Straight Line Winds

Got up early for my Friday morning date with my mistress and thought 'I should really take a look at the weather radar before I head out...'. Good thing I did as a huge wall of severe storms were just about 1 1/2hrs to the west heading our way. I don't mind getting rained on during a ride, but severe weather (hail, lightening, tornados...) is another thing.

Deb was supposed to leave around 8:30 this morning for an STL flight this afternoon so I got her to speed up the departure to get down the road ahead of the storm. She and the girls got to Lebanon before the bad stuff caught up with them. She checked in several times and they are fine and still STL bound.

Now, when I say 'bad stuff' take a look at some pictures I took after the front moved through:

***The first two is a blown wall at Teter's Florist less than 1/4mile from my house. The opening is around 100' long. The last two are of a tree that struck a student vehicle WHILE SHE WAS IN IT at SBU (the girl was bruised up some, but ok for the most part) . Take a look at the size of the stump left; this was not a little tree.***

We received no damage at the house, but a good friend is still trying to locate the roof of his 40' metal shop and numerous large trees are down all over town. Jim and I were at the office when the power went down (before the strong stuff hit) so I headed over to the house to make sure everything was OK. I took a nap in the hallway closet area until the storm sirens stopped (about an hour). Jim said they lost a handful of trees at their house.

Fitness: Supposed to clear up later today so we'll see if I can sneak in a 2hr mtb ride on the back roads. Tomorrow will try for 3hrs if weather is clear.