At around 5pm Monday, tornado sirens whined throughout Chicago and bounced forebodingly off the skyscrapers downtown.
Even if you didn't know what message the strange warbling was supposed to convey, the experience was terrifying. Office workers (including us) fled down stairwells into basements. Those caught outside dashed through the thick sheets of rain blasting down in wet bullets from the dark sky. People stuck in cabs waited as the wailing told them to go inside.
Nonetheless, Chicagoans still found time to share photos and video of their experience. The worst seems to be over now, but if this spring is any indication, or last summer's derecho, freak weather events are far from over.