In December, 1997, I had driven up to Arlington, Texas to play the wedding for a couple I knew. The day I left (Friday), the forecast mentioned "a chance of showers" the next day -- which, if you live in Texas during an El Niño winter, means that all hell may break loose -- and it did.
When I left the hotel to go to the church, it began raining. I got to the church just before the skies turned into a waterfall, and the downpour lasted all through the ceremony. When we left to go to the reception, the rain had let up -- but we had to take several detours because of flooded roads. That should have been a warning, but I went over to the reception because I had agreed to play piano for that, too.
About five o'clock, I decided to leave and start the 230 mile trip back home. As I headed south at Fort Worth, I noticed the skies were an icky shade of purple-green, so I decided to pull over and get gas just in case the weather turned really bad. Little did I know what was about to happen...
As I pumped my gas, I noticed near constant lightning to the south -- and for a moment, thought about finding a hotel for the evening, but decided against it because I had a church service to play next morning. So, I started driving -- and I hadn't even driven for five minutes before the skies cut loose in a way I had NEVER seen them cut loose, even in Texas.
At this point, you need to know something about the normal driving habits of Texans so you can appreciate how remarkable the weather actually was. When driving to El Paso on IH-10, I'm frequently passed by other cars even though I drive just under 100 m.p.h. The speed limit on IH-35 may be 70 m.p.h., but you need to be able to maintain a speed of 85 to 90 m.p.h. to be able to stay with the flow of traffic. As a result, it takes about two hours and thirty minutes to drive from Austin to Fort Worth, a distance of 200 miles or an average speed of 80 m.p.h.
The rain and the wind in this storm were so intense that traffic on IH-35 actually lowered to 25 m.p.h. All the cars formed a single line; no one passed anybody -- and this single line of cars containing people who were complete strangers to every other drive in that line actually began behaving as a unit. If somebody tried to pass, drivers began flashing their high beams and honking their horns -- and the errant driver got back into line where he belonged!
I expected the storm to last fifteen or twenty minutes, maximum -- but the driving conditions actually deterioriated as I drove south. The rain was so intense that my windshield wipers could barely get the water off my windshield, even on the highest setting; the wind was so strong that the car was being buffeted and occasionally pushed into the left lane. I could hear debris hitting the car as I drove -- and everybody kept moving south in a straight line at 25 m.p.h.
Periodically, the rain and the wind would let up -- and then periods of hail would begin. This was not nice, normal, pea-size hail: this was quarter-size, and occasionally golf ball-size hail which very nearly covered the road -- and then the rain and wind would begin again, harder than ever.
When I travel, I usually carry a teddy bear (or two) with me. I had brought my favorite bear along with me, and it would have taken the jaws of life to release the grip I had on that poor bear's leg!
Only as I reached the far northern suburbs of Austin did the storm finally abate, and at that point I had been driving six hours in the worst night-time driving weather I had ever experienced. I checked the weather when I got home, and found that a barrage of thunderstorms had struck northern and north-central Texas in several clusters; that several tornadoes had struck along and west of IH-35 (where I was driving) and that four people had died when their houses (or cars) were struck by tornadoes -- and understand that these are nighttime tornadoes, so you're not likely to see them until they're right upon you; and most areas had received between six and nine inches of rain.
Needless to say: I really didn't sleep much that night, mostly because I was wired from the intensity of the trip; but also because I realized that I had driven through not one, but a cluster of tornadic thunderstorms and, by the grace of God, made it back alive to where I live!
When I left the hotel to go to the church, it began raining. I got to the church just before the skies turned into a waterfall, and the downpour lasted all through the ceremony. When we left to go to the reception, the rain had let up -- but we had to take several detours because of flooded roads. That should have been a warning, but I went over to the reception because I had agreed to play piano for that, too.
About five o'clock, I decided to leave and start the 230 mile trip back home. As I headed south at Fort Worth, I noticed the skies were an icky shade of purple-green, so I decided to pull over and get gas just in case the weather turned really bad. Little did I know what was about to happen...
As I pumped my gas, I noticed near constant lightning to the south -- and for a moment, thought about finding a hotel for the evening, but decided against it because I had a church service to play next morning. So, I started driving -- and I hadn't even driven for five minutes before the skies cut loose in a way I had NEVER seen them cut loose, even in Texas.
At this point, you need to know something about the normal driving habits of Texans so you can appreciate how remarkable the weather actually was. When driving to El Paso on IH-10, I'm frequently passed by other cars even though I drive just under 100 m.p.h. The speed limit on IH-35 may be 70 m.p.h., but you need to be able to maintain a speed of 85 to 90 m.p.h. to be able to stay with the flow of traffic. As a result, it takes about two hours and thirty minutes to drive from Austin to Fort Worth, a distance of 200 miles or an average speed of 80 m.p.h.
The rain and the wind in this storm were so intense that traffic on IH-35 actually lowered to 25 m.p.h. All the cars formed a single line; no one passed anybody -- and this single line of cars containing people who were complete strangers to every other drive in that line actually began behaving as a unit. If somebody tried to pass, drivers began flashing their high beams and honking their horns -- and the errant driver got back into line where he belonged!
I expected the storm to last fifteen or twenty minutes, maximum -- but the driving conditions actually deterioriated as I drove south. The rain was so intense that my windshield wipers could barely get the water off my windshield, even on the highest setting; the wind was so strong that the car was being buffeted and occasionally pushed into the left lane. I could hear debris hitting the car as I drove -- and everybody kept moving south in a straight line at 25 m.p.h.
Periodically, the rain and the wind would let up -- and then periods of hail would begin. This was not nice, normal, pea-size hail: this was quarter-size, and occasionally golf ball-size hail which very nearly covered the road -- and then the rain and wind would begin again, harder than ever.
When I travel, I usually carry a teddy bear (or two) with me. I had brought my favorite bear along with me, and it would have taken the jaws of life to release the grip I had on that poor bear's leg!
Only as I reached the far northern suburbs of Austin did the storm finally abate, and at that point I had been driving six hours in the worst night-time driving weather I had ever experienced. I checked the weather when I got home, and found that a barrage of thunderstorms had struck northern and north-central Texas in several clusters; that several tornadoes had struck along and west of IH-35 (where I was driving) and that four people had died when their houses (or cars) were struck by tornadoes -- and understand that these are nighttime tornadoes, so you're not likely to see them until they're right upon you; and most areas had received between six and nine inches of rain.
Needless to say: I really didn't sleep much that night, mostly because I was wired from the intensity of the trip; but also because I realized that I had driven through not one, but a cluster of tornadic thunderstorms and, by the grace of God, made it back alive to where I live!
