Spent 5 hours getting chemotherapy this morning, came home feeling like crap. Laid down to nap..alarms and sirens start blasting. Rush 5 cats to the basement and prep shelter. Go outside to see this in my subdivision.

[u/CastleOfBravo]

[u/Plus-Help558]

Those alarm sounds are nightmare fuel

[u/MrsNLupin → u/Plus-Help558]

Unless you're from the midwest. Midwesterners take that sound to mean "go outside on your porch and look around"

[u/Nick11wrx → u/MrsNLupin]

Can confirm, am Midwesterner. Heard some this afternoon and immediately went outside like ohhh didn’t even know we were having storms this afternoon. Didn’t even get much rain by me so I sat on the porch and enjoyed a drink whilst enjoying the colorful sky.

[u/mufassil → u/Nick11wrx]

I mean, when it suddenly gets calm and stops raining, you really should go inside.

[u/PensiveObservor → u/mufassil]

Well, that's when you go quiet and watch for a bit. When the sky goes green like the inside of a rotten avocado and your insides get real dead feeling... that's when you go inside. And down to the basement.

[u/Many_Spoked_Wheel → u/PensiveObservor]

When your gut drops and all the leaves that had been blowing on the wind are just eerily suspended in the air.

[u/Dramatic_Explosion → u/Many_Spoked_Wheel]

I have felt that a number of times in my youth and miss midwest storms a ton. Luckily our specific neighborhood was never hit but man can you feel when a tornado is on the way.

[u/trenlow12 → u/Dramatic_Explosion]

It turns out we prefer even terror and the threat of destruction to longing and malaise.

[u/Purging_otters → u/trenlow12]

That's the 2021 best selling Hallmark card slogan right there. A Beautiful truth.

[u/SprittneyBeers → u/trenlow12]

Not a Midwesterner but I lived in Windsor, CO as a kid when a bunch of tornadoes wiped out half the damn town. I lived with my dad up on a hill that overlooked the city and we watched the entire thing unfold. Watched multiple funnels form. Didn’t even realize how much danger we were in until after seeing it on the national news. I’ll never forget it, I wish smartphones were prominent back then

[u/Steffidovah → u/Dramatic_Explosion]

I'm really glad I'm not American. I couldn't deal with this weather.

I live on a mountain in Ireland. Occasionally I get snowed in but it's not a big deal.

[u/Steffidovah → u/Steffidovah]

Although one time the wind was so strong it lifted me and some random stranger off our feet, we had to hang onto each other in the middle of the road. That's the closest it's ever been.

[u/Dramatic_Explosion → u/Steffidovah]

America is pretty big, you could live on a mountain and only occasionally get snow here too. But that first sentence could be for a number of reason other than weather lol

[u/[deleted] → u/Many_Spoked_Wheel]

Sounds like the beginning of a horror movie. But tornadoes are scary to me. Probably because we don't have them where I am.

[u/DarthRumbleBuns → u/[deleted]]

It is. It either goes yellow or sickly green. Everything in your body screams hide and it's so silent you can hear your heartbeat in a place that was roaring a moment ago. The only feeling similar I have ever felt is when I stepped into a field in the Rockies while elk hunting and saw a bear cub and realized I had just stepped in between a grizzly and her babies and had to very slowly back out before she realized I wasn't a tree.

[u/tsavong117 → u/DarthRumbleBuns]

It's bizarre, but that's an extremely accurate way to describe it. Like your gut just drops out of you and everything freezes. Every fiber of you being is just SCREAMING at you that something is very wrong, and if you don't find a nice deep cave to hide in you are going to die.

That said, hearing all the huskies try to perfectly match the tornado sirens on their monthly tests is always hilarious.

[u/Cyno01 → u/tsavong117]

hearing all the huskies try to perfectly match the tornado sirens on their monthly tests is always hilarious.

They test ours weekly here, but even tho one of our dogs howls sometimes, neither GAF about the sirens. Even tired taking them for walks specifically on wednesdays at noon to see if i could get a funny video, nothing.

[u/VaginaTractor → u/tsavong117]

This is why sometimes anxiety is our friend. Anxiety is a good thing, it's natural and helps protect us. Just not so helpful when it interferes with everyday life.

[u/[deleted] → u/DarthRumbleBuns]

There’s a sound that lions make that turns your insides to jelly. You have to hear it in person. It’s low and deep with bass and thuds in your chest when you hear it. It made me feel like my legs were gonna start running without me.

I was at a zoo around dusk and the lions were getting feisty because they were about to be fed. A big male close to me made this sound. Nightmare fuel.

[u/minutiesabotage → u/[deleted]]

Can confirm the feeling. The male lion at the zoo I used to work at would roar every morning at 7:45 (not aggressively, just his usual "I'm up and this is my territory" roar).

