Gone With the Wind

I just had to write about something cool that happened last Friday. My mom and I were driving home from work around 4-ish, and I had a hair appointment so we were on the south end of town (near Route 6) on the way to the salon. The sky was fairly dark and threatening out west and there had been thunderstorms and tornado watches for the past week. Right before we got to the salon, my mom--ever the storm-watcher--remarked to me, "Doesn't that cloud kinda look like a funnel?" I looked up and immediately saw what she was talking about. There was a cone-shaped tail hanging down from the dark purple storm cell almost directly in front of us. I watched it for a second or two then said, "Uh, Mom, I think that is a funnel cloud." We pulled into the parking lot at the salon and got out of the car so we could stand outside watching it for a bit. During that time, it continued to grow longer and thinner and started angling toward the left a little bit. I kept saying, "I really think that's a torndao!" Just then, the sirens went off. We were both practically squealing with joy and trying to snap pictures of it on our phones (none of which turned out, unfortunately). Mom called my dad on her phone to tell him we were standing right by it. It only hung in the the air for a minute, though, before it dissipated and the alarms fell silent. I went into the salon and asked if they had seen the funnel but they had no idea any of it was even going on!
I only remember one other time I'd seen a funnel cloud and it didn't look like that. This one was smaller and the same color as the clouds, rather than all white. It was still pretty neat, though. And it makes me want to go storm chasing down Tornado Alley even more!