[excel excel]

On our way heading to the Sushi Station after ACen, we got caught in a fierce hail storm that lasted at least a minute. The hail was so bad it put a dent on the roof of my friend's car. The hail was about the size of a quarter. Did anyone else get hit with the hail storm during ACen?

[SupremeKai]

It started raining pretty damn hard when i was leaving but luckily no hail but had to stop in a parking lot for a while just to let it calm down

[Kitsu-chan]

I got home & was starting to unpack when it started raining. Not sure how hard it rained cause I was inside watching anime

[kenkendazo]

It hailed here in Lombard. Fun times indeed.

[MetalGravy]

My friend and I were leaving the con today to get lunch and it hailed. It was already raining when we were leaving for the car, so we didn't think about it until we got outside and the hail was pounding his windshield; then he yelled, "Oh crap, that's hail!"

[Femme Fatale]

Just as I was about to step out of the car, that's when the hail hit. It left some dings on my sis' friends' car. Wish I could have taken a pic of a hailstone.

[Scott]

Yeah, just checked and there is some hail damage to my car.

This post has been edited by Scott: 22 May 2011 - 08:07 PM

[-JUNK-]

I was caught in that hail on the interstate. THAT was scary O.O

[MsLovelyCookie]

My roomates and I watch the storm go through from out Double Tree Hotel room, the only source of entertainment.

[LeenStar]

I was right outside with my boyfriend. We were lucky enough to run to a bustop (the one right outside of the convention) and take cover, but the hail did hurt on my feet, LOL! A lot of people got drenched though It was pretty scary.

[Ranko]

I was in the middle of the highway doing about 70mph when the hail storm hit me... lost all visibility, luckily nothing bad happened.

[-JUNK-]

Thats about what happened to us Ranko.
Maybe you were near us ;3

[wolverine33]

We were heading home as well then the storn/hail came down, it
only lasted a few minutes,

Later

[Ashikana]

we were in the ihop parking lot, haven't checked on my car tho. Then we drove though a huge storm

[Alchemist]

We were leaving the hotel parking lot and didn't know it was that bad...it was crazy tho because just two seconds before the storm hit it was perfectly fine. CRAZINESS! what a way to end the con lol

[Jeff]

Dodged the rain completely.

[Matt]

I had just reached the Blue Line CTA stop when the rain and hail started. Thankfully, my umbrella protected me from the hail .

[Goldeneyeuro]

I was heading home with friends after a Mitsuwa run and had just got on I-90 West when it hit. Haven't checked in detail on my car yet, but no cracks in the windshield at least from the dime-size hail I saw. I was more frightened driving through a huge storm near Wisconsin Dells and had heard over the radio that there was a tornado warning in Wisconsin. Problem is that I didn't know which county I was in since I'm not from WI and there was no good place to pull over and my cell phone wasn't working very well. Got through it though. Should go and check the rest of the car...

[Demon Slayer]

I didn't get caught in the hail, but I went to pick my cousin up around 9 (he was volunteering) and I got caught in the Rainpocalypse. There had been thunder and lightening for a little while but so far no major rain, and then it just started to downpour. River Road was all basically one puddle, it was horrible to drive through!! It was quite an experience.

[Raiji Magiwind]

We where on our way home to Michigan when all the storm hit... there was I guess a Severe Thunderstorm Warning and Dangerous Weather Alert for parts of Wisconsin to Michigan for a good portion of Sunday afternoon and evening. We had to actually pull off the highway to a gas station for a short while it was really bad, cause like visibility was near zero and we actually nearly got slammed into a semi.... *shudder* Defiantly enough to keep the whole car of people awake for rest of the trip home...>>
Yes the storm and weather got so bad it looked like a scene from "Twister"... that sort of ominous sky where your waiting for the tornadoes to start coming down...it had that scary green/gray/brown cast to it and the trees where swaying and debris was flying....
We're all safe and sound and everything though, but I swear I know what a Storm Chaser feels like or like I got to ride in a scene from the movie "Twister" [Helen Hunt one] now....Between helping buddy watch the road, I swear I was watching to see is a tornado was going to form.


And to think we where supposed to get all that the whole weekend.... we could have become Floodcon 2.0....>>
If you know of the Great Tennessee Flood at MTAC 2010, you know what I am referring to. It seems like more cons are going one during crazy weather or what not....in the past two years ('09 nad '10), we had...that I know of...

AWA 2009 was "Floodcon Beta" (yes it started flooding though not to MTAC's level...I remember sitting in the Greyhound Station an extra hour and a half cause the buses couldn't leave)
MTAC 2010 was "Floodcon"
Colossalcon 2010 was "Tornadocon"


and now we can kinda say ACEN 2011 was "Stormcon/Hailcon/Rapturecon/End of Days Con/Rainpocalypse"... or whatever you wanna call it...>> cause well we all survived the supposed Rapture/End of Days and Sunday's nasty dangerous storm...>>
And just remember what I mentioned earlier in the post.... that was the weather (Sundays severe storm/hail) we where SUPPOSED to supposedly have ALL THREE DAYS or close to it...O.O

This post has been edited by Raiji Magiwind: 23 May 2011 - 02:32 PM

[MasterLeaf]

Thankfully I retreated turtle-style into mah box and sprinted for the parking lot until it was over.