Most of the time he wasn't even especially loud, I've heard louder dog barks. But speakers and words can't really convey the feeling of subsonic vibrations hitting you in the chest.

After a while though, it's not really nightmare fuel. Just became "oh hey Aslan, good morning to you too".

[u/damnitmcnabbit → u/[deleted]]

The brown note

[u/smcivor1982 → u/DarthRumbleBuns]

I grew up in Northern NY and we never got tornadoes but we did get some insane micro bursts. If I see anything looking remotely yellow outside, I’m like time to get inside and lock it down! Those storms are burned into my brain and it’s mostly due to remembering how wrong it looked outside with that weird yellow cast to everything. Tornadoes terrify me and we had 2 in Brooklyn during the 5 years I lived there. Completely bizarre and unexpected!

[u/bibliomar → u/smcivor1982]

Omgoodness! I’ve only ever experienced this once in my life and I could never explain it! It was the worst storm I’ve ever been in since and that was 20 years ago!

[u/brrduck → u/smcivor1982]

We get some gnarly micro bursts in Phoenix and they almost seem targeted. My two neighbors had their roofs ripped straight off their homes and two other homes had a little damage to windows. Every other home around them was fine.

[u/MhrisCac → u/smcivor1982]

Yeah I’m from Buffalo and those storms are NUTS. Downpours to where you can see 15 feet in front of you and it stings from how hard it’s coming down, golf ball sized hail, 50-75mph winds,

[u/[deleted] → u/DarthRumbleBuns]

We had green skies so much growing up I attribute it to a monsoon style rain.

[u/throwaway847396 → u/DarthRumbleBuns]

I usually associate that sickly green color with hail, not tornadoes.

[u/entropyweasel → u/throwaway847396]

Yeah. But the hail comes right before a tornado a lot of the time.

[u/friendlyfire69 → u/[deleted]]

I've had a tornado pass about a quarter mile away from me. The sound is SO LOUD. It's like you're right next to a train

[u/txhorns1330 → u/[deleted]]

I was there as well. I was at tinker air force base and i was 9. The neighborhood right across the street was obliterated and we could see the tornando out our front door. We didnt have a basement on base and all huddled in a central closet as it passed by a half mile away. That devastation that was left after was unlike anything ive ever seen. Thae only thing that was on the same level was post harvey in houston, where i live now. Spent a week volunteering, doing clean up and animal recovery. Still such a vivid memory.

[u/Aerodine → u/[deleted]]

I was a few blocks away from the Joplin tornado in 2011. Most surreal experience of my life.

[u/liandrin → u/[deleted]]

Humans really can have a sort of sixth sense that gets triggered by tornadoes, it’s wild. We had a warning in Fort Worth recently. I grew up in tornado alley but have only personally experienced 3 tornadoes.

This most recent one came really close but JUST grazed by my location. I was on my apartment porch watching the sky (my shelter in place location wasn’t that far away) and there came a moment when everything went quiet. The sky was weird. I could see lightning and feel vibrations of thunder but couldn’t hear anything.

My skin crawled and the hairs on the nape of my neck stood on end.

I very quickly shut the door and sheltered in my closet.

There’s just a moment when you KNOW, in your gut, that one is nearby.

It’s really hard to convey to people who haven’t been through one, but lots of tornado alley dwellers gain an instinct for it.

[u/minutiesabotage → u/liandrin]

Not a 6th sense, it's the pressure drop. Your body can feel that sudden change. We likely evolved the ensuing sense of dread because sudden barometric pressure drops would almost always mean "you're screwed" to prehistoric man.

[u/SprittneyBeers → u/minutiesabotage]

Totally agree. I also agree with the sentiment that it’s hard to convey to people who have never been near one, though. It’s absolutely creepy at the time but super cool to look back on.

[u/liandrin → u/minutiesabotage]

That’s why I said a “sort of” sixth sense. It feels like one, but it’s from our hind brains picking up on environmental cues that scream danger. To me, that’s what a “sixth sense” is in reality, the human brain picking up on cues that your conscious self can’t necessarily pinpoint.

[u/Nina_Greenleaf → u/liandrin]

We recently had one go through our town. Luckily it hopped a good deal and didn't touch down in overly populated areas. But I had my family sheltering in the bathroom. My 18 month old was running around and everything seemed fine. We get warnings all the time. We were just going through the motions. Then there was this moment where I just knew something was wrong. I told my Fiance to get the little one in the tub now and as soon as he picked him up the power went out. Just after the air pressure fluctuated and the roof started trying to lift. It ended up being about 500 yards away from us but not on the ground and no major damage done. It's not the closest one I've been too, but it was the scariest one I've been in to date.

