway in Sylacauga, AL. The tornado was rather large for an F-2. Almost 1/4 mile wide at its strongest point. It hit many of my friends homes, especially in the Oak Grove community and the 5 points area. I picked up a bathtub out of the center of the highway to find a little baby and her brother under it. Amazing how such items can save your life....that was a smart child to get his younger sister in the bathtub...they were in a mobile home.

May 7th, 2003
I was in school and my teachers let me go to the office since I was the school ameatur met. and Advanced SKYWARN Spotter. I stayed on the phone with Fox6 and WIAT CBS-42 as the tornado touched down just before 3 pm. It hit the town of Wilsonville in Eastern Shelby county and advanced eastward as a classic supercell very quickly. We were in a 6° C cap that day and when it broke buddy it really broke. The sky quickly turned green and hail to the size of baseballs was being reported only 4 miles away from my high school. School board officials spotted the tornado coming into town around 3:10 pm and it crossed most of town as a large funnel. Luckally it was only rated F-1 and did minor damage.

I have had several more close encounters and I'll write up on those later when I have a little more spare time.

[GAStorm]

Thanks everyone for sharing your stories! It is definitely interesting to hear about some close calls, but also scary to think how quickly things can change in a tornado!