Atmospheric Conditions Alarming

Last Monday Hubby Tony and I returned from our most recent trip to California. I washed and put away the dirty clothes, but didn't bother putting the suitcase back in the closet because four days later I was leaving town again!

Over the weekend Tony and I attended a fellowship business meeting, which took place two and a half hours from us in Camdenton, Missouri. We left shortly after 11:00 and headed southwest on Interstate 44. The weather was beautiful, although there was a forecast of potential strong storms.

Halfway there (just before Rolla if you know the area) we started hearing storm warning messages on the radio. The counties and cities they mentioned were far away. However, the counties and cities started to get closer and eventually (around St. Robert) we were in the path of the storm. It was raining so hard Tony pulled over to the side of the road. The wind was strong, and a couple of small pieces of hail hit the hood of the car, but nothing like what the warning messages had indicated might happen. Five minutes later everything had passed and we continued on our way.

I don't know if it was the same storm or a different one that eventually made it to the St. Louis area, but parts of the metropolitan area weren't as lucky as Tony and I were.  A tornado formed (believed by the National Weather Service to be of EF-3 strength with winds up to 152 mph), which had a path up to a mile wide. This was the first tornado to cause fatalities in the area since 1959. Five people died. 

Tornadoes are strange, unpredictable storms. The affected areas were 15-20 minutes from our condo, and less than five minutes from Son Donald's house. Neither of us had any issues

Friday night I received a text from the woman taking care of Pimento the Foster Cat while we were gone. It said:

"I should have known that something would happen when you guys left. Check the news about the tornado damage in St Louis city. No damage here."

This is the third time something has happened when we were gone. We were in Hawaii in February when the area had snow and arctic temperatures. During our California trip, a broken water main resulted in a city-wide boil water order that lasted for several days. This time was severe weather. 

It makes me wonder if our streak has exhausted itself, or if I need to prepare myself for something else.

Five years ago: Ouch!