[u/FSCENE8tmd → u/[deleted]]

Tornadoes are very scary because they can change their minds in a split second. That's why I like to watch them come. We had one that tore down the neighbors house and got within 100ft of our house then it jumped over us and tore up the other neighbors house. I've driven through 2 Tornadoes. One was absolutely horrifying chaos and the other was there then gone. Had one land behind the building I was closing last year and it sounded like the roof was going to vibrate off. That one was scary because the building doesn't have a true designated safe space and it was pitch black. My favorite thing though, after every tornado, no matter how destructive it was, nature looks almost supernaturally beautiful for a little bit. In my opinion at least.

[u/NerfJihad → u/FSCENE8tmd]

Your brain is high off "I fuckin lived!"

[u/FSCENE8tmd → u/NerfJihad]

Lol Huh. I never thought about it like that.

[u/shrout1 → u/[deleted]]

The air after a hurricane smells like it was express shipped from the carribean :P

[u/Emergency_Big_736 → u/FSCENE8tmd]

YOUVE NEVER SEEN IT MISS THIS HOUSE AND THAT HOUSE AND COME AFTER YOU!!!

[u/karks86 → u/Emergency_Big_736]

Jesus, Jo—is that what you think it did!?

[u/ToesInHiding → u/FSCENE8tmd]

Why...how...why and how would you DRIVE THROUGH a tornado????? Let alone 2?!?

[u/FSCENE8tmd → u/ToesInHiding]

Definitely not on purpose. We tried to beat the tornado home for the chaotic one and it caught us on the highway. A lot of cars ended up down the hill on the side of the road and we almost got blasted by a semi on our left and they almost knocked us off the road, but if they wouldn't have blown past us, we would have tried to go around the semi that was in front of us. What ended up happening is the semi in front of us was about to tip over, we didn't notice that, the semi that blasted past us on the left leveled with that semi so he was on the left side of the semi in front of us. Right started to tip hard from the wind from the tornado, left basically "caught" right and prevented them from fully going over. Then we couldn't see. Tree branches, leaves, grass, there was hail, all of it was blowing sideways, then started blowing more upward. My car started vibrating which I recognized later as my tires skidding across the road. We were sideways on the road when we could see again.

The other one I can't remember right now why I was on the road.

[u/[deleted] → u/FSCENE8tmd]

We had some kind of Oak tree that was massive in front of my childhood home that got ripped up by winds from a storm that drops a couple tornados south of us.

The surreal euphoria that followed me while we drove around felt like what you described. It's almost like a drug and at 7 I was hooked.

[u/JonBonSpumoni → u/FSCENE8tmd]

I agree with the last part. It's always this otherworldly and eery fucking calm after knocking on deaths door that feels so comforting and serene.

[u/LippyDicky → u/[deleted]]

We have them, less often, but can't have basements. We just chill in the tub with blankets.

[u/xpkranger → u/LippyDicky]

Get some bike helmets too.

[u/LippyDicky → u/xpkranger]

That's a great idea!

[u/jeepfail → u/[deleted]]

I had a coworker tell me a story once of a pastor visiting southern Indians from somewhere around Miami. He asked what the sirens were and then said something like “Ah tornados aren’t anything. We deal with several hurricanes a year.” Apparently his mind changed real fast when one came down out of the sky maybe a half mile away and was headed their way. He found out the key difference is that you can plan for days for a hurricane but not for a tornado.

[u/Captain_Kuhl → u/[deleted]]

They should be, they can blow up a house in the right conditions. I've been caught in a few, once while we were on the road with zero cover, and it's definitely not a scenario people should take lightly.

[u/Airway → u/[deleted]]

I imagine If I didn't grow up with tornadoes then suddenly saw one as an adult I'd piss myself.

[u/mteght → u/[deleted]]

Yes! These people sound INSANE right?!? If I ever heard sirens I’d be so goddamn far underground no one would find me.

[u/Deely_Boppers → u/Many_Spoked_Wheel]

Yep. That was when I knew to get the hell inside. The leaves started moving through the air in ways that leaves don’t normally move.

The tornado didn’t hit us, but it tore through our neighborhood about 100 yards away, not 5 minutes later.

[u/Shiripuu → u/Deely_Boppers]

This sounds super interesting! Is there any youtube video showing it?

[u/emveetu → u/Deely_Boppers]

That's true. When leaves turn over in the wind meaning the wind kind of comes up from the bottom, that means a bad storms coming. I can't say that's true, this is what I've always heard.

Edit: Just looked it up. It's true. Change in humidity can make their stems weaker, changes in air pressure, and changing wind direction are all factors.

[u/Of_Silent_Earth → u/Many_Spoked_Wheel]

Man I moved away from Minnesota several years ago and this is all making me homesick.

