April Vorticity

It happened just seconds after descending into the cellar to shelter from the towering storm.

A vorticity spun up around the Redbud about twenty feet from the cellar and lingered there.

I heard it happening, presuming it was a tornado taking out the house and workshop. Damage to the tree was both obvious and subtle. Unmistakably injured, its limbs all sagged.

A close look revealed the strange cause for their odd collapse. Torsional stresses great enough to split the branches along their lengths rather than just breaking them off.

We waited in the cellar thirty minutes just to be sure the whirling winds had moved on and any flying debris had settled down. The tomcat meowing to be let in with us gave reason enough to open the cellar door.

The cat came in and rolled on the cellar floor belly up, wanting attention. Peering out, the house still stood. No damage to it. Turning slowly, expectantly looking around revealed the twisted tree. At that moment the tornado touched down four miles away as the crow flies. One person killed, six injured, and twenty families displaced across its swath of destruction.