As I was sitting in the parking lot, waiting for the rain to stop, the sky kept getting darker and darker and I began seeing lightning all around me. Then I got simultaneous warnings on my phone, my watch, and even from the rental car itself, all saying to take cover immediately because there was a tornado nearby. Jeez. Where would I go? All the nearby buildings were closed and we were miles from any available shelter. I just sat there and hoped for the best. It was pretty clear that the launch would be canceled, but I never received a notice from Space X. By this point the rain was coming down so hard that I couldn't see the rocket or even nearby buildings. I saw plenty of lightning though. There were huge lightning bolts in all directions. I heard thunder almost immediately, so the lightning was close. Some bolts appeared to land pretty close to the launch pad. At some point during the storm, other cars in the parking lot started to leave, so I knew that the launch must have been scrubbed.
I decided to head back to Titusville before it got completely dark. The roads were already covered with water and were very hard to see. I knew if I waited much longer some of the low areas might become impassible. It was a white knuckle drive back to town. About halfway back to the hotel there was a second tornado warning. There was even a little swirling image of a tornado on the car's GPS. There was so much water on the road that I felt there was a real danger of hydroplaning. Eventually I made it back to the hotel and I'm now trying to decide whether to stay another day.
I may change my mind, but I think I'll head home tomorrow. There is a 90% chance of more rain on Friday. Rain is in the forecast for Saturday and Sunday too. With those kind of odds I could be here forever, or at least until I ran out of money. Things don't begin to clear off down here until later next week. I definitely can't afford to stay that long. The day wasn't a total loss though. We got our credentials this morning and were bussed out to the launch pad to set remote cameras and take close up shots of the Falcon Heavy on the pad. It's a shame that Space X didn't go ahead and launch yesterday. The weather had actually cleared up by the original sunset launch time.
I'm not even sure I could stay another day because the hotel is already beginning to fill up with weekend travelers. Airfares are more expensive on weekends too. If I stay Friday, I would be flying back on Saturday. Basically, I think it's a lost cause. One of the weather apps on my phone says there is a 90% chance of thunderstorms tomorrow. Oh, well. You win some, you lose some.
I enjoyed chatting with other launch photographers out at the launch pad this afternoon. The weather was really nice up until about 4 PM. It's weird how quickly things can change. I really thought we were going to have a successful launch for quite a while today. All in all, it was a good day. I definiely can't recommend sitting out in a car in an isolated parking lot, miles from anywhere while you learn you are directly in the path of an approaching tornado. That was a little spooky.
Chance is today's Dalmatian of the Day |
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