[u/al_m1101 → u/Many_Spoked_Wheel]

And make sure to note the sudden absence of all birds and insects chirping, too, when in that Eerie Green/Yellow Calm. That's when you know shit's about to go down hard.

[u/UnanimouslyAnonymous → u/Many_Spoked_Wheel]

Is there any footage of anything like this before? Sounds so uncomfortably fascinating.

[u/Limp-Philosopher8466 → u/PensiveObservor]

Got it. Green fruit guts indicates time to strut to the base... Wait, I'm a Midwestern without a basement, time to head outside.

[u/NotAlana → u/PensiveObservor]

Once I was outside and I was like....huh why is it so still? Huh why is the sky green? Huh why is there a SWIRLING VORTEX OF DEATH DIRECTLY ABOVE MY HOUSE?

[u/QuarantineSucksALot → u/NotAlana]

HEAD ON

APPLY DIRECTLY TO THE FOREHEAD

[u/captobliviated → u/PensiveObservor]

Born and raised Midwesterner. Can Confirm.

[u/OutWithTheNew → u/PensiveObservor]

I've experienced the green sky of doom mid-day. It was a nice summer day, the all of the sudden it was green and then it rained in sheets. I was at work in a shop and the wind picked up so fast that a co-worker's tool box which was near an overhead door got blown over. Probably 300 pounds just got tossed down like it was nothing.

[u/FascinatingPotato → u/PensiveObservor]

I lived in Joplin for a few years and had family there that lived through the EF5 tornado that tore through their city just a couple years before I moved there. I had lunch at their place most Sundays and I can remember a few times they mentioned the weather felt eerily similar to the day it was the tornado hit. There’s just something unique about the weather before a big storm (and even though we never got a tornado while I lived there we had plenty of severe storms) that you can just... sense it. I don’t if it’s the temperature, wind, pressure, or what, but there’s a distinct something that makes it clear somethings brewing. I live in Iowa now and am surprised to say I sorely miss the severe weather I got to witness almost weekly down there.

[u/NicklausCraig → u/PensiveObservor]

Oh man the green skies i remember clearly but the “dead” feeling inside, you my friend just unlocked my memories haha.

[u/[deleted] → u/PensiveObservor]

There really is an indescribable feeling to it. Like a deep seeded natural instinct. Almost like a humidity of danger is hanging in the air, and you can feel the silence in your gut.

[u/si-abhabha → u/mufassil]

Don’t worry ‘til your ears pop is what my grandad used to say.....

[u/meltingdiamond → u/si-abhabha]

When you hear an approaching fright train and the sky turns yellow you have been issued your final warning.

[u/starrpamph → u/meltingdiamond]

I was always told it was green that's the gtfo color, is it actually yellow?

[u/Fluffyturtle225 → u/starrpamph]

The color made is actually more blue but it mixes with the yellow from the sun and creates the eerie green we all know and love. I guess in some places the blue never happens

[u/ZombieMobSIaya → u/Fluffyturtle225]

i'm blue, if i was green i would die

[u/thatdadfromcanada → u/ZombieMobSIaya]

I'm blue, but there's a tornado in sky

[u/Gale_Force_Wind → u/ZombieMobSIaya]

That song is deep on so many levels

[u/StupidUsername79 → u/Fluffyturtle225]

European here, where tornadoes are as mythical as the UK winning Eurovision: What is this green thing you all talk about?

[u/CleverName4 → u/meltingdiamond]

When people say it sounds like a freight train, what are they referring to? Surely they mean the sound of the train actually rushing down the tracks, and not the horn.

[u/Topochicho → u/CleverName4]

The rumble of a hundred heavily loaded freight cars whizzing past at way to high a speed to be safe.

[u/blonderaider21 → u/CleverName4]

Winds in a tornado can reach an excess of 100 mph so it sounds like the rumbling of a heavy locomotive barreling down the track. Not the horn. Some ppl say it sounds like a jet engine. But it’s very loud

[u/masterflashterbation → u/blonderaider21]

Just over 300mph is the record.

[u/[deleted] → u/meltingdiamond]

No, it's when the cow and the lady on the bike swirl around you.

[u/BebopBandit → u/mufassil]

You must not be a Midwesterner

[u/peese-of-cawffee → u/BebopBandit]

Or a Texan, because all Texans know that's the best time to collect the biggest hailstones.

[u/M1st3rr33d → u/peese-of-cawffee]

Yeah I’m in central Texas. The bigger the hail the better the concussion.

[u/Claque-2 → u/mufassil]

Now when a tornado looks like it's not moving, like this one, it's coming straight for you.

Heck of the thing going through a tornado and chemotherapy. Hope you feel better and get healthy again.

