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Eerie silence ovetakes boaters on lake

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Get me off this lake

by BJK1956 (Subscribe)

Posted on: Aug 10, 2009 at 7:53 PM CDT

Channel: Weather

Location: Iowa City,on boat Coralville Lake at West Overlook boat ramp

Tags:

Shelf cloud storm 8/8/09

We had just dropped off our driver at the dock to go get truck/trailer cause we had raced back to boat ramp due to thunderheads to the south, and dark clouds to west. There was no sign of this shelf cloud when we dropped them at the dock, but I said to run to car, and get us off the lake, cause of possible lightening...
So then, just in matters of minutes, while we were on the lake waiting to trailer the boat off the lake, this storm rolled in over us...
Sky was silent, eerie, water was very calm...no wind with the rolling in shelf cloud and all the boats on lake and ramp were silent, too. You could hear a pin drop as everyone was stunned at the sight/predicament.
Then sudden dark, extreme-mph wind gusts hit while we were still waiting, and I had to have what I think was full throttle to battle side wind in order to trailer boat onto trailer against the side wind gusts...truck/trailer ready in water on ramp next to rocks of dam........ thought if we got caught in the wind, we could be up against the rocks, or worse...and of course the boat in middle ramp next to us seemed a bit panicked and sideways, but I had room to go, so I went...For sure, experience paid off ... it was a fight to get off the water.... but then, after the shelf cloud passed, it was just raining.....guess we'd have been better off to wait out the wind on the lake....but it looked like a huge tornado coming in, or ready to drop out, and the wind gust felt like that's what might be happening.
Anyway, here's the crazy pictures. Think: Silent creeping, floating, (yet, fast, sudden), quiet, eerie, dark, then wind...

walk2work says ...

On Tuesday, Aug 11 at 6:45 AM

Commenter

what a spectacular sight! thank you

diney1957 says ...

On Tuesday, Aug 11 at 1:04 PM

Commenter

Awesome photo!

BJK1956 says ...

On Tuesday, Aug 11 at 5:09 PM

Commenter

Correction: This was actually Sunday 8/9/09

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