24 June 2008

Holy rotating wall cloud, Batman!




















Ok, I got this email , you know - a forward, of a forward, of a forward - that showed this picture with some lame-ass story about this being the tornado that tragically ripped through the boy scout camp earlier this month, killing four of the young men. I doubted that completely, as the camp was in a remote area and this is obviously not a remote area...anyway, off-topic... So I hopped on over to Snopes , my favorite-ist site ever to debunk these fruity emails, to get the scoop on this picture. (p.s. I check Snopes on a lot of emails, so if you send me an email and I send you back a link to Snopes - please, don't take it personally - I am just doing my tiny little part to stop the spread of crappy junk email.)
Turns out, it is a real photo! Not the one that is referenced in the email, obviously, but a real picture. It was taken in the northeastern Iowa town of Orachard. (link to the Snopes article HERE) According to Snopes, meteorologists reviewed this picture and said that it wasn't an actual tornado - it is a mesocyclone with a wall cloud. Huh? Hmmmm....
I'm thinking to myself several things at this point:

1. If that's not a "real" tornado, then what the heck does a real one look like and do I really want to know the answer to that question...

2. What kind of zoom lense was this woman using to get that close-up and where do I get one?

3. Why the heck was this woman standing there snapping pictures and not running like a mad-woman for the nearest basement?

Seriously, folks, I would have been a screamin-bawling-thumb sucking-pants peeing baby had I looked out my window and seen this not-a-real-tornado winking at me - thinking of grabbing my camera and snapping a few pics would never have crossed my mind. Not once...nope...never...
Ok, maybe once, but I still would have been peeing my pants...
Hee hee hee....
More later...

p.s. Cynde just sent me this in a email, too flippin' funny! You must click this link and watch this...it is everything I say to myself everytime I get one of those emails... http://info.org.il/irrelevant/may02-smilepop-soapbox4.swf
Seriously...watch this!

3 comments:

Penne said...

Hey Nikki! That's an awesome picture. I love Snopes!
So when are you gonna post some pics from the wedding? :) Jodie can't wait to see her picture! :b

Anonymous said...

She is LYING!! I also love the picture, not the one of myself mind you, but the one of the tornado is, as Penne put it awesome!

Gitz 'n Jo said...

I live in Iowa and the tornadoes here have been devastating. An entire neighboring town is literally gone. The stories are true.