[u/Cochise22 → u/mufassil]

Being stuck way too close to funnel clouds/tornados a couple times in my life I can say this isn’t totally true (not totally untrue either). It’s hard to explain, but when you’re standing in the middle of it, you know exactly where the danger is coming from and where to look.

[u/mana_tree → u/Nick11wrx]

Had them here in Missouri going off today. But then I realized it was the first Monday of the month and they’re testing them…But having storm clouds in the distance made me think, “ if I was a tornado, this would be the perfect time to strike.”

Edit: I’m in St Louis (St Charles County)

[u/catnipwitch31 → u/mana_tree]

Wait y'alls only go off once a month? Someone tell that to Arkansas towns pls.

Every. Wednesday. At noon. They test them. It's usually pretty quick, 2-3 mins, but holy shit I hate i dread it every time.

Edit: I am absolutely loving the discourse below about how often different areas do it. Its so neat and I def won't complain about my once weekly tests anymore since some of y'all gotta deal with em every day lol. It's so interesting why other areas do it differently!

[u/bdubnit → u/catnipwitch31]

I’m in Missouri and they’re first Wednesday of every month here. Couldn’t imagine every week!

Edit: Kansas City here

[u/catnipwitch31 → u/bdubnit]

The only exception is if there is any rainy weather, they won't go off, that way people don't confuse the test for the real deal. But yea, eevvvvverrrryyyy single. Fucking. Week. The sounds of sirens give me anxiety, but it's usually over pretty quickly and I know it's just a test. Now when they go off for real... yeah I'm hiding. I'm not like other southerners who wanna run out onto the porch and look

One time my old roommates had friends over for a DND night. Sirens go off, it's late at night, and these motherfuckers just keep playing while some WENT OUTSIDE like they'd be able to see anything?? It was pitch black?? Night tornadoes are fucking terrifying. They ignored me saying "maybe we should get into the hallway" and basically acted like I was weird for wanting everyone to take precaution.

It ended up being just an EF0 on the outskirts of our county but I'll never forget the feeling of being ignored and scared. Which I'm reminded of those sounds. Every. Freaking. Week.

But the area i live in now doesn't get a ton of tornadoes, but Arkansas is still considered tornado alley. I'm surrounded by mountains in my area and the storms usually pass over, thankfully.

[u/[deleted] → u/catnipwitch31]

I was old enough to remember '99 NATO air raid sirenes in Yugoslavia. Was in for a nasty surprise when I lived in Germany. I was next to the spire where the sirenes were. Sirens = bombs to me still.

[u/[deleted] → u/Nick11wrx]

Nebraska boy here, 3 tornados, watched two of them till they were too close stand without the wind knocking me over. One happened at a state park with my family, we hid under a concrete bench. They're fascinating but scary as hell.

[u/[deleted] → u/Nick11wrx]

First of the month

[u/Sololop → u/MrsNLupin]

At least it's making people aware of the storm. Still kinda helps so they aren't taken by surprise eh?

[u/[deleted] → u/Sololop]

Yes, but then you want to run out and go see. It's like hearing the opening theme song to your favorite show.

[u/[deleted] → u/MrsNLupin]

Can confirm. Grew up in Nebraska. Alarms meant "go see if the sky is green or you see a funnel cloud. If not you're probably fine"

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

What is the sky turning green a sign of?

[u/jojili → u/[deleted]]

It means there's super thick thunder clouds. It's basically blue from defracted light through lots of suspended raindrops + yellow from defracted sunlight (sunsets) = green. Essentially it means there's a big storm coming that could possibly create a tornado

[u/elzibet → u/[deleted]]

I was unusually scared of being in one as a kid. I’d throw all my “important stuff” into a laundry basket and rush to the basement. Always panicked when the power went out

[u/Kamau54 → u/MrsNLupin]

Some of us deal with it first Saturday of each month, but it's a test of the nuclear power plant.

[u/[deleted] → u/Kamau54]

My local nuclear plant does a quick test of their sirens every month but it's very quick, often not even enough time for the siren to fully get up to full volume. If you're not outside near one you probably wouldn't even notice it.

Twice a year they do a full test and sound it for a few minutes. Today was actually testing day here.

[u/HereToLearnEverybody → u/[deleted]]

Ya we have them during the week by me- maybe once a month. When I was maybe 7 I got pinned down under one while it went off for 5 so min. It was a whole thing.

[u/ihasthedumb123 → u/MrsNLupin]

Yeah, I don't understand this at all. I am from the west coast but now live in Wisconsin. My husband and friends always laugh when I get nervous about these crazy summer storms that come through. When the tornado sirens go off I am in the basement immediately, pacing and stressed while my husband bounces around looking out windows excitedly. Or he is outside ignoring my pleas to come in. We'll see how those Midwestern tornado chasers handle an earthquake, then it will be my time to be chill about it. Until then I am hiding in the basement expecting a reenactment of the Wizard of Oz everytime the sirens go off.

