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That must have been a terrifying thing to see
(lemmy.zip)
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this post was submitted on 21 Aug 2026
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Probably. Consider too, it's actually kinda rare to see one, since the storm they're happening in often has heavy enough rain that you can't see very far, especially if it's in the evening.
In these cases, you hear them before you see them.
Lived on the edge of tornado alley and in the twenty five years I lived there, I have personally seen two tornadoes touch down and a dozen or so funnel clouds. It's not as rare as you'd think. Heavy rain isn't really a symptom of tornadoes.
Hail and heavy winds then sudden calm is when I get spooked
From what I've seen from watching tornado content it depends on the storm, where you are relative to the storm and a lot of other factors. It could be shrouded by rain from where you're standing at that moment. But not necessarily.
Pecos Hank btw, great channel on YouTube. Informative.
A dozen funnel clouds is pretty easy, those are genuinely common. 2 touchdowns in 25 years also sounds about right for you guys' conditions, that is not so common. And sure, the heaviness of the rain doesn't indicate tornadoes or anything, but tornadoes and rain absolutely do show up in the same circumstances and tornadoes absolutely can be obscured by rain.
You tornado alley folks are also particular in the Great Plains having sightlines that are absolutely huge. The rest of us in the midwest have tornadoes too, we just also have treelines. You cannot expect see a billion miles in every direction from the highway, your line of sight in one direction may only be 100' or less.
Anyway, you may have the most, but you guys don't own tornadoes.
Iowa/Missouri maybe?
Growing up where I did you'd hear about famous outbreaks, I recall one where a particular county had a few dozen touchdowns in one storm. But most people here have never seen one directly.
But like I said, treelines limit vision here by quite a lot.
I grew up in the Midwest, where I saw said sightings.
I lived in extremely rural Oklahoma as a kid and saw many tornados. Had friends that had lost their houses to tornados in school.
They were pretty easy to see, the rain isn't that thick. We would sit on the porch and watch the storm every time the sky turned green and it was always eerily calm as it touched down. The rain would let up before it happened. When it touched down we would head to the basement to wait it out.
Hell even in Ohio most folk'll see one from time to time. Not as close but you'll catch a funnel