Vortex

Vortex — page 7 — The phone’s screen flashed with warning icons Whoa there’s a tornado watch for like the entire state Did you say tornado watch asked Logan Apparently he’d paused the blackened doom Just a watch not a warning David said quickly What’s the difference A watch just means conditions are right for a tornado to form Blair told him A warning means a tornado’s actually been spotted Tornadoes weren’t common where the O’Neills lived But as an outdoor lifeguard last summer Blair had gotten a crash course in weather safety And she’d heard her mom’s stories Five years of living in Tornado Alley had made her mom an expert Cool said Logan Wake me if there’s a warning I’m gonna take a nap David’s hands had tightened on the wheel Turn on the radio Blair Blair hit the AM button on the dashboard She didn’t even have to scan 7

Vortex — page 8 — channels A staticky voice was in the middle of a weather report and as far east as Mathison County If you’re in those areas we advise you to stay indoors Once again folks we have a major storm system moving north There is a tornado watch in effect for much of north central Nebraska and southern South Dakota The announcer ran through the list of affected counties again Blair checked the GPS screen The O’Neills were in Tate County just east of Mathison County right on the edge of the storm system Off to Blair’s right in the depths of the thick clouds lightning flashed Sounds like the storm system’s southwest of us said David He sounded calm but he always sounded calm Even when he was angry he kept his voice flat and distant The flatter and more distant the more emotion he was holding in And we’re heading away from it Sort of said Blair We’re going straight east It’s moving north and east We should be fine if we keep going Still Blair saw the speedometer’s needle inch upward 8

Vortex — page 9 — The voice on the radio talked through the static Line of supercells forming across south central South Dakota Blair still remembered the statistics she’d looked up when her mom first moved to South Dakota Only about ten percent of storms are supercells thunderstorms with rotating air currents And only about twenty percent of supercells produce tornadoes Plus most tornadoes happen in the late afternoon and evening not in the morning All of which meant that the O’Neills had good odds of not seeing any twisters today Blair’s phone buzzed Her mom had texted her Weather looks bad moving east Are you guys near White River yet Not yet Blair texted back But I think we’re ahead of the storm It’s not even raining here Good Just be careful You too Tornadoes were business as usual for Blair’s mom by now She and Theo had a hardcore storm shelter They used it so often that Theo jokingly called it their summer home No need for them 9

Vortex — page 10 — to climb into their bathtub like their neighbors who didn’t have basements or shelters Hatchville had never actually been hit by a twister though Just plenty of watches warnings and near misses Another flash of lightning high up in the dense mass of clouds off to the right Blair squinted Those clouds they looked as if they were slowly rotating Um Dave Blair tried to keep her voice neutral For years she’d copied him in a lot of ways but she’d never quite mastered his keeping-it-together tone I think we should pull off the highway at the next town We don’t want to get caught in this David looked doubtful It’d probably be best if we just keep going We should be out of range pretty soon Blair bit her lip Was she imagining it or was the churning motion becoming more distinct Only twenty percent of supercells produce tornadoes But she kept her eyes glued to the sky Five minutes ten minutes until in the 10

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