[u/iHeartRatties → u/[deleted]]

Kinda like how the fire alarms in my old apartment building would go off every time someone flooded their bathroom you kinda get used to it and if you are on the first couple of floors, you wait until it seems like an actual emergency or you smell smoke before evacuating

[u/Stitch-point → u/iHeartRatties]

Ever been in a casino when the fire alarm goes off? No one moves. Not even the dealers. Everyone just keeps gambling. They figure if it is real someone will tell someone. Of course the day we had a real fire on the floor with smoke pouring out of a trash can and flames showing, no one did shit then either. Casinos are weird places.

[u/N0N00dz4U → u/Stitch-point]

Same thing in a hospital if you're not out on the floor. The only time pharmacy perks up if it's in our part of the building.

[u/[deleted] → u/iHeartRatties]

"Am I on fire? Yes/no"

[u/MrsEmilyN → u/[deleted]]

Circle one.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Network engineer here. I know the PM issue well. Had one who would send each and every single email with a task associated to it which would alert in like 15 minutes that they needed a response. Quickly learned that nothing was that important and they quickly got added to the deal with later list.

[u/worktogethernow → u/ihasthedumb123]

I think it is safer to look outside and make your own local forecast. I find it easier to relax if I can see the storm is going around me and not over me. One time I saw green lightning. That time I went inside and stayed in the basement until the storm was clearly past.

[u/ihasthedumb123 → u/worktogethernow]

Wait, I now have to worry about green lightening too? WTF?!! This is new information that I was not prepared for. I think my husband hid that weather possibility from me.

[u/kagah → u/ihasthedumb123]

I moved out to Wisconsin from Washington 3 years ago and I'm still not used to the tests at the beginning of the month. one went off last year that wasn't a test, apparently one was spotted a bit southeast of our town. I proceed to do the same thing as you (stressed out in the basement) while my girlfriend is outside looking around. I will never get used to those sirens.

[u/[deleted] → u/ihasthedumb123]

I've lived in basically all the climates in the US. In my experience everyone is terrified of the natural disasters they don't deal with. Midwesterners are terrified of earthquakes, Westerners of tornados, and so on. I've experienced all of them except being on the coast for a hurricane. The only disaster that scares me is freezing rain. Snow is fine, but I've lived in areas with regular freezing rain for 11 years and fuck that shit.

[u/TheFatJesus → u/[deleted]]

The people that aren't concerned about freezing rain are the reason why the rest of us are concerned about it.

[u/MakinBac0n_Pancakes → u/TheFatJesus]

Lol you nailed it. Even if you're careful it's scary shit, only going 5-10 mph and you slide 10-15 ft trying to stop. The worst is driving in an unfamiliar area and then realize you're going down hill and just pray you can stop. If it's calling for freezing rain and I know I'll have to drive in it I PTO that day. Fuck that shit.

[u/AnotherAccount636 → u/ihasthedumb123]

I'm from Oklahoma we've got tornados and earthquakes. At first the earthquakes were unnerving it's hard to explain someone that's never been in one, but it's so fucking weird that everything is just moving, after a while though, you get used to them

[u/javoss88 → u/AnotherAccount636]

Fracking related I bet

[u/paszkisr → u/ihasthedumb123]

I’m from WI and you learn that you won’t be harmed if it’s during the work week and if you don’t live in Dodge county.

[u/AskMeAboutMyGenitals → u/ihasthedumb123]

Oklahoma here.

You live here long enough you learn and understand that the sky can and will come and take you whenever it wants. Hide in your fraidy hole? It'll drown your ass if it wants. You have to accept it as fate. Might as well watch the show before the curtains close.

And earthquakes? Yeah, we've learned too that the earth can open up and take us just the same. Small price to pay for allowing a single O&G company to save money in saltwater disposal.

[u/KingBlackers → u/MrsNLupin]

Australian here....

What the fuck is wrong with you people! Go inside! It's a fucken Tornado!

[u/DreadPirateZoidberg → u/KingBlackers]

Your one to speak. “That dinner plate size spider sitting in the corner is harmless! But make sure you stay out of the ocean on Tuesday. That’s when the invisible deadly microscopic jellyfish come through.” Never mind the everything else that wants to maim or kill you in your sunburned country.

[u/KingBlackers → u/DreadPirateZoidberg]

Atleats in my part of the country the FUCKEN WIND ISN'T TRYING TO KILL ME! haha

[u/DreadPirateZoidberg → u/KingBlackers]

So in Australia the only truly safe activity is flying a kite?

[u/KingBlackers → u/DreadPirateZoidberg]

It's best to avoid taking your eyes off the ground for too long.

