Sunday Favorites-Crazy Southern California Weather

Welcome to Sunday Favorites hosted by the sensational Chari at Happy to Design. Sunday Favorites is a chance to repost a story we have done in the past that you would like to share again. After you have read my post, be sure to visit Chari to read about her fabulous bust ( get your mind out of the gutter, I'm talking about a figurine) and see this weeks participants.

I originally posted this back on May 22, 2008. This was actually 2 posts that I wrote on the same day. The first part was written while I was still at work (shhh, don't tell the boss). The 2nd part was written when I got home.

I know there are a lot of you that deal with tornados on a daily basis this time of year, but here in southern California it is quite the rareity. I am 50 years old & this is the first tornado that I have encountered.

Part 1: Crazy Southern California Weather

What a difference a few days make. On Sunday it was hot (105 degrees) & sunny. Today it is cold (60 degrees) & we have wind, rain & hail. Right now we are under a severe thunderstorm warning. Which is pretty exciting for California. It's not like Utah, we don't get thunderstorms here that often.

Jesse called me from school earlier today where he said it hailed so much that it looked like snow on the ground. Brandon & I work about 20 miles to the north in Moreno Valley (just outside of Riverside) & it only rained here. But looks like it might do more shortly as the wind is really picking up & the sky is black.

Brandon is getting very excited. He loves when we have wild weather as we don't get it very often. But he is worried about his electronics at home. We have a 30' high antenna on top of our house...hopefully it won't become a lightning rod before he gets home to unplug it.

Brandon said they are closing down the 60 freeway just to the east of us because of mudslides. Looks like the storm is just east of our work & is moving south towards our house. Looks like the worst of the storm will be between Eric's & my house. Hopefully we will get home from work before the worst hits.

Kim


Part 2: Tornado!!!!

TORNADO!!!!! Can you believe a tornado in southern California? Brandon & I were on our way home from work when all of a sudden we saw a tornado. Not a funnel cloud, but an actual tornado. I have never been so scared in all my life!!!!

The tornado crossed the 215 freeway at March Air Base in Moreno Valley. It blew over a big rig truck & knocked over a bunch of train box cars. They had north bound 215 closed & traffic going southbound was at a crawl (this is what we were stuck in). Luckily we were north of the tornado .

The first two photos we didn't take, got them off the web from local news stations. But the rest of the photos Brandon & I took with our cell phone cameras.


I almost always have my regular digital camera in my purse, but of course today it was left at home. Also Brandon always has a police scanner with him, but his batteries died today. Of all days for this to happen, it would be today. I couldn't figure out how to take photos with my cell phone, so by the time I did, the tornado was dissipating.

If the tornado wasn't enough, it started hailing & there was about a 6 inches of hail on the freeway. Looked like snow. It was real scary.

It took us forever to get home. But we finally did. Now we hear there is another tornado spotted in Lake Elsinore which is just west of us.

Right now it looks like the weather has calmed a bit. It's currently not raining, but radar shows thunderstorms just north of us, so I'm sure we are not out of trouble yet. I'll keep you posted if anything more happens.

Anyone else thinking "end of times". I know I am.