Wednesday, January 25, 2023

TORNADO TUESDAY IN HOUSTON

Wait, isn't that supposed to be "taco Tuesday"?  Tornado sounds about right...it was an INSANE day of weather yesterday.  Several of you emailed to check on us.

About 10am, the weather alerts started coming in.

Tornado (radar indicated) near the farm.


Here was the radar image at 10:38, the dot is the farm.  

Then it only got worse.


An hour and a half later, still heavy rains and very severe storms.  At this point we also began having heavy hail.  "J" from 2nd Family said she was in the bathtub with a mattress over her.


Then almost 2 hours later it was STILL severe.  More tornado warnings and it was moving into downtown Houston and getting very bad at the office.

Then this came in on our phones:


This is the first time since the National Weather Service implemented the "tornado emergency" that it's ever been used in Houston (2017 I believe was the origin date of this alert in our area).

We had to look it up.  A "tornado warning" we are all familiar with...the NWS changed the usage and a warning means there is a radar indicated tornado or conditions indicate there could be one trying to come down/form.  Often these never materialize.  But now, with this new "emergency", they call it: "an exceedingly rare tornado warning issued when there is threat to life and catastrophic damage from an imminent and approaching tornado".  It's saved for when a reliable source confirms an actual tornado is on the ground and causing damage.  The threat is imminent and if you're in the path, your life may be at risk.                                                                                                            .
Our power went out a few times at the building and the wind was crazy high but the tornado stayed to the South of downtown Houston.

There was significant damage all across town.


At the end of the day, there were four confirmed tornado touchdowns in the area.  Lots of damage to suburbs South and East of Houston.  At the farm, "J" said we ended up with over 5 inches of rain.  Her rain gauge only holds 5 inches so it could have been 6 or so.

Houston broke a rainfall record for January.  We also broke a record for having tornadoes in January. 

Thank you all for reaching out.  The rest of the week is supposed to be cool/cold and clear/nice.

Winter in Houston...gotta love it.

13 comments:

  1. Good to hear that you all are safe.
    Five inches of rain; that's a lot so guess you won't need to do any watering of your orchard and hopefully no damage was done at the farm.

    Most rain gauges only goes to 5 inches ( which is what ours holds) but have seen a few gauges that will hold up to 11 inches of rainfall which is what we need cause our rain gauges have over flowed from time to time.
    Do take care and stay warm and safe.

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  2. so glad you guys are okay. i was thinking about you!

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  3. I was concerned as well when I saw what was happening down there in Texas. I wondered what Abbott was doing about the damage and how he is handling any of it!

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  4. It was indeed a terrible weather day yesterday. I was watching the trees in my backyard lash back and forth and the rain poured down, with 2.5 inches in a very short time. My internet went out for the rest of the day. It was bad here but y’all had it even worse. I saw the damage on TV and it was terrible. That must have been very scary for J out at the Farm. I’m so glad that you made it through alright.

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  5. I just got my trees cut up and hauled away from the last hurricane and one mango tree survived but had to be pulled up and have stakes to hold it straight. There were tornados touching down around the state yesterday here. We lived in Mississippi for a while, and I remember the terrible weather and storms in that area. So glad you are safe, and the cat is ok.

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  6. So glad that you are safe...was worried about you.
    Mary

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  7. I heard about it on the news last night and wondered how you faired. Glad no damage to you and yours.

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  8. It seems tornado watches and tornado warnings have been around here forever. A tornado watch means conditions are favorable. A tornadao warning means a tornado has been spotted on the ground or on the radar. Did you take cover? Where and how did you take cover? What about Hobart?

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  9. Glad to hear you made it through with no damage. Tornados are scary.

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  10. I was wondering how you fared. Glad you & 2nd Man escaped damages.

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  11. Oh my goodness. Exciting in a terrifying way. Glad you are OK.

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