I've been within a few miles of quite a few tornadoes. Some of those storms stand out in my memory, but the one I've always remembered as being the worst at my location didn't produce tornadoes, it was a hail and wind storm. I believe it was May 5, 1989. I think of it as the worst because hail is louder than wind, and this storm produced an obscene amount of hail, and not for a short time. It woke me up with the first few hail stones, then the floodgates opened. I'd never heard anything like it, and never have since. I walked around looking out the windows; I was always fascinated by storms. Wind gusts over 100 were measured in the area and I remember hearing the house groan under the strain. The hail intensity reduced and I fell asleep beside a window watching stuff blowing around outside. A little later was the first tornadic storm I remember. All I saw was wind and rain, but I got to hear the tornado sirens.