Storm Chasing
Our team leader, meteorologist Charles said that today, 13th June 2017, would spawn the biggest storm of the season. We were in the middle of the famous Tornado Alley in the USA on a two week, Storm Chasing holiday. We drove all day to get into position and pulled into the side of the road to observe and take pictures. Charles explained that the main action of the storm was on the other side of the Super Cell, south East of us but we couldn’t go there at the moment because there was some ‘big hail’ on the way and we would have to wait.
Eventually we set off and joined the freeway. There, on both sides of the road, were hundreds of cars pulled over with their windows and windscreens smashed. We stopped to pick up some hailstones that were still lying on the grass.
We got to the otherside of the Super Cell and could immediately see a tornado forming in the distance.
At the same time there was a spectacular ‘Wedding Cake’ cloud forming.
A second tornado was coming closer and closer!!!!!
We drove off to reposition ourselves to watch the storm receding. It was really spectacular with a lot of lightning flashing over the fields.
We met a fellow Storm Chaser who’s car, which he had just hired, had got caught in the hail. Oooops!!!
We saw another tornado while we were on the road. Thin and slim but we saw video footage of it destroying a farmhouse.
Eventually we set off to our hotel, stopping for dinner on the way. It was late and we were the only people in the huge restaurant. The people there knew we were Storm Chasers and called us out to have a look at the sky. The ‘after storm’ clouds were amazing.
The Clouds are called Mammatus clouds and are often seen after a big storm.
So ended an unbelievable day when we experienced the storm in all its power and wonder. We also experienced a Flang which is when you get the flash of lightning and the crash of the thunder at the same time. You can watch all this on Youtube Cloud 9 Tours Highlights part 4 of 4. Enjoy.