So, it's a fair assessment to say that I've been in dozens of thunderstorms in the past decade. During that time, I suppose where I was directly in the path of a tornadic storm was probably fewer than ten times, despite my affection for being a weather spotter.
The Science Center has been giving St. Louisans great scientific information for generations.
The two met the other day, my love of weather/a thunderstorm and a visit to the Science Center. Unfortunately, it seems that I could have done a better job watching the weather outside the Science Center than from the inside as a patron. And to be sure --- the Science Center sent me and the other dozens/hundreds of patrons out into a thunderstorm without giving us ANY kind of warning about the pending nature of the atmosphere. It was dramatic to be in Forest Park during a TORNADO WARNING. But it didn't have to be that way --- IF ONLY the Science Center had made an announcement in the moments before they closed on Saturday afteroon. But they didn't, and the next thing I knew, we are in the middle of a severe thunderstorm which produced a tornado minutes before I was stuck in an area without shelter.
So --- how would I do things differently? I'd make sure the Science Center makes announcements about weather. This wasn't any run of the mill weather they ignored --- this was a TORNADO WARNING. As for me --- I'd not be caught unaware of a tornadic storm coming toward me again if I possibly could.
Let me show you what I mean:
4:20 pm: weather spotters observe a tornado in Des Peres. The damage is reported to the National Weather Service moments later. One of these observations is from the Des Peres Fire Department, near the end of the path of the EF0 tornado which has just done damage for a few hundred yards to homes, trees, automobiles, and possessions.
4:25 pm: the National Weather Service issues a Tornado Warning for St. Louis County and City. At 4:27: I am nearing the exit for the Science Center at the Planetarium in Forest Park. I make one more stop --- in the restroom --- before I run out into the possible rains.
4:30 pm: We are exiting the facility along with dozens of other families from all around the world. But, there have been NO announcements about the weather inside the Science Center or Planetarium. These people, myself included, are running out into what is potentially deadly weather. A tornado had just hit the Des Peres area of west St. Louis County. Winds knocked down huge trees in Webster Groves. There is a storm with two parts --- one more northerly and one more southerly --- and a funnel cloud, tornado, and funnel cloud have been spotted by authorities and citizens.
This storm is taking aim on Forest Park.
4:34 pm: Pulling out of the parking space, I turn and proceed west toward the area near the St. Louis Mounted Police stables and toward the Jewel Box and the Zoo. I'm hoping, but not seeing much good news, as I have the radio on KMOX and hear the Tornado Warning message being repeated. They're "interrupting" regular programming to tell people of the potential of the storm. By this time, inside a car --- the worst place to be in a tornado --- I'm stuck in the driving rains.
Now it's 4:36 pm, and I cannot drive. Winds of 60 mph are pulling tree branches off trees at the edge of the parking lot where I am now stopped. The hail begins --- thank God it's very small, about the size of a pinky-nail, perhaps 1/4 inch sized pellets --- and my other half is not enjoying this moment. She, too, is a weather spotter --- like me, trained to not be out in a tornadic storm. We both know we're in a dangerous situation --- I can no longer drive west or east, it's too much to attempt to drive the car in either direction, because we're thinking the storm is east of us because of what was said on the radio --- but we really don't know. We both are praying that we're not about to become victims. I manuever the car so that rear of the car is facing the south --- not ideal, but if the trees, now behind us, fall, it'll probably be something I can see in the rear-view mirror instead of into the windshield. And it leaves me the chance to see if there's a tornado or funnel coming. I keep looking back and twisting and turning to see if there is any debris other than the hail and a few branches. I'd moved only once, slightly to the east about 40 feet in this whole time since I stopped the car. We have only one option for shelter at this point. We're in "no man's land" in this parking lot --- and the rains will soak us if we have to run the approximately 20 to 25 feet to the south wall of the parking lot --- it's a wall that is adjacent to the long soccer field located nearby. I can see if there's anything more than clouds coming at us --- I see the tree debris. But, thankfully, there was no other debris. If there had been, we'd have been running to the wall and praying the storm passes overhead and doesn't pelt us with debris, pick us up, or something similar.
The rains die down some. The winds have died down quite a lot.
Minutes later, we're in the safety zone. We're sitting in Olympia Kabob House awaiting our time for food. I'm watching the storm coverage on KMOV while chatting with the guy behind the bar. The storm was something else. It kept moving north-northeast --- and it was heading past my parents house in North County. It's scary to see that the winds were swirling and causing damage. But all of us survived. After watching the screen long enough, I'm satisfied that the only thing the storm is doing is making hail and wind damage --- it looks as if the tornadic part of the storm was rather short-lived, even though the warnings continue for the Illinois side of the river (where I now reside, by the way). My brother-in-law visited my house and said all was well. Later, more than an hour later, we're in Wood River and Roxana. There was still hail on the ground along IL Route 143 in Wood River. We saw tree damage. On Sunday, driving through Roxana, we saw more tree damage. This was the same storm, but at least it didn't have a huge funnel coming to the ground and continuing to rack up damage. Wind and rain and hail was enough.
But, what if this had been more than a storm packing a weak EF0 tornado which only touched down briefly in West County? What if this had been an EF3 or even grown into an EF4? I would have been a victim, if the same situation had unfolded. This storm should serve as a warning to management of places like the St. Louis Science Center. If they had a weather radio with a warning system in place --- and caring employees --- I would have been inside the planetarium or the Science Center riding out this storm in a sheltered area. We wouldn't have cared about the car being sucked up. We wouldn't have been in the middle of Forest Park. We would not have been in danger.
Let this be a lesson to all. There's no safe place to be where information is either withheld or non-existent in a dangerous situation.
I'm not sure whether the Science Center was negligent for gathering or distributing the important/vital storm information. But, they were negligent.
I'm calling upon them and others to ensure they have working Weather Radios in their offices. Make sure staff doesn't dismiss the storm as "it's not here, so we're okay" in such a time.
One of these days, it'll be a big tornado in this area, and someone will die because they were uninformed.
