Storm Chaser

This morning I got to work and was greeted with everyone buzzing about the forecast. The news was predicting "the strongest storms Alabama has seen in 18 years." Tornado watches were issued for pretty much the entire state, and all the schools in my county let the kids out at noon. Apparently we were going to be getting some heavy stuff. So, I was planning to ditch out of work early and ride out the storms at my apartment. In my pajamas. Cuddling with my teddy bear. And eating sag paneer.

Instead, we had three donors pop up. And the three coordinators with no one to go home to were left to man the fort. Everyone else bailed to pick up their kids, or wives, or mothers. I kept waiting for a gap in the weather so I could make it home. Worked on cases, and checked the weather radar on the internet pretty much non-stop. Finally, at about 5:30 I thought I had my out. The storm was in Bessemer, which is about 25 miles from Birmingham. And the internet reported that it was moving at 7 mph. So, the other coordinator that lives in my building and I decided to make a run for it. We ran out in the rain to our cars, and struck out for home.

As soon as I got in my car, I turned on the radio and started driving as fast as I could (pretty slowly given the traffic) toward home. About a quarter of the way there, I'm listening to the meteorologist and he starts talking about the storms in Bessemer. "We can see at least two funnel clouds forming...of course, this storm has a history of forming these clouds. This is the same system that spawned the tornado that destroyed Enterprise high school, and has so far killed 13 people in the state. This is an extremely dangerous storm, and we advise everyone to take shelter blah blah blah." And I'm kind of freaked out, but I'm thinking I've got at least a good 40 minutes to make it to my apartment that's only 15 minutes away. 7 miles an hour, 25 miles away, I can't do math, but I had time. Of course, then I tuned back into the meteorologist.

"...And this storm is moving extremely quickly. At a rate of about 40-45 mph, we expect the line of storms to hit Birmingham in the next 5 minutes."

Ohhh crap. So, I call my friend, tell him to drive faster, and we both laugh about our impending death. I eventually made it up the ginormous hill upon which I reside (although I was really afraid my crappy tires were going to send me spinning off into the woods) and into my apartment. I am completely sodden, the bath towels I was drying out on my balcony are almost certainly not dry, and I'm praying the power doesn't go out.

Let this be a lesson to you- the internet's "live" weather radar? Not so much. Stupid weather.