June 8 -- The Rest of the Story

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I hope you enjoyed reading about the dramatic weather events of June 8 in the post below. Here is the never-before-publicly-told rest of the story...

In the middle of the severe weather with multiple tornadoes on the ground, tracking tornadoes, broadcasting the tornadoes and weather advisories on WKY TV and radio; the "red phone" rang in the weather office. This was our unlisted number that only spotters and authorized individuals had so they could get information quickly to us without going through the switchboard. Normally, I answered, "WKY Weather, this is Mike Smith, may I help you?"

Because there were so many calls and I was so busy, I picked up the receiver and said, "Weather. Go!"  At the other end of the line was the voice of Kathleen, my bride of ten months, saying, "There is a mouse in our apartment!" She was calling from on top of the counter in our kitchen.

Unfortunately, I couldn't immediately abandon the tornadoes to rescue my bride. However, around midnight, after probably the most intense day of my career, I could be found at a convenience store on Britton Road purchasing mousetraps. We caught the critter a couple of days later.

And now you know ... the rest of the story.

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