Tornadoes reported across southern Ontario 08-20-2009

[anneintoronto]

I'm sorry that I'm late in posting, after the concern for the residents of Toronto, both human and bird.  It's been a long, tiring week and I have got behind.  Here is a short tale of our view of the storm:

I just got home from work in time to miss more than some heavy wind.  By the time I got up to the 21st floor, it had started pouring rain and the black clouds, at times having a green cast, came over.  I'll post a few photos that I took, before the wind and the thunder & lightening backed me off the balcony, into the safety of the apartment!   Several of the photos are screen dumps from videos I took, so aren't the best quality...but they tell the story. I have two little pigeon squabs growing up out on the balcony and their "roof" flew off, so I went out and covered them up until the storm passed.  I was afraid that they would blow away -- so much for believing in the survival of the fittest!  In the 5 seconds that took to cover them, I was soaked to the skin!  It was all quite something.  Lightening hit our building at least once and a good many of the tall buildings downtown.  We were lucky that we didn't lose power in our area!  And, as the storm slowed off, the sky went the most incredible yellow and then, as it was "sun setting" time, turned an orange and lit the sky strangely.
Here are the photos:


As usual, downtown Toronto wasn't as badly hit as the surrounded suburbs and "bedroom" towns.  I don't know if it's the moderating influence of the Great Lakes, the tall buildings or all the hot wind from city hall  , but often we miss storms altogether!  This one we didn't miss, but fortunately, we just had strong winds and no tornados.

Anne C. (Toronto, ON Canada)

[valhalla]

Glad you and the feathered ones are ok!  I've taken a number of pictures with that strange orange color in it, as we do get tornadoes in this area.  Someone told me that it was sulfer in the air (not sure if that is from the clouds or the hell that they come from), but it is not a normal color.  Nor are the green/yellow clouds.  Thanks for sharing the pics (I saw those buildings from the other side of the lake a few weeks back)!   

[Donna]

  We were lucky that we didn't lose power in our area!  And, as the storm slowed off, the sky went the most incredible yellow and then, as it was "sun setting" time, turned an orange and lit the sky strangely.
Here are the photos:

Anne, your pics are beautiful, (all things considered). Everyone talks about the colors after, the purples and pinks. Mother Nature Paints a  pretty picture. The one that looks like the sky is on fire is CRAZY cool. Thanks.

Donna

[jeanne]

Anne, so glad you and the animals are all ok!  Spectacular (and a bit scarey) pictures!

[Patti from Kentucky]

...By the time I got up to the 21st floor, it had started pouring rain and the black clouds, at times having a green cast, came over. 
Anne C. (Toronto, ON Canada)

Nice photos...we get a lot of tornadoes through Kentucky (some years more than others), and when we see that green color it's usually our sign that things are about to get bad...

[Paul Hamilton]

Anne,

Spectacular photos! 
I'm glad you are OK.  The green cast is cause by the presence of lots of hail high in the clouds and is an indication of a powerful storm.

Paul

[Joyce]

Anne - Thanks for sharing your pictures. I guess you can take a big deep sigh now, and hope we don't have any more of these storms.  That last one puts things in perspective again.  We've had our fair share in Rochester too, but nothing as ominous looking as your black sky photo.

Joyce

[Aafke]

Thanks Anne
I saw it on the news and thought of you. I'm happy that you are ok!
 greetings Aafke