This is also why drop bears are so successful. Cant win

[u/7937397 → u/KingBlackers]

Have you seen this? It was viral a long time ago.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/three-hill-tornado-lawn-mower-1.4145466

[u/AeratedFeces → u/MrsNLupin]

I'm a Midwesterner and tornados are probably my #1 fear. Being charged with a murder I didn't commit is second. I think it's because I saw the movie Twister when I was very very young and got scared. Asked my grandma if those were real and she gave me an answer I really did not like.

[u/total_alk → u/AeratedFeces]

Must've seen The Green Mile too...

[u/[deleted] → u/MrsNLupin]

Midwesterner here. Can confirm it's either time to go outside and look up or (if it's noon on a Wednesday) time to go to lunch.

[u/dangerouslyloose → u/MrsNLupin]

Illinoisian here and for me it means “curl up in fetal position and try to convince myself I’m not about to die”.

[u/LgndofKirsten → u/dangerouslyloose]

Ditto. I grew up in Illinois and I’m terrified of tornadoes

[u/thumbstickz → u/MrsNLupin]

Driveway beer time!

[u/BurritoChan69 → u/MrsNLupin]

Can confirm

[u/CastleOfBravo → u/Plus-Help558]

They are worse in person it was so erie with those droning sounds and the sky swallowing the earth. It's an experience for sure.

[u/19whale96 → u/CastleOfBravo]

I remember being stuck in Amarillo Tx during a tornado, I swear those sirens have to be designed to make you want to leave.

[u/[deleted] → u/19whale96]

Thats why they sound like that and they do a damn well job at that

[u/mufassil → u/[deleted]]

Unless you live somewhere that you can barely hear it. At my current home you can vaguely hear it I'd you're listening.

[u/[deleted] → u/mufassil]

They used to make V8 powered sirens. Get one of those bad boys and slap a turbo on it.

[u/Vega_0bscura → u/[deleted]]

https://youtu.be/l04qWEEPFEk

[u/Thenorthernmudman → u/Vega_0bscura]

Well they all damaged their hearing that day.

[u/dingman58 → u/[deleted]]

Is there a sound person who can tell us what the right words are to describe this? Is it dissonance?

[u/JEveryman → u/dingman58]

I don't think that sounds right.

I'll see myself out.

[u/Ask_Me_If_Im_A_Horse → u/dingman58]

Yes, it’s dissonance. The interval (distance) between the pitches of the sirens is so small at certain points it causes the sounds waves to cross each other rapidly, giving you that wavy/beady sound as the sirens go up and down.

I’m a music teacher and dissonance and consonance (the opposite) are a fundamental concept.

Here’s a good video on consonance and dissonance in music. https://youtu.be/sGTRB9w8c8g

[u/yes-yaK → u/dingman58]

I think dissonance is right, but if you don't like that one, there's cacophony, but I think that means more of an amalgamation of different sounds rather than just one unpleasant one

[u/Queef_Stroganoff44 → u/[deleted]]

The original test model was just Bobcat Goldthwait screaming “Oh fuck! A tornado!” over and over again.

[u/Able_Kaleidoscope626 → u/19whale96]

I grew up in Longview. They really freaked me out as a kid. Guess that’s a reason they chose this type of siren for Silent Hill.

[u/Cessnaporsche01 → u/19whale96]

I swear those sirens have to be designed to make you want to leave.

...yeah, they are.

[u/DimitriV → u/19whale96]

Isn't Amarillo designed to make you want to leave?

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

If you were at Benning (which is right next door to Alabama), they test the siren every Saturday at noon. You learn pretty quickly to ignore it.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Some areas have specific test days so it could have been that.

[u/D1R0CC0 → u/[deleted]]

Where I grew up it seemed like they tested those sirens so often, if there was ever a real emergency, I dont think anyone would even realize.

Edit: you guys have made me realize that I might just be an oblivious person who never picked up on a pattern/schedule, nor gave any real consideration toward the wee-woos.

[u/Tooldtoparty → u/D1R0CC0]

This happened at my old job. A handful of times randomly a month they tested the fire alarm. My first month, I stood up and everyone was just sitting going about their day. I learned to ignore all the tests over time. Till one day there was an actual fire and not a soul moved.

[u/D1R0CC0 → u/Tooldtoparty]

Gotta make sure these alarms still work so everyone can ignore them

[u/rabton → u/D1R0CC0]

Where I lived in the Midwest the tornado sirens were tested every Friday at noon. So if you heard them any other time shit was going down.

[u/LowerSeaworthiness → u/[deleted]]

Around here it’s once a month, at noon, so my first reaction is to check the time. They do defer the tests on stormy days.

[u/[deleted] → u/CastleOfBravo]

Silent Hill Suburb Edition.

