Hey you!

I have to tell you about my latest adventure. I was offered to take a 2-stop load to Fort Dodge and Waterloo, Iowa. I left Wednesday afternoon around 3pm and headed north to Tonkawa, Oklahoma, to fuel. Knowing that it was going to be a stormy day, I was prepared to run into storms earlier than I did, but it wasn’t until Wichita that I started getting into rain.

I kept heading north on I-35 and stopped at a small truckstop near Butler, Kansas. I took a little nap and got up and noticed some really dark clouds heading my way. So I went inside to get a drink as the storm approached. While standing at the counter, we saw the first flash of lightning and huge clap of thunder…this was no ordinary storm. I paid for my drink and ran for the truck waiting for the last flash of lightning before I went outside. So I get in my truck, relieved that I felt safe, and headed north once again. I drove for about 5 miles, or so, when the south wind began to pick up.

The rain was also beginning to blow sideways so myself and another trucker sought shelter under an overpass. This is where it gets interesting. We’re sitting in our trucks and it gets really dark and the wind began blowing with tremendous force. The rain didn’t seem to be blowing across the road so much as it looked like it was being SUCKED across!! The wind didn’t feel so much like it was blowing, but more like thrusting and I could feel it trying to push my stationary truck from behind.

Listen, I’ve been in some bad wind storms, both at home and in my truck, and I’ve never seen “straight-line” winds behave this way.  The winds were blowing from the west and pushing so hard against my truck, that I could feel the truck almost want to move from it’s spot. I set my brakes, tightened my seatbelt and held on to the wheel with both hands. Like I said, the rain was being thrust, not blown, in a way I have never seen in my life. The sound of the wind was non-stop. It wasn’t pulsating like winds sometimes do…it was constant force against the back of my trailer. That’s why it felt like it was trying to move.

Now, this whole episode, from the time I stopped, lasted about 2 or 3 minutes. When it was over, not only did the wind and rain subside, but it got brighter behind me. As I drove out from under this bridge, the community I was near, maybe Butler, Kansas, had powerlines and tree limbs down all over the place. Case and point; I believe it was a small, F-0 tornado that passed either in front of or right over where I was. The roar of the wind, the thrust of the wind, the way the rain looked outside my window, leaves and trash going by…I would be hard-pressed to believe those were just straight-line winds…it was just too strong!

So after it was over, I continued on and, as I looked to the north, the clouds had a unusual shape and consistency to them. I believe the tornado was rain-wrapped which makes them almost undetectable by radar. While I was listening to the weather band station, they made no mention of a tornado warning, but, later, when I tuned into a local station, that storm had a tornado warning on it. I have never been so scared, yet so convinced, in my whole life. I’ve seen tornado’s from a distance and heard stories of how they sound, and, while I can’t say it was a “freight train” sound, it was definitely like the sound of a jet and felt like it from behind the wheel!

Now I’m in Clinton, Iowa, picking up a load tomorrow morning to bring back to OKC. Iowa is a beautiful state and I love driving thru it.