Derecho survivors, please come in

[IIOY]

We are under derecho threat today. At the moment the sky is almost totally clear although we are getting gusty wind. Can you describe the conditions before hellfire rained down on you? I'm at the pool with the kiddos and need to know when we should make a run for it, as I know these things come on fast.

[terpsfan]

It was around 11pm, dark, and we were inside already so I have nothing to add. It's now added to my list of weather events not to mess around with though.

[copzgirl1171]

I will just say it was pretty scary. I was on my way to Katiescats to pick up a dog transport and it happened so fast there was nothing I could do except dodge all the falling debris and I finally parked at the side of her street as far from trees as I could.

It was totally clear one minute and totally black the next. It happenedthatquick

[wawa]

My husband was out at a bar with his friends for a guys night out when when of them got a text from his wife to get his ass home because she was hiding in the basement.

when they went outside there were still stars above, but they could see the wall of clouds rolling in, with lightning flashing through them. I think it was at least 10 minutes away at that point. From MH's description of being able to see it from a distance I'd think if you've got any kind of decent sightline you should have enough time to bundle the kids into the car.

But don't you have a smart phone? Look up the latest radar.

[IIOY]

Jul 26, 2012 13:47:28 GMT -5 @copzgirl1171 said:

I will just say it was pretty scary. I was on my way to Katiescats to pick up a dog transport and it happened so fast there was nothing I could do except dodge all the falling debris and I finally parked at the side of her street as far from trees as I could.

It was totally clear one minute and totally black the next. It happenedthatquick

THIS SCARES ME.

I mean, I sort of like my kids and would hate to be forced to pull an Aurora and ditch them so I can run to my car and drive away. Maybe the wind would blow them home?

[osulori]

Ditto Copz. One second I was commenting to a patient's mom "Oh wow, the sky looks a little dark" and 10 minutes later I looked out my office window to see that it was almost nighttime dark out there. The wind kicked up right after, and the rain came right after that...it was FAST.

[IIOY]

Jul 26, 2012 13:50:57 GMT -5 wawa said:

But don't you have a smart phone? Look up the latest radar.

This eats too much battery power and detracts from my ability to play on CEP. C'mon, wawa.

[copzgirl1171]

Jul 26, 2012 13:51:19 GMT -5 IIOY said:

Jul 26, 2012 13:47:28 GMT -5 @copzgirl1171 said:

I will just say it was pretty scary. I was on my way to Katiescats to pick up a dog transport and it happened so fast there was nothing I could do except dodge all the falling debris and I finally parked at the side of her street as far from trees as I could.

It was totally clear one minute and totally black the next. It happenedthatquick

THIS SCARES ME.

I mean, I sort of like my kids and would hate to be forced to pull an Aurora and ditch them so I can run to my car and drive away. Maybe the wind would blow them home?

Just lay them on the ground. I will book Piers for ya.

[wawa]

Weather.com says that the line of storms (which does look NASTY) is still out around pittsburgh. You've got a while to splash still.

ETA: I'll keep an eye on it till 5 for ya. Because I love you and don't want to drain your battery.

[copzgirl1171]

Jul 26, 2012 13:53:21 GMT -5 wawa said:

Weather.com says that the line of storms (which does look NASTY) is still out around pittsburgh. You've got a while to splash still.

My hand to my heart. It says PITSBURG on my weather.com and I was all WTF is Pitsburg?

[osulori]

Jul 26, 2012 13:53:21 GMT -5 wawa said:

Weather.com says that the line of storms (which does look NASTY) is still out around pittsburgh. You've got a while to splash still.

ETA: I'll keep an eye on it till 5 for ya. Because I love you and don't want to drain your battery.

That means it should hit my area...right around the time I leave work, I'm guessing. Awesome :-|

[copzgirl1171]

Jul 26, 2012 13:55:19 GMT -5 osulori said:

Jul 26, 2012 13:53:21 GMT -5 wawa said:

Weather.com says that the line of storms (which does look NASTY) is still out around pittsburgh. You've got a while to splash still.

ETA: I'll keep an eye on it till 5 for ya. Because I love you and don't want to drain your battery.

That means it should hit my area...right around the time I leave work, I'm guessing. Awesome

Thundering here right now

[IIOY]

Jul 26, 2012 13:53:21 GMT -5 wawa said:

Weather.com says that the line of storms (which does look NASTY) is still out around pittsburgh. You've got a while to splash still.

ETA: I'll keep an eye on it till 5 for ya. Because I love you and don't want to drain your battery.

Smoochies!!