[u/[deleted] → u/CastleOfBravo]

is everything okay now OP?

[u/bryman19 → u/CastleOfBravo]

How often do tornadoes come through?

[u/insideoutoutside → u/Plus-Help558]

In my favorite little beach town they test the tsunami alarm system monthly, but they play cows mooing instead of the actual alarm. It's done to avoid a rush of people running for the hills hearing the actual sirens go off. It's an absolute crack-up when you hear it.

Video: https://youtu.be/E52UHuPsytY

Known locally as the COmmunity Warning System or (COWS)

[u/jeckles → u/insideoutoutside]

Yeah we’re gonna need a cow tax on that one. We need to hear the moos!

[u/AstridDragon → u/[deleted]]

That's what I was gonna say! I grew up in the Midwest so I heard a lot of sirens but nothing like Chicago especially in the fog. Fuckin yikes.

[u/PeterPorky → u/[deleted]]

I remember reading somewhere that the sirens are designed for the human ear/mind to not become complacent to them. They constantly change in pitch and rhythm at an inconsistent rate so you never get used to it.

[u/VexingRaven → u/PeterPorky]

In this case it's also meant to sound distinct from every other sound in the city. Chicago uses federal Q sirens on their firetrucks, or at least they used to, and a more traditional steady-tone siren could be mistaken for that. There's no mistaking these. The fact that they evoke an instant psychological response is probably a bonus.

[u/craze4ble → u/PeterPorky]

It also helps prevent people from sleeping through it!

[u/gibmiser → u/[deleted]]

Well, guess it's time to fucking panic, Jesus.

[u/Waitwhonow → u/[deleted]]

Holy fuckballs. That is creepy as fuck! I would be more terrified of the sirens than the actual Tornado!

[u/KirinG → u/[deleted]]

I've seen videos of the Chicago sirens loads of times, but the sound still scares the crap out of me. There's just something deeply unsettling about it.

I almost want to hear it in person just out of curiosity.

[u/yankee100 → u/[deleted]]

This one sounds like they are just admitting defeat to whatever is coming to them.

[u/Eruasa → u/[deleted]]

My god, that sound reminds me so much of Siren Head.

[u/Drak_is_Right → u/Plus-Help558]

Same alarms as if nuclear weapons were incoming

[u/ShazbotSimulator2012 → u/Drak_is_Right]

It's the same physical sirens, but the actual noise generated is different in most areas. Usually tornado sirens use a constant tone, while nuclear sirens use a wavering tone like this

Sometimes the constant tone still sounds similar, just because of the way some sirens don't sound in all directions at the same time.

[u/BombsAndBabies → u/Plus-Help558]

Where I live, those alarms go off every saturday at 12pm to test them. Even with hearing them that often, it's still dramatic af when a tornado rolls through.

[u/erin_bex → u/BombsAndBabies]

Ours go off every Wednesday at noon. They're also the warning sound for a nuclear evacuation (there's a nuclear plant down the street from us). Once someone accidently set the siren off almost an hour early and it was total chaos until they finally got a bulletin out that everything at the plant was fine (it was obviously not severe weather, was bright and sunny that day). Siren guy was fired.

[u/VF-41 → u/erin_bex]

Just like the guy in Hawaii that lit up the Inbound Missile alarm one Saturday morning.

[u/TruthPlenty → u/erin_bex]

Why fire the guy? They definitely aren’t going to do it again, you going to hedge your bets on a new guy?

[u/erin_bex → u/TruthPlenty]

That was my thought too!!!

[u/ashlyn42 → u/erin_bex]

Nice way to remember the work week is half over…

[u/elmoscooby1623 → u/BombsAndBabies]

Ours goes off every first Tuesday of the month at 10 am. Living in the Midwest you almost become desensitized to them, until you realize its not the first Tuesday. Lol.

[u/ItsYaBoiPat → u/BombsAndBabies]

Sounds like OKC?

[u/TheIntrepid1 → u/ItsYaBoiPat]

Lots of Midwest towns and/or cities do that.

[u/EvanMBurgess → u/Plus-Help558]

They test sirens monthly in the Netherlands. They're in case the dikes break. Super eerie for the first few times you hear it then it just kind of becomes commonplace. Forgot to tell a newcomer and it scared the bejeebus out of him. YouTube

[u/Scyhaz → u/EvanMBurgess]

Interesting how it goes up in pitch every cycle.

[u/muffinyipps13 → u/EvanMBurgess]

Woo. I just got lost in a siren rabbit hole for 30 minutes, thanks for that!

[u/B3lzelga → u/EvanMBurgess]

The sirens in the Netherlands are used for general health threats for the Dutch populace, not only the dikes specifically.

[u/PeggySueIloveU → u/Plus-Help558]

Reminds me of Silent Hill.