Stormy Dells! What a photo!

I got back from my first ever trip to Wisconsin Dells yesterday and I must say a big thank you to everyone who offered advice to a first timer.

I had a blast!! Hades is everything and more!! Got a total of 7 rides in between two storms that rolled through. I was able to get 2 night rides as well. This is definately my new #1 woodie.

I'd like to share an incredible view of the coasters I took just before a massive storm hit around 2:15pm Sat. (July 23). The last time I saw the sky turn this black was during an eclipse of the sun. Take a look.

http://members.aol.com/wecorhsc/stormy_dells.jpg

What time of day was that?

Geesh....that's really dark for a daytime shot. Are you sure you aren't messing with us swampfoxer?

Looks legit - there's a lot of light on the back side of those kiddie rides, plus if it was that dark in front, the light coming from the back is going to darken the shot.

Impressive!

I'll take a guess. It looks to me like it might have been around 2:15pm on a Sat. (July 23) Could be wrong, tho.

Great picture. Looks like a central Ohio storm I was caught in today.

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SVLFever said:
Geesh....that's really dark for a daytime shot. Are you sure you aren't messing with us swampfoxer?

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I can assure you I am not messing with you. This is a totally legitimate camera shot. No photoshopping here I promise.

A friend of mine even called me later that night from NC and said he was watching a golf tournament that was in Milwaukee. They had to halt the tournament because of this storm. He said the announcer said the storm came from the west and that there was a tornado warning. He immediately thought of me as he knew I was in the area that the storm came in from.

I was thinking the same thing RCMAC. Looks like every storm that hits Ohio anymore. How many times have I been at PKI when the sky looked a lot the same? I was probably thinking, "I think I'll skip that last ride on Vortex, and stay clear of the Eiffel Tower...don't want to be a human lightning rod!!

Is it just me, or do those coasters look massive from those shots? I've never been up there, always wanted to go, and I didn't realize the coasters were so impressive looking.

Agreed, slowmo.

We had real bad storms during the afternoon in Milw. and the central part of Wisc. with 50,000 people losing electrical power os i think it is legit.

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slowmotion said:
Is it just me, or do those coasters look massive from those shots? I've never been up there, always wanted to go, and I didn't realize the coasters were so impressive looking.

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It's because they're on top of the hill and the rest of the park is at the bottom.

That picture was taken from almost the other end of the park. The coasters are on the other side and on top of a hill.

Those are the fun storms as an employee, you know, a "seek shelter under your station" kinda storm. We would get 2 or 3 at Cedar Point like that over the course of the summer. It was some of the best times for the crews to hang out.

Last year there was one storm that formed within 15 minutes. It was perfectly sunny out and then a huge wall of black started heading toward the peninsula. Right before the storm got there EVERYONE started running towards the front of the park in masses. It was genuine terror and I wish someone would have gotten footage because it was just like a scene out of Independence Day or Day After Tommorrow with all the people running for their lives. It was very surreal...there were even church groups gathered around their leaders praying and stuff. I mean, come on people it's just a bunch of wind, rain, and a bit of lightning--hang out in the main arcade until it passes. And since you're surrounded by really, really huge lightning rods you've got nothing to worry about.

That was a fun day, I had just gone on my split, but I walked back to my ride during the storm and waited it out with the rest of my crew, PaddleWheel, and Monster. The games we played while waiting made it worth it though. :)

*** Edited 7/26/2005 2:36:55 AM UTC by CPgenius***

What year did you work at CP, CPgenius? I was at PaddleWheel and Camp Snoopy in '99 and 2000.

Interesting pic, swampfoxer.

Edited to unabbreviate Camp Snoopy. *** Edited 7/26/2005 3:18:51 AM UTC by dexter***

I can't agree with you more, CPgenius. When the remains of hurricane Dennis were passing over Kentucky, my fellow co-workers and I were having the best time working the rides because hardly no one was at SFKK. Yes, we employees love when the weather gets terrible. But the hurricane only hurt the park and we lost a lot of money(hard to imagine) and now we are suffering from employee cut-backs. i.e.-we now only have 5 people and one breaker on Blizzard River. We used to have 8 people and 3 breakers. And 5 is a real b**** to work with.

awesome photo, thanks for sharing :)

That is a really cool photo. When I visited the Dells a month ago we also had a storm and I was just thinking about how cool it would be to get a picture of Hades with a storm behind it. I would still love to see a picture with lightning in the backround. Even though it would be hard to capture.

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CPgenius said:
And since you're surrounded by really, really huge lightning rods you've got nothing to worry about.

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Well, of course, except for the kid that almost got struck by lightning in the Soak City parking lot eariler this year.

Anyway, that photo is... wow. It seems so menacing... if there would of been a bolt of lightning in that pic, it would of been... well, wow, but in a different way.

We have dark clouds like that here in Centeral Texas during the fall and winter (as if there was one in Texas). There is like a line of dark scary clouds, then sun... bright sun.

Nice photo! I have never seen it get so dark in the afternoon like that. Wow!

-Tina

I worked at Thunder Canyon in 2003, and was one of two 3rd-in-charge at Magnum in '04.

nesdude, the kid was in the main parking lot, not the Soak City parking lot. The Soak City lot's proximity to Dragster and Magnum would probably make it less likely for a lightning strike in the parking lot, although still possible. The main lot is like a huge flat concrete pad with a watch tower in the middle and a few light poles scattered about.