Tornado In Louisiana? No Warning?

[windnrain]

Guys, I just got through with a pretty scary experience. I live in Ruston, Louisiana, and all of a sudden, the weather got VERY bad. It was sunshine all day, and then I noticed the tell-tale signs of a tornado... The clouds were moving quickly, the sky got very dark, and I walked out onto my balcony, when some girls were running down the street, deadly serious, screaming "TORNADO! GET IN YOUR HOUSES!" The wind whipped up, and I looked... and there, I saw this big funnel coming down. I ran back into my house, grabbed my wife, and drove a mile to the nearby school building, which has a very good basement. We stayed there for 30 minutes.

Comming back, it doesn't look like there is any damage, but I didnt drive through the town. It was a pretty bad storm, and looking on intellicast 1km storm watch, we had at the very least, hail and a very large funnel cloud... yet weather.com, the weather channel, local news channels, etc... have nothing on this.

This ever happen to any of you? Tornadoes without a warning?

[Category 5]

Nothing about it on SPC ether, thats really wierd. You should report it.

[angelwing]

I just checked the severe warnings page, nothing there either:

http://kamala.cod.edu/svr/

[MGC]

A car is one of the worst places to be during a tornado. Next time get into the lowest part of the building in an interior small room....MGC

[Valkhorn]

Maybe it wasn't a tornado but just a big gust of wind?

[TampaSteve]

Might have been RFD, not a tornado...I've been in powerful thunderstorms where the clouds are literally being pushed toward the ground by the downdraft. The blast of air is amazingly cold, and the clouds could be mistaken for a funnel cloud from a certain angle...it can be unsettling if you don't know what you're seeing, especially if people are screaming "TORNADO!" and running down the street.

BTW, you should have stayed inside your house...that would have been much safer than driving if it was indeed a tornado.

[windnrain]

Thanks guys. Went around, there is a little wind damage, but it seems like it didn't touch down. I did feel a HUGE blast of cold air, though. It was so surreal. And I knew a car was not the right place to be, but I live in a two room appartment with no inside walls, so it was either risk it out there, or drive 30 seconds to one of the most secure buildings in town... I was just worried and had to think fast.

They rarely EVER give warnings for us here in Ruston, for some STRANGE reason. I dont know why.

[TampaSteve]

Thanks guys. Went around, there is a little wind damage, but it seems like it didn't touch down. I did feel a HUGE blast of cold air, though. It was so surreal. And I knew a car was not the right place to be, but I live in a two room appartment with no inside walls, so it was either risk it out there, or drive 30 seconds to one of the most secure buildings in town... I was just worried and had to think fast.

They rarely EVER give warnings for us here in Ruston, for some STRANGE reason. I dont know why.

Yup...sounds like a downdraft or a gust front to me. Kinda like standing in front of a mile-high refrigerator...