Stormy Weather & Tornado Warning

 My posts are a little behind. This was painted out east near Calverton on Sunday. The forecast in the morning was for sunshine followed by cloudy skies and the possibility of storms later in the day. Like usual I hopped in the car and headed out looking for autumn colors. I found a spot out in an area that is mostly farmland. I was painting from my car and this view was to my left. I'm not quite sure what the bushes were. They look sort of like grapevines but I've been in this location before and I know there aren't grapes growing. This still needs a bit of tweaking. I never finished the roof and didn't paint the windows at all yet.

You know how you get into that zone and don't really notice what is happening around you? I did notice that it started getting darker and it was only about 2:30/2:45. I looked out the front windshield and then to my right and saw the sky was getting darker by the minute. This was how it looked over the peach trees.

I decided to pack up and head home before the storm hit. I was driving for about 5 minutes when my cell phone started blaring out a warning. Those are loud enough when you are home but in an enclosed car it is downright scary. It was a tornado warning telling everyone in the area to seek shelter until 4:15. There was really no place to go for shelter so I kept driving in the direction of home watching the sky carefully. I didn't feel any strong winds so I was hoping for the best. I got down to the highway and kept driving for another 5 minutes or so when the tornado warning went off again. Then a deluge came from the sky with such heavy rain that everyone turned on their emergency blinkers and drove at a snail's pace through the rain. It only lasted a few minutes and then the sky looked a little brighter...or at least not as dark. 

When I finally got home I found out that 3 tornados touched down on Long Island. One was just due south of where I got on the highway and it caused damage to a shopping center. It was probably about 15 miles away. It was a scary thing! I was talking to my sister about it and she said that when they drove cross country once they were in an area where they passed nothing but fields for several hours and the radio kept giving off tornado warnings (pre-cell phone times). I know what to do when I'm indoors and a tornado warning is issued but this was different! I guess with the weather changes that have been happening we all need to be prepared at all times. Stay safe and be aware!!