Dark Skies Over the Prairie

Severe Weather Season

In the Midwest, the arrival of spring and summer means the arrival of severe thunderstorms and even tornadoes. Hail, wind, and lighting all are major threats and flash flooding is not unexpected. Although I have lived in the Midwest all my life, I have never seen a tornado. However, I have seen some funnel clouds that certainly seemed threatening. One time when I was on the computer at my house an unexpected tornado dropped just under a mile away. I didn't know it was there so I missed it when it was on the ground and I only got to see it going back into the clouds as a funnel. The severe weather has been in the area the past couple nights, and last night I took the following pictures from our deck.

This was taken at 10:40 last night. The lighting lit up the ominous clouds.

Taken at 10:49pm, this picture shows how much the lighting lights up the sky and everything else.

same with this one which was taken just minutes earlier.

and the next morning across the street, the wind damage was easy to see just across the street from my house.