Wild Evening in Bell County, Texas

It was a crazy evening in Bell County yesterday. Severe thunderstorms were everywhere, and tornadoes were dropping out of the sky at a moments notice. Hail as big as softballs were reported in many locations.

I actually went out to spot for a bit and try to see something if I could. I saw enough for sure! I wound up in the far north side of Temple and swung around toward the west toward the airport, Moffat, and Morgan's Point. I saw a definite wall cloud, but the tornado was on the ground and the debris cloud was just over the horizon where I couldn't see.

I then moved west on Adams Ave toward Lake Belton. The hail began and started to get larger the further west I went. Once the hail reached larger than golf ball size I decided that was it. This was at West Adams and State Highway 317. I moved south toward Belton for a few blocks then turned back toward Temple. When you have only an HT for communications into a regional weather net it's not a good idea to keep going! Anyway, the hail became much more numerous and I had to duck under a bank drive-through area, where 6 other cars were parked. I immediately became the center of attention when they saw I had a cell phone and my HT with me!

I gave updates to everyone that was there until the hail stopped and it just rained very hard. Everyone then left, and I headed for home on the south side of Temple. My wife Mary was very worried about me, knowing where I was at during the height of the storm. Things finally settled down, and Mary went to bed early. For the rest of the evening I followed the storms on radar and the various TV stations, watching them slowly roll through the Austin area and other points south. Those areas didn't get anywhere near the weather we did here in Bell County!

Now the forecasts are calling for more severe weather this evening through tomorrow morning...and I'm supposed to be baptized on Sunday. Well, I will not miss my baptism under any circumstances, but I will be watching the weather regardless!

WR1TX