Happy Birthday to Me! (And deja vu a week later!)

[jkvernon]

We had a pretty interesting eveing here to say the least. When I got to church I noticed te sky beginning to darken to the west as well as some pretty frequent lightning. I went upstairs to get to the roof access so I could get a view over the trees of the storm. While I was climbing up the ladder my phone rang. It was my brother and he frantically told me that we were under a tornado warning. At first I didn't believe him but when I ran downstairs I heard a few people in the hallway taling about it. I went outside to listen for the Whelens and when I got out there they were already finished with the first cycle and they were doing the voice, or just trying to do the voice because they were only doing the dtmf tone. The first time they sounded they went off in alert for about 30 seconds. The second and third time I heard them they did 3 minutes of attack. The thing is, they have never gone off in attack and aren't supposed to. the cool thing is, after the dark part of the storm passed overhead I watched a wall cloud form and a few minutes later...an actual tornado! Not a big one of course, only a skinny narrow finger that only lasted about 30 seconds. But now I can say that I've seen an actual tornado and not a funnel cloud. What sucks is I didn't have my camera and someone else at my church was borrowing the church's camera so...no video. Also, today happens to be my birthday. Pretty spiffy birthday present!

[Gil]

Wow!!! What an awesome birthday present!!! Happy birthday!

[FS T-Bolt]

happy birthday fellow siren enthusiast!

[RedAlpha]

Pretty nice birthday.

I've never seen an actual tornado, only a massive wall cloud.

[Daniel]

Happy birthday! Your present sucks, but don't all tornadoes? As for the Whelens, how many recent posts have we had of electronic sirens broadcasting DTMF tones or doing something other than what they are supposed to? Another good reason for motor-driven sirens.

[Travis]

You forgot the part where you called me sobbing like that 13-year-old girl on the T-Mobile commercial.....Haha just kidding happy be-lated b-day.

[Robert Gift]

Happy Birthday!
What a fantastic birthday gift!
Could only be.tter if you got into the weak funnel.
(That is my desire.)

Years ago, riding in one of those greenwhite VW taxicabs in Mexico City,
(looking for a carillon which may have been stolen and meltedown for scrap)
I saw a huge towering well-formed dustdevil in a baseball field.

The fine loose dirt made the funnel all the more distinct and well defined.

Sadly, I could not gethrough the fence and run into the funnel.
I could only take a photo.
The cab driver also caught my enthusiasm and enjoyed watching the phenomenon. (The teen-aged ball players appeared not to care less.)

[SirenMadness]

Happy birthday!
I hope that it was a great one; I know that something like that would satisfy me!

[AllAmericanFE]

Here is the audio of the warning. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlVBsgQUH8M I dont think anyone on here has heard a 3016 in wail before. I would have the video up but since my old computer crashed I lost the DVD ripper program with it

[Daniel]

Years ago, riding in one of those greenwhite VW taxicabs in Mexico City,
(looking for a carillon which may have been stolen and meltedown for scrap)

How on earth can someone steal a carillon? Where in Mexico City were you looking? There is one at the Basilica of Guadalupe in that weird bell tower, along with a gigantic bell wheel, and another carillon nearby on the roof of the old basilica, behind the two towers. There's also one on the roof of a church on the corner of Calle Londres and Reforma in the Zona Rosa, and I believe there is one at the university.