Friday, October 19 - Tornado warning update

Hour by hour details of our first tornado warning --

4PM - Tornado watch and severe thunderstorm warning for most of western and central Kentucky, including the next-door county. Moved everything that could blow around out of the way. Plants all went into the shed because they need to be sprayed before bringing them indoors. Wicker chairs went into the master bedrom for the duration.

5PM-9PM - Clouds racing by from SSW to NNE along the eastern side of the front. Reports of tornadic activity in western Kentucky and Missouri. Breezy but nothing unusual. Went to bed early.

10PM - Got up, looked to our northwest for an amazing light show. Lightning about every 3-5 seconds, but no thunder heard. The action was over near Elizabethtown moving up toward Louisville. Report of a tornado on the ground at Owensboro, about an hour NW of here. Light clouds here with stars still out. Went back to bed, looked like it wasn't going to happen here.

12AM - After a lull, the light show started up again, this time much closer to us. Some gusty wind but nothing major. Went back to bed.

2AM - Tornado warning for northern Kentucky, watch for the rest of us, this time Casey County is right in the middle of the red box on the Weather Channel. Watch up until 5AM. Went to bed with the weather alert radio right on my nightstand and the sound of huge raindrops on the roof. I don't know if the radio even works because we've never gotten an alert on it, and in the middle of a tornado is one heck of a time to find out I have it set wrong.

9AM - This is the latest the cat and I've slept since summer 2006. Bright blue sky, white puffy clouds, brilliant color everywhere, still a bit breezy, and little evidence of bad weather overnight. The plants are fine, the trees are fine, the cat's freaked out with the wind and the fact that we were up much of the night bothering his 20 hour-a-day nap!

I guess we were lucky this time, but for two guys from Maine, this was a nerve-wracking experience. If a tornado hits at night, one can't see it coming. These particular storms were giving people maybe 10 minutes warning they were moving so fast. We haven't yet heard of damage reports in Kentucky, except for the Ohio River bridge in Owensboro, which was inspected and pronounced safe for travel, after the tornado overnight.