[charminglife]

It was really fast. Clear night sky, then wind picked up, more wind, clouds rolled in and then huge claps of thunder and pouring rain in under 15 minutes. If you're at the pool when it starts, I'd say find a place there to wait it out - don't drive in the storm.

[batsteph]

Yeah, it was really fast here too. We knew it was coming and went out and secured our trash can and the couple of toys the kids had left in the yard that day. It wasn't windy at all. Then when it did get windy, it went from 0 to 60 (literally) in, like, a minute. Just stay on your toes.

Sent from my ADR6300 using ProBoards

[Deleted]

Who knew what a delrecho was before 2 weeks ago?

[IIOY]

But it only rains fluffy bunnies, right?

[pixy0stix]

First there was a rustling under the bed...

I had to look up what a derecho was earlier this week.

[osulori]

Jul 26, 2012 13:56:55 GMT -5 @copzgirl1171 said:

Jul 26, 2012 13:55:19 GMT -5 osulori said:

That means it should hit my area...right around the time I leave work, I'm guessing. Awesome

Thundering here right now

Not really hearing thunder here yet, but there's some big black funky clouds lurking to the north of us. Ew.

[redheadbaker]

Um, how far are you from Northwest Philly?

I need to know if I should be concerned as well.

[2curlydogs]

Jul 26, 2012 14:25:13 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

First there was a rustling under the bed...

I had to look up what a derecho was earlier this week.

Glad I'm not the only one. And I lived in Pittsburgh for 2 years. Weird.

[IIOY]

Jul 26, 2012 14:46:45 GMT -5 redheadbaker said:

Um, how far are you from Northwest Philly?

I need to know if I should be concerned as well.

I'm slightly northwest of Center City. Do you have the Weather Channel app? You can see the storm moving toward us on radar. It kind of looks like the northwestern part of the state is on fire.

[redheadbaker]

Jul 26, 2012 14:53:58 GMT -5 IIOY said:

Jul 26, 2012 14:46:45 GMT -5 redheadbaker said:

Um, how far are you from Northwest Philly?

I need to know if I should be concerned as well.

I'm slightly northwest of Center City. Do you have the Weather Channel app? You can see the storm moving toward us on radar. It kind of looks like the northwestern part of the state is on fire.

Downloading it now.

[copzgirl1171]

I live 10 minutes from where I work and I just got home and it looks like we had a hella storm and are without power. Go me!

[wawa]

so are you still at the pool IIOY?

It's looking like the main line of the storm is only as far as state college now, but there are random little advance blips showing up around the lancaster/readingish area.

[NitaX]

Jul 26, 2012 14:20:28 GMT -5 @septimus said:

Who knew what a delrecho was before 2 weeks ago?

LOL

See, we don't eff around with severe weather in the M.

Hurricane Elvis was some serious shiznit. But, ditto everyone else. It's light one minute then pitch black the next. I'd get home before the line was expected to move through. And, get your candles ready.

Hurricane Elvis en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memphis_Summer_Storm_of_2003

And this link has pictures of the damage from 2003. It looked as if a tornado came through. But all the damage was from a straight-line windstorm (known to us as Hurricane Elvis).

www.spc.noaa.gov/misc/AbtDerechos/casepages/kc1982mem2003pwrpage.htm#memphis

[osulori]

Jul 26, 2012 15:24:36 GMT -5 @copzgirl1171 said:

I live 10 minutes from where I work and I just got home and it looks like we had a hella storm and are without power. Go me!

I just talked to my houseband...he said we had a small leaf/stick mess in the backyard and that he got the stinkeye from Georgie when he cleaned them all up before she could properly shred them while I yell at her to STOP EATING DAMN STICKS AGAIN. And other than losing power for a min and one terrified pit mix shaking and panting in his Thundershirt, we came through okay. If your power's gonna be out for a while, you're welcome to make the drive my way. I sent J out for supplies...meaning an 18 pack of beer and some ice

[One Girl In All The World]

Jul 26, 2012 14:18:30 GMT -5 batsteph said:

Yeah, it was really fast here too. We knew it was coming and went out and secured our trash can and the couple of toys the kids had left in the yard that day. It wasn't windy at all. Then when it did get windy, it went from 0 to 60 (literally) in, like, a minute. Just stay on your toes.

Sent from my ADR6300 using ProBoards

This exactly. It was fast!

[IIOY]

Home now, thanks for checking!

I filled the gas tank, am charging my phone, have all the fans on to cool things as much as possible in case we lose power, and plan to eat down some of what's in the fridge for dinner after I get the kiddos showered. I wish H wasn't traveling for work as it's always better having human backup!

ETA: copz, you OK over there?

[copzgirl1171]

We survived! Electric back on and dogs all accounted for! Stay safe everyone