Storm Chasing!! DUW

If you are not from the Southern California area then you have not been experiencing this crazy weather that we have been having. We have been getting back to back storms with a TON of rainfall. Now those of you form other states that get a ton of rain are probably thinking who gives a crap if it rains, that happens here all the time. Well here in Southern California it rarely happens, and what makes it an even crazier storm here is that we had tornado warnings! At first the news was saying it may happen then they went on the air and said it was going to happen. So my girlfriend Jasmin and I sat at home watching the news and hoping nothing would whisk us away to Kansas. While watching the news the sky started to clear up a tad so we decided to head out but on our way out the door we heard that there was a tornado that had touched down about 10 minutes from our house. So I packed up the cameras and we headed out. First we headed down the street to check out how sever the flooding was. The water was really high, completely covering the curb actually.
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After we went to check out the street flooding we headed down to Seal Beach Pier to see what was going on down there. It was rumored that the waves were going to be pretty big so we couldn't resist going down. When we got down to the beach it was clear that were not alone in the idea to check out what was happening, There was a bunch of on lookers standing on the pier. It was closed for a while because the swells were so high but it was opened eventually.
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Now when we went the waves were pretty big but not as big as predicted as you can tell from the pics.
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There was so much water that a little lake was formed in a parking lot and on some of the beach sand, it was pretty deep.
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We eventually made our way down to the "ground zero" where the tornado hit and wow was it crazy to see some of the damage. There were a bunch of trees that were completely uprooted by the tornado.
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Well this tornado was so strong that it completely picked up a SUV and flipped it on its side, I didn't believe it either but when I got to the scene I talked to some people who were there when it happened and they all had the same story. It was pretty intense
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Since California doesn't ever get weather like this there were tons of on lookers and news people watching the events!
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Thanks for looking!!

So it did happen. I heard it was suppose to be in South Central

Oh yeah it happened, It was pretty crazy!

That's pretty intense for southern California. If only you knew lol ... I still think Oklahoma has the craziest swings in weather. In my short time there I have seen -10 to 110+ degrees and baseball sized hail to tornados that leave only the foundation left on a building. I would say that the only thing we don't get is earthquakes but last week there was a 4.0 with a 3.8 after shock which I know isn't big by any means but not normal for the area either.

I was in this messy weather... but I grew up in Iowa, so it didn't seem like much...

I love storms. I would chase them in a heart beat. I would do it on a motorcycle though, more of an adrenaline rush.

When weather you are not used to hit your area, its a big shocker.

So, Congrats on living through the experience.

When you think you might be ready for more, come visit me. 2 foot of snow, tornadoes .. we got it all. about 2 times per year we get "Thunder Snow" .. it's snow, with lightning and thunder.

:)

Oh wow those are some awesome pictures!

That's crazy. I'm in Central California, just 50 mins south of Sac. We've been getting alot of rain and wind, but it's nothing compared to you. I swear this town has a weather bubble around it.

Nice pictures! That tornado apparently wasn't very strong (F1 at most) since it only tipped over a vehicle and couldn't uproot small trees, but it's still freaky and strange for the area!

We're getting that rain here, too. It's been strange for us as well. In the morning it's overcast, around noon it's completely clear, and then in late afternoon, it's completely overcast again. It rained pretty hard last night, and the wind was goin' nuts. The big storm is supposed to come through tomorrow night, so I bet we'll see some of that massive flooding as well.

Glad you're okay! Enjoy the freakish weather! :D