EMERSON, Iowa — While many in Southwest Iowa saw the strongest of Friday's thunderstorm, one Emerson couple watched a funnel cloud spin from the cloud outside their home.
Larry and Marlene Skalberg, who live right just east of Emerson, have lived in their house for 39 years. They've experienced storms throughout the years but never saw one up close like Friday's storm that created a funnel cloud right outside their front door.
"It was just neat to watch it and how it formed and then how it started to get smaller and then it just disappeared," said Marlene.
Marlene said she got an alert on her phone about a tornado warning that advised people in the area to take cover, as northeastern Mills County was under tornado warning for part of the afternoon. She started heading towards the basement, but her husband Larry grabbed a chair, a beer and headed for the front lawn.
"He was like, 'look! A tornado! Go out on the lawn and take pictures!' So there I am out on the lawn just taking pictures and I'm like, 'what if the tail just comes down and takes?' " said Marlene.
Larry wasn't worried. He said he enjoys watching storms brew and has experienced several tornadoes in Iowa, Oklahoma and Kansas.
"I like to watch storms coming in and the clouds forming. I always have since I was a little kid," said Larry. "I enjoy storms. But if the funnel cloud had touched the hill...well that's a different story."
