A cone tornado near Crowell, Texas, frightened the chasers, who stopped on the road to take pictures.
Over the past week, I've chased some incredible storms over the Great Plains.
Over the course of three days, I witnessed eight tornadoes brought on by two powerful super-monomer thunderstorms.
I've always been fascinated by thunderstorms and tornadoes and only have one or two chances a year to chase storms.
This period of active weather in Oklahoma and Texas in early May is a great opportunity to get out and look for tornadoes.
On Wednesday, May 4, 2022, the Storm Prediction Center released the Mid-Risk Zone (out of 5) for Northwest Texas and Southern Oklahoma.
This forecast includes the possibility of a long-term and intense tornado.
It's a high-end bad weather day that happens only a few times a year.
I started the day in Norman, Oklahoma, spending the morning studying weather models and observations from weather stations in the area.
After much discussion, I decided to drive four hours to Texas with my chase buddy.
We eventually reached Kwana, an agricultural town south of the Red River.
The magnificent sights of the highland area unfold before us.
In this part of Texas, you can see 30 miles (50 kilometers) or more, without a single tree or a hill blocking the view.
It's a storm chaser's paradise with few towns and vast expanses of empty fields.
Storm chasers want tornadoes in these empty spaces so that we can be stunned as the storm spins around the open field without posing a risk to anyone.
Our forecast of the start of the storm is accurate.
Half an hour after we arrived, a super monolithic thunderstorm began to form a few miles away.
We drove to our seats to watch the storm and the chase began!
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecast for severe weather on May 4, 2022.
The super monomer slowly starts from our west side.
It developed in the open space in front of the trunk line, exceeding 4,000 joules per kilogram of Cape Town, fueling the updraft.
The National Weather Service explains:
On average, a cape rate of 1000 joules/kg is usually enough to cope with storms that are strong to severe.
A cape rate of 3,000 to 4,000 joules/kg or higher is usually a signal of a very unstable atmosphere that can produce severe storms if there are other environmental parameters.
After an hour, the super monolith grew nearly 10 miles or 16 kilometers tall and began to rain hail the size of a baseball.
We approached the storm from the inlet, hoping to see clearly the part of the storm spinning without being hit by hail.
Watch the storm intensify in Northwest Texas.
Tornadoes form.
Suddenly, the storm came.
It began to suck up dust from the fields around us like a vacuum cleaner.
The lower cloud base of the middle cyclone is lowered and the rotation is strengthened.
You can feel the storm "breathing" as it prepares to produce the first tornado.
We cut in from underneath the rear side downflow (RFD) and got an image of a rotating "cinnamon bread" wall cloud.
Within minutes, a tornado shrouded in dust made landfall a mile from us.
The environment near a storm can quickly become very intense.
As the cyclone inhales warm air, huge lightning bolts begin to hit far ahead, and a deep rumbling sound dominates the auditory experience.
When a tornado strikes, strong winds whistle from behind you and are sucked into the blood circulation.
The tornado devoured dust, tumbleweed, and any unfortunate hat that could easily be pulled off the head of a storm chaser.
The storm gives a living feeling, and you are like a tiny bystander, in awe of its grandeur.
Tornadoes can also be absolutely massive, stretching thousands of feet into the sky, dwarfing wind turbines and farm buildings.
After the first tornado encounter, we had to find a way to stay behind as the storm moved northeast.
Unfortunately, it was driving in an open field without any good roads, so we were forced to take a very small dirt road.
We came across some strange free-range cows standing in the middle of the road, apparently completely unaware of the nearby super cells.
After some persuasion, we slowly led the cattle back to a paved road.
The first sandstorm tornado under the storm.
Picturesque tornado.
The super cells increased their intensity again.
From our vantage point on Highway 6 in Texas, a bolt of lightning fell from the sky.
The low rumble under the storm turned into thunder and the constant roar of the wind.
Due to the giant hail at the center of the storm, the sky under the middle cyclone begins to turn green (a phenomenon known to storm chasers as green).
As the storm approached the road, the sky darkened and a large wall cloud became clearly visible through the dusty haze.
We walked slowly forward in order to get closer to the monster.
Within seconds, a picturesque cone-shaped tornado condensed all the way to the ground and began to envelop the red dust.
It engulfed about 300 feet of wind turbines, but remained elsewhere in open fields and bush.
The contrast between green, black wall clouds and white tapered tornadoes is impressive.
We quickly grabbed our cameras and phones and started taking pictures and videos.
While chasing the storm, my goal was to capture still photos, so I pulled out my camera in excitement and took hundreds of quick photos (most of the results were blurry), but I still took a few photos that were totally worth the long journey.
After a few minutes, the tornado was completely surrounded by red dust and dissipated shortly after.
All storm chasers, myself included, were in awe of the rare spectacle we witnessed, accompanied by a huge adrenaline rush.
Look at the clouds on the wall and "Greenery".
Tornado near Crowell, Texas, on May 4, 2022.
Author: Peter Foster, Andrew Shearer