[bewd7879]

I was leaving the Con towards metra station when the rain started and it turned to hail. Was stuck under the bridge until the hail stopped and rain slowed down.

Funny since my 2 friends wanted to leave the convention before the rain started, and I wanted to stay until at least 4. We ended up getting caught in the rain and hail storm that didn't last that long :/

[Beserkiera]

I was sitting in the lobby of the Hilton. Everyone was screaming about the rapture. Twas awesome. Did feel sorry for the people I saw running by in it though.

The rain felt so good though.

[KusanagiRobin]

Wow. I'd left the con around 9 so I could catch my bus, which left Chicago at 10:30, so it was still sunny when I left. And to think I was worried about that bit of rain we got Saturday morning!

[Zilveari]

Luckily I just missed it. I had to drive home to Decatur so I left in the afternoon and could see the clouds rolling in behind me.

[chainedbyroses]

Did IRT or anyone at con put out the early warning for this? Called this in at least 45 min in advance of the first storm that skirted Rosemont, and roughly a minimum of an hour or two before the big one that hit it head on & made the hail.

I'm a trained severe weather/tornado spotter going on a decade of training & called the IRT Hotline as soon as the first warnings & details sprung up, so that they would have enough time in advance to get the word out to however many thousands of people were still left wandering the con area, so that they could be prepared and safe. On the phone they said they'd get the word out and thanks for the warning --"explosive thunderstorms with lethal golfball-sized hail and damaging winds in excess of 60 mph" (Thanks NOAA weather radio ~)-- they'd get out. (I'd literally just driven out of turn-around distance when the weather radio warning went off, or I'd have headed back to the Staff Room [I was a Volunteer - wasn't crashing it!] & spread the word there for most efficient & quick information dissemination.)

So..... Anyone know if they did?
(If not, I have a new suggestion for 2012.)

[BigBoss]

chainedbyroses, on 23 May 2011 - 11:35 PM, said:

I'm a trained severe weather/tornado spotter going on a decade of training

Nice - High five!

I managed to dodge all the nasty weather on Sunday, other than a mild sprinkle whilest driving from a restaurant in Buffalo Grove. Every other time, I was indoors with my car parked in a garage. All Sunday, I was intently watching the NOAA Radar Mosaic on my phone, and had my portable emergency SAME radio handy. A friend in Rockford also gave me a good heads up. I've been humbled numerous times by Ma Nature, so I never take severe weather lightly. Hopefully someone in charge at the venue, or Acen itself, has a contingency plan should things ever get dicey.

[Vinja Ryou]

My group and I were heading to Sushi Station as well and got caught up in it - ended up pulling into the parking lot of another hotel to wait out the worst of it (which was only a couple minutes, thankfully). Ended up staying in BG at my father's Sunday night though, since there were tornado watches where I actually live.

[Lina]

Vinja Ryou, on 24 May 2011 - 10:26 AM, said:

My group and I were heading to Sushi Station as well and got caught up in it - ended up pulling into the parking lot of another hotel to wait out the worst of it (which was only a couple minutes, thankfully). Ended up staying in BG at my father's Sunday night though, since there were tornado watches where I actually live.

I was actually in Marengo during the hail storm. My boyfriend and I left around 3pm to go to Sushi Station (LOL!), but because he lives in Marengo, it was best to go to the one in Elgin. We were already back at his place by the time the storm started.

[chainedbyroses]

BigBoss, on 24 May 2011 - 05:44 AM, said:

Nice - High five!

I managed to dodge all the nasty weather on Sunday, other than a mild sprinkle whilest driving from a restaurant in Buffalo Grove. Every other time, I was indoors with my car parked in a garage. All Sunday, I was intently watching the NOAA Radar Mosaic on my phone, and had my portable emergency SAME radio handy. A friend in Rockford also gave me a good heads up. I've been humbled numerous times by Ma Nature, so I never take severe weather lightly. Hopefully someone in charge at the venue, or Acen itself, has a contingency plan should things ever get dicey.

^ THIS. THIS THIS THIS THIS THIS.

What if Joplin, MO this past Sunday had been instead been us? After the hail, wind, flooding (in places*) and general damages we had, people can't be so complacent as to say nothing can ever happen to us in northern IL. It has. Many times, in fact [link]. (Point-in-case image)

It can. (F5 Tornado. 29 Dead. Plainfield, IL, 1990.). (F4 Tornado. Deadliest @33 Dead. Oak Lawn, IL, 1967.)
It does. (F3 Tornado. Flattened town's brick bar, 8 inside killed. Utica, IL, 2003.) (Sept. '07 "waterspouts" (tornado over H20 still = tornado!), downtown Chicago).

It's not a matter of if we'll get hit. It's a matter of when. Complacency only serves to make us more vulnerable when the time comes.

We dodged the bullet this weekend. Joplin wasn't so lucky.