Southern Storms

Driving north past Chatanooga yesterday afternoon, the sky just went black !  In no time at all there was a huge downpour of rain, half inch hailstones rattling on the top of the car, sheet lightning, huge claps of thunder and a warning on the radio to "get under cover if you can" as a tornado was expected in the next 30 minutes ! It's pretty hard to get off the highway under those conditions, and the places to shelter under the bridges were already taken. Luckily, after driving for what seemed like an eternity at 20 miles an hour with the warning lights flashing, the storm passed. Here are a couple of photos taken with the iphone :

Just after the storm passed, fortunately no damage to the car from the hailstones either : 

Seeing all the damage in Tuscaloosa, Alabama and Tennessee this morning makes you realise the terrifying power of these storms. It looks like the tornado that hit Tuscaloosa was a mile wide and pretty much destroyed the town !