My mind was still reeling with the day's happenings! As David B. Treadway drove me back to my motel, he noted my "sensory overload" and wisely instructed me to rest two or three days, then get a notepad and start writing my thoughts down. I'm glad I followed his instructions; I did just that. Meanwhile, it was hard to sleep....
The week before I came to Little Rock, there had been some tornados touch down in the area. We'd seen some of the damage on Monday. Now, some of the same weather was coming in Tuesday night; we'd beat it with minutes to spare when David B. dropped me off. Jerry's game went off without a hitch and he was able to even watch part of another game before heading home....
After my family got back, we cleaned up, grabbed a meal and holed up for the evening. My daughter hates bad weather, especially tornado weather and tonight was a bad one for her. We watched KTHV's weatherman Ed Buckner (who I'd met earlier) report on the conditions coming from the west. In fact, when I'd met Ed earlier in the studio, he shook my and Jerry's hands and said, "Guys, it's going to be a bad one tonight...I have two minutes before I'm on the air" and we scurried out of the studio....
...and he wasn't wrong. Four inch hail in Oklahoma, down to softball and baseball-sized hail on Mena; by the time it got to us there in Little Rock, it was pea-sized to nickle-sized in the parking lot. Being a Ham radio operator, I participated in the local Skywarn weather network and reported my local sightings. As I listened, I felt we were pretty fortunate, as other areas were getting pretty hard hit. Doing my duty, I went back inside and listened and watched.
We'd gone in and out, visiting with the family next door to us. Come to find out, the lady's nephew had played for the Arkansas Razorbacks and had gone on to play pro ball. Since I had some posters from earlier in the day at the transmitter site, I gave her a few for him. She was overjoyed and said she'd have them put in sleeves to preserve them before she gave them to him. I hope to post them soon.
Later, the same family was outside, watching the weather, when a small (possible) twister let down in the parking lot in between the motel and the stores on the other side; the parking lot was large, it was late and there were few cars, so no damage was encountered. The lady said that all of a sudden, the wind picked up and she saw the rain begin to swirl into something like a cone. It travelled the length of the parking lot (about a quarter mile) and went away. She could see it plainly in the street lights of the parking lot.
Funny (or not), you never know what can pass you in the night....
Wednesday to come next!
Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)
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