Amateur Tornado Chaser

Anyone who knows me for more than 5 minutes, quickly learns that I'm a huge weather geek. Even my coworkers have learned to come to my desk to check out the radar, because if there's storms around, I will always have it up. Some will even call me before heading home to see if there are any storms/possible tornadoes on their drive home. What many people may not know is just how deep this geeky hobby goes. Yes, I was that nerdy 10yr old girl who watched the weather channel religiously, owned every tornado and hurricane documentary, and even shadowed the local 9 news meteorologist for a day. If anyone asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, my answer was "meteorologist - but not the tv kind, the tornado chaser kind." (That is until I realized I'd have to live in Kansas or Oklahoma. Then I switched to flying through hurricanes.)

The past couple of weeks in Denver/Boulder have been particularly ripe for severe thunderstorm formation. Last weekend a small tornado ripped through parts of eastern Denver, causing damage to a shopping mall. The tornado warnings may have interrupted the Rockies game Josh and I were watching, but following the storm on the radar, as well as the pics posted on twitter, was more than entertaining. (I think I may have converted a new weather geek!) Yesterday - same routine. Watching the Rockies, occasional storm warning, skies kind of grey. But then... what's that noise... is that a tornado siren?? Yup!! Quick, grab the computer, pull up the radar... Holy #*@%! HUGE storm, the middle so dark red it's almost black, covering most of Denver. Josh runs to the front door and takes a peek outside.

"See anything?"
"Yes! The tornado is forming right across the street!!"
"What?? Shut up!"
"I'm serious!"

I thought he was messing with me, but how do you not go look? Sure enough, there was a wisp of cloud, spiraling down into the sky like it was being sucked down a bathtub drain. As I grabbed my camera to start filming, it transformed from a wisp, into a much thicker funnel formation. Josh was opening the basement, preparing for the worst. I knew I probably shouldn't be outside, but I couldn't stop watching it. It was incredibly scary, beautiful, breathtaking, and exciting. Now I know why all those tornado chasers live in Kansas and Oklahoma.

Later, after the danger/excitement had passed, (the funnel never touched down, but that's not really important), I posted the video and pics to twitter. Local news station CBS4 Denver, also on twitter, saw the video and asked to use it on the news. Apparently they also used it in a commercial for the news as well. We were hoping they would include the sound, and Josh would get *bleeped* on the news, but they didn't include the audio. :-( But it was still cool to get some recognition for my amateur-funnel-cloud-chaser film work ;-)