We were driving home from South Texas the day it hit here. We recieved a strange alert that I'd not seen before on Mrs. West's cell phone..........something to the effect of "Dangerous Weather Alert!". The alert went on to say that conditions were setting up for a very rare weather event....even for here.
We were driving on Texas State Hwy 31 through the farm country around Corsicana and as you looked to the north, you could see these impressive wall clouds, then we drove through Malakoff just before the storm hit. Malakoff and Gun Barrell City, just to our north as we traveled, were both hit by tornadoes. By the time we reached the east side of Canton, it's looked pretty bad......just an eerie, very green sky. I found myself driving east on I-20 about 30 mph and even that speed was far too dangerous in the sheets of rain and wind we were experiencing. Fortunately there was an exit nearby and we were able to wait it out in a Cracker Barrell for the next couple of hours, but a fascinating storm it was.
My sister lives in Birmingham and they were pretty well hammered, but all are fine with her family and property.
The head of the National Weather Service was interviewed last night and he attributed the event to two things, a cold Pacific Ocean and "Spring".
West
