I drove straight through this storm system yesterday. I knew things were going to be no bueno after popping through one weaker cell on the edge. The line had a few scuds here and there, and a massive tail cloud. Then I spotted spotters.

It was wave after wave of heavy down pours and lightning. I pulled off once when it started raining sideways to give that cell a chance to move through. It was just a wall of water. You couldn’t see anything except water and lightning. Pulling up my weather app, it looked like I was going to be in the clear, so I kept going like a fool. There was a semi jack knifed in the median and a few miles up one half tipped off on the side of the interstate.

Then things got calm. Lightning like mad and that ozone smell. I was going to pull off and wait out the next wave of rain, but the exit was already lined with other motorists and pitch black, so I decided to hunker down under the next overpass/bridge (this is not a good idea in a tornado situation and if I had known, I would NOT have sheltered under there and I should have known better seeing the storm line earlier. App only said there was a watch in effect and a thunderstorm warning, so in my head, nbd I’ve been through that before.) A semi pulled off behind me. I took a quick look at radar and boom my phone and radio are both screaming tornado warning take shelter at me. Grabbed my dog, jumped out, started to head up under the overpass in my panic. Had a moment of clarity that was the most dangerous thing I could do, and started to head over to the swampy ditch to get low. Trucker jumped out grabbed my dog, hauled my ass up into the cab and threw himself over us before I had a chance to become a swamp hag. It didn’t pass directly over us, but ran parallel.

I don’t know who that truck driver was, I didn’t get his name, but dude…thank you, again. We were both shook as hell. I’m still shook. Adventure Dog is fine and a brave mofo. My boots stink because I stepped in dead raccoon mush, so my car now also smells of dead raccoon. If anyone knows how to get dead raccoon smell out of vehicle rugs, let me know. The radio weather person said it was headed northeast. I continued south through the storms but it was rain and some lightning. Nothing like on the approach.

Nighttime tornadoes are something I’ve always been terrified at the idea of. I’ve been in plenty of tornado warnings up north, strong thunderstorms, ridden out hurricanes, driven in a blizzard; I’ve never been scared or affected like this. New fear unlocked: nighttime tornadoes on the interstate in the middle of nowhere. It’s gonna take me a few days to process/get it all out of my system. I saw the news this morning and I went and threw up. I keep crying on and off. That’ll pass, no big deal. I know things could have ended up MUCH worse for me though, and seeing the destruction and devastation this thing left… fuck, man. I feel like I need to take another week off of work (I’m headed home, I was on vacation) and go DO something to help instead of laying in my hotel room.