Originally Posted by 2manybikes
You were on the bike riding and the wind reached 100 mph where you were? What was it like? Did you get knocked down? What about objects being blown around?
Yes, I was on my bicycle. This really fast and violent storm blew in, and I was trying to cycle toward some shelter in one of the local parks. The wind was really picking up and the temperature was dropping quickly (it dropped from about 30C down to about 15C). I rounded a corner, looked up, and was VERY startled to see that a tornado (microburst) had touched down right in front of me, on a lot where a large building had been demolished. There was debris of all sorts (bits of bricks, wood, etc.) blowing way up in the sky.
Just then a gust hit me, and it felt like it lifted me and the bicycle a bit. I bailed off the bicycle onto the grass at the side of the road.
Then, I tried to think what to do (all in about 2 seconds). For a tornado, they always say two things: lie down in a low spot, or move at right angles to the tornado to get away from it. Well, the low spot where I was was the Red River behind me, and I wasn't about to jump into it. And I've never understood this business of moving at right angles to a tornado.
So I grabbed my bicycle and ran (almost in slow motion) into some trees that lined a bicycle path, hoping for some shelter from the wind. I did get some shelter and was able to start riding again, but I was also hit by small branches breaking off the trees and other debris.
Eventually I got to one of the picnic shelters in the park which is almost built like a bunker and squeezed in there with a whole crowd of other people. The wind was just howling! One of the children in there started crying and his mother told him, "Don't worry, it's just wind ... it won't hurt you." . . . Meanwhile there I was tending to my bleeding arms and legs.
Meanwhile also, the microburst crossed the river and tore apart the tents for the Red River Exhibition that was going on at that time. I believe there were pictures in the paper of people hanging onto street light poles and things to keep from being blown away.
I rode the route again the next day. There was debris EVERYWHERE .... and I also discovered that right where I had been hit by that initial gust that lifted me and my bicycle, a massive branch had broken from one of the big old oak trees and crashed on road where I had been.
I've been fascinated by tornados ever since!