'All of a sudden the skies turned dark' | Homeowner describes moments before tree, powerlines fell during storm (2024)

FAQs

'All of a sudden the skies turned dark' | Homeowner describes moments before tree, powerlines fell during storm? ›

"All of a sudden, the skies just turned really dark and I came running up here to check it out and just kind of watch as things were kind of flying through the air. Then I heard the cracking of the tree, and I turned and watched as the wires just got pulled right out of my sister's house right next door," said Gauss.

But it is known that a greenish-yellow sky before a storm is common in some parts of the world, while totally absent in others. A green sky doesn't necessarily mean a tornado will form, but the conditions may be right.

The correct Answer is:The falling of a tree in a storm is a natural change.

A dark sky, flashes of light, heavy wind and claps of thunder indicate that a storm may soon be approaching. If you can hear thunder, you're close enough to the storm to be in danger of being struck by lightning [source: American Red Cross].

There are three basic ingredients needed for thunderstorm development: moisture, an unstable atmosphere, and some way to start the atmosphere moving. Moisture is necessary to produce the thunderstorm clouds and precipitation.

As clouds grow taller and become thicker, they block more and more sunlight, making them appear gray and dark. Water vapor in the clouds eventually clumps together creating raindrops, leaving larger spaces between the drops themselves.

Lightning is the very bright flashes of light in the sky that happen during thunderstorms.

Thunder starts as a shockwave from the explosively expanding lightning channel when a large current causes rapid heating. However, it is possible that you might see lightning and not hear the thunder because it was too far away. Sometimes this is called “heat lightning” because it occurs most often in the summer.

Avoid plumbing: Metal plumbing and the water inside are both very good conductors of electricity. Therefore, do not wash your hands or dishes, take a shower or bath, do laundry, etc. during a thunderstorm.

Look for darkening skies, flashes of lightning, or increasing wind, which may be signs of an approaching thunderstorm. Stay aware of your surroundings. Look for places you might go should severe weather threaten. Listen for the sound of thunder.

What 5 states are in Tornado Alley? ›

Tornado Alley is a part of the central United States with a unique combination of geographic and meteorological factors that make it more susceptible to tornadoes. This area encompasses much of northern Texas northward through Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri and parts of Louisiana, Iowa, Nebraska, and eastern Colorado.

Warning signs: Watch for mid-level, puffy clouds that gather in height and get increasingly darker. Clouds that usually produce lightning have vertical development and dark anvil-shaped bases. Lightning usually coincides with rainfall, but not always. Strikes can come from almost clear skies—the “bolt from the blue.”

What's important for our purposes is that descending air becomes warmer and drier (a good thing after its trip through the cloud, which involved cooling and condensation). Warm, dry air is relatively stable, and once it blankets a region, it stabilizes that air in turn. This causes the calm before a storm.

This is why the sky appears blue during a clear day: the blue wavelengths of sunlight are scattered across the sky. However, if a storm happens near sunrise or sunset, then the clouds may appear pink or orange.

There are several atmospheric warning signs that precipitate a tornado's arrival: A dark, often greenish, sky. Wall clouds or an approaching cloud of debris. Large hail often in the absence of rain.