I could feel the inflow of air as it rushed past me from my backside. This is the rush of air that the mesocyclone suck in from the leading edges and thrusts inwards in the middle of the mesocyclone. Speeds can reach well over 100 Mph going up. This continues to grow upwards of 50,000 feet plus for well developed storms and forms the classic anvil head at the top. At this point the storm has reached it's maturity (takes about 30~45 minutes on average) before the calapse. At this point there is a downward rush of air called outflow.
Later in the evening we decided that we would move from Albemarle northward and call it a night. The goal being to get closed to the Texas/Oklahoma boarder knowing we would go north to Kansas the following day. On the way we watched another supercell erupt. It was now dark, about 9:30/10:00P M and we were caught in the "Bears Cage". I respect Mother Nature very well. She gives and takes at will. It was an extremely tense time. The "Bears Cage" is a slang metrological term for the one place you do not want to be when there is Tornadic activity. It is essentially within the wall of very heady rain, wind hail then then the tornado which you cannot see because you are blinded by weather. It was 10 PM and we could not see more than 10 feet with 80 Mph winds, 3.25" hail and a solid wall of rain (like buckets). We were about 1/3 of the way in and decided to retreat very quickly. We did a three point turn and did the pedal to the metal within reason. The storm shifted (not in our favor) but we did finally get out and pulled into a gas station. A bunch of other cars pulled into the station also within inches of either side of us. Something they do here for protection from damaging hail. At this point we rode out the storm and watch lightning strike a transformer within 30 yards of us. It was a brilliant explosion of light and that was it for the power. When the storm was over we found a Pizza Hut still open at 11:00 PM, ate, went to a hotel and crashed for the night. This is one experience and I'm cherishing every moment.
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