Pyrmont tornado video may be a sign of things to come!

This video was courtesy of Storm Chaser Doyle Mc Intosh. On the very last frame you can see the tornado touch down to the left of the trees and another one likely that touched down on the far right of the screen. The video does not do the storm justice as Doyle told me, but at least you can make out the funnels. It can be pretty tough keeping a steady camera when tornadoes are striking, so my hats off to Doyle once again. The best part is that this tornado hit in an open field. I went driving out to Pyrmont on Saturday morning and I did not find much damage at all. Here are some pictures I took in and around the Pyrmont, Radnor, and Ockley area from the day after.

Now here is where the story gets interesting. Since I could not find much in Carroll County, I looped back toward Battle Ground in northern Tippecanoe County where I received most of the storm damage reports. My main goal was to see if in fact there was another tornado that hit Battle Ground. Here is how Battle Ground looked as I came in on Main Street. The warm welcome sign and sunshine quickly turned into a bad memory of when I drove through Dayton after the tornadoes hit in 2004 and 2005. Debris lined both sides of Main Street. I had a case of deja-vu.

I then stopped at the Williams House to check on some great folks. They told me our Live Doppler 18 gave them enough warning to get inside. Apparently the storm hit at 7:10 p.m. or 5 minutes after we told everybody to take cover in Battle Ground. It is good to know our storm tracks really do work and can help keep people safe.

It is a good thing Live Doppler 18 and Precision were on the mark because you can see the huge tree that fell between the Williams house and the neighbors. There was very little margin for the tree to miss their homes, but it did and they were very thankful. They were also lucky to have "tree man" for helping them remove this huge tree. I am sure his neighbors owe him a couple dinners at T.C.'s.

Now after combing through Main Street I took a right up the hill and found some more 2 and 3 foot diameter trees down. Based on what I had seen I certainly would say that it took 70 mph wind gusts to take down some of those trees.

The final piece of the puzzle would be going to Pat Jarboe's house. I had to check out what direction his trees were laying compared to those down on Main Street. Below you can see his huge Cherry Tree that he lost and I might add that it got all tangled up in an Orange Sage which is not a good combination when clearing brush. Pat and his family are good friends with the Prangley's and when I saw him working out there there was no doubt that I would help him out. The amazing part is that even though I was going on two hours sleep, I felt a surge of energy and felt terrific after helping clear a good 5 piles of brush. He did not force me to help him....really! It is the Midwest way! People in this part of the country live to help others after a big storm. Sometimes it may even be strangers or neighbors you haven't talked to in awhile. I never really quite understood this concept until after our big storm on Friday. Storms in this part of the country bring people together and there is not a better feeling in the world. So like George Washington, I cannot lie...I helped chop down or at least clear a cherry tree! :) There is the cherry tree below.

Here is a picture of Nathan Jarboe, the biggest helper out there along with Pat and his "chain-saw" gang comprised of his Dad. Mrs. Jarboe made everything just right and Nathana brought the much needed refreshments. The big story was that little guy, Nathan who loved working and I think takes after his Grandfathers quite well. Mr. Wilson would be proud. He has a farmer work ethic that is for sure! If you look closely you can see how huge the pile of brush got. By time we were done it was at least 10 feet high.

Now the best part of being Pat Jarboe's friend was that he is not only great to go caving and camping with (I might add I am really not a huge camper....but with Pat, I can stand it). But, he is like having a nature guide with you and a living GPS. So Pat, Nathan, and I got in the car and made up a great storm recovery and assessment team. Pat had a pad and sketched the direction in which all the trees fell after once again driving around Main street. We noticed all the trees were lying toward the southeast which meant that it was in fact straight-line wind damage. It was confirmed on Railroad Street when we went to the historical home that was hit with the huge 3 foot in diameter tree. We were all sad about that home being hit and hopefully they can continue to renovate it even after this storm. You can see it leaning to the southeast below. It was one vicious northwest wind that came through Battle Ground.

I then called this in to the National Weather Service in Indianapolis before I finally crashed on Saturday afternoon. Notice the Virtual Earth shot of the area we drove around. Most of the damage was in the "V" shape you see above between Main Street and Railroad Street. Our Precision 18 computer shows the direction of the hurricane force wind that blew through town. The big thing is everybody is safe and sound! Thanks again to Pat! Thank you all your nice comments on our storm coverage. It was certainly a team effort and you had a big role in our success as well. Great job bloggers, viewers, storm spotters, emergency management, the Weather Service, Live Doppler 18, Precision, and yes our wonderful newsroom, and my great weather team that includes our weather intern Kevin Burris. This was a good tune-up for a busy June. We need to keep working together to stay safe. I will have more on a stormy pattern shaping up tomorrow here on the blog.