It was a dreary cloudy day in Auburn today, but almost 80*F in the middle of November, until this really fast moving storm system sort of caught everyone saying “what just happened?” These storms have now moved east doing about the same damage as they head towards the east coast. We didn’t have any damage at our place but there was pretty significant damage all around Auburn in the form of downed trees and power lines, some turned over cars, and apparently some damage to Auburn High School and Haley Center on campus. We are thrilled to hear that, so far, there haven’t been any injuries associated with the storm.
The only reason Deb and I happened to be on campus at lunch time today was to get her out of the house for a quick lunch in Foy Hall where they have one of her favorite places to eat. Once the sirens started going off on campus (see a really splotchy video here) everyone headed for the hallways and campus became like a ghost town. It’s just part of living down here in the south, glad no one was hurt. I did however get some photos while we were walking/driving around trying to get home (all taken with my cell phone here). Stormy weather always makes for such great lighting conditions, even if it is just on your cell phone.
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Last night just around midnight we finally had a thunderstorm go through our property. Feels like the first one that has come across our house this year, but it brought some nice lightning with it, for a very short time period. I took these shots right out my office window. I rendered the one image above both in black and white and color so you could see the vapor trail from the previous bolt that hit just prior to my shutter being pressed. Look on the black and white just to the left side of the image and you will see where the bolt that is no longer visible went through the clouds. I really love shooting lightning, wish the opportunity came about more often than once a year or so. You would think being in the deep south that wouldn’t be the case but we seem to be lingering in a 5 year drought. As usual the exif metadata can be found on flickr if you want to see how the shots were taken. This was really the last time I have been able to get some decent lightning at our place, back in the summer of 2008, see How to Successfully and Safely Photograph Lightning and Humidity, Storms, and Lightning in Alabama are Back for my last two examples.
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This week was one that won’t be forgotten any time soon in the state of Alabama, especially not in Tuscaloosa, Birmingham or Dadeville, but I think in many ways the storms took so us by surprise. At the moment there are at least 320 people dead from all the related storms and tornadoes and the news just seems to just keep coming even days after the storms have passed. It took about 24-48 hours for people around here to even realize what had happened but the videos from Tuscaloosa and Birmingham are just incredible. The Big Picture has a few images from the storm at Tornadoes kill over 200, and they are bound to have more soon. Some of those photo really are worth at least a thousand words.
I am reminded that even among all the damage, the flowers still blooms, the plants still grown, and God is in charge, even if we like to think we really are. A man at a gas station tonight was showing me photos of his cousins mobile home that took a direct hit from a tornado in Dadeville and there was nothing but an empty spot on the ground with a mailbox. He made the remark to me that “what would have taken months to clear by bulldozer a storm did in 30 seconds”. Yes, the power of man is no match for the power of nature.
I took these shots today on my iPhone as I walked around our property. While we did have a tree or two go down we were basically untouched by any of the storm damage and wild flowers were blooming and corn was growing in the fields. Such an amazing contrast for just 30-40 miles away from here. Our church is taking a collection up on Sunday to deliver to Tuscaloosa, if you are in the Auburn area and would like more information please visit Tornado // Disaster // Relief. All of the photos above were taken with my iPhone today except for the one of the rain, which was taken the day all the storms hit as we were driving back from Columbus, GA. I almost didn’t make it this Friday but with 90 minutes left in the day, this is my Friday Feet post. Have a good weekend everyone.
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Overflow photos: Receiving an enormous amount of rain from this storm, pond is flowing over its banks at a huge rate, but at least its 38* outside and not 31*.
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This Friday for Friday Feet the plan was to focus on the day at hand, Good Friday. We had a nice relaxing day at home on Friday in preparation for the Good Friday service and it ended up being one of the more memorable services that either Deborah or I have been to in years. Just about half way into the service the tornado sirens started sounded. The service was interrupted for about 30 minutes while we all hunkered down to one side of the worship area.
What made the service so memorable was how unscripted the whole evening was. As we came back together and stared to focus on what makes this day special, the hail, thunder, and lightning started to come down in full force. This was not a “traditional” service but the way it came together was so special. I am thrilled to be a part of a church that is willing to interpret worship in many different ways.
On the way home it became apparent that the storm system that went through the area had made its way out to our property. Tree after tree had been uprooted, snapped in half, and literally thrown all over the place. The photo below at night was what we found as we drove in from the service. A cedar tree topped and covering the road. Once morning arrived we found about a 75 foot pine tree that was just blown over, making my Friday Feet image.
After surveying the damage out this way we found out that there were one and possibly two tornadoes that came through the property. They were small, but had two visual sightings and see to skip around the houses for the most part.
Happy Easter to everyone.
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A rare snowstorm hit the state of Alabama this weekend. It was 3,319 days since any measurable snow was recorded at the Birmingham airport and today they reported 2 inches of snow. That said, we are two hours southeast of Birmingham so I am sure it has been even longer down here. It was quite a storm and it snowed almost all day today until the sun went down. It is supposed to get into the mid-20′s tonight so all that snow is going to freeze and should stick around at least until tomorrow.
I took these images today on my way to Cornerstone and some here at the house once I got home. No telling when the next heavy snowfall will come down to Auburn so I tried to take as many photos and video as I could. The one unique shot here is of our tree swing. This will make just about every weather season we could get from the same angle. I now have Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, snow, rain, and several others which I will post all together. You can see all the photos from the snow storm on my flickr account here or go right to the March 2009 Snowstorm gallery.
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This was one heck of a snow storm we had today, and I had to go over to Auburn to take some photos of Samford in the snow. Over the past two days we have had tornado warnings, then 70 degree sunshine, and the very next day we had several inches of snow. I did manage to get out and take several shots of the snow storm today and didn’t want to put them all in one post so here are some photos of Samford Hall on Auburn University in the snow along with one shot of Toomer’s Corner Drugs as well.
Every time you think you have seen every angle of one building (Samford Hall) something happens to make for a great new and fresh image. I took these about 7:30am before the snow really got going today, and I wasn’t alone, there were crowds down on campus by the time I got there and I did see that Aubie made an appearance in the snow as well.
It must have been about 8-10 years since it has snowed this much in Auburn so there are a few images of Samford in the snow but I am not sure what the record is for total accumulation, but we came close today.
