USA Storm Chasing Expedition - 29 May, 2008

Expecting another major day.

George on the webcam.

A large fuel / travel plaza complex absolutely packed with chasers.

The "Twister" pinball machine.

:) I got a high score... (not the highest, but I did well).

Ok.. storms are firing up.

Approaching.

Oh NO.

Passing the TIV.

Passing the DOW.

hmmmm.

Wall cloud.

Analysing the skies.

Cool shot.

OMG.

The TIV.

Good timing.

Storm is building very quickly.

Now it is declared dangerous.

Rotation is rain wrapped.

It's starting to head for a major town.

We are all scared for the locals.

Oh No!

Storm quickly approaching town.

Funnel in the distance...

Rotation present.

Little twisting thing happening here.

Near the hook, but a little too far south to see anything.

This is a DANGEROUS STORM.

Another storm behind the one we are chasing.

This one also has rotation present.

Holy #@#$... There is NOW a confirmed Wedge Tornado screaming its way through town.
Cars were flipped in to buildings, roofs ripped off, but luckily storm spotter reports with the NWS
gave excellent warnings and time for people to seek shelter.

Nothing we can do but watch..
It's hard to see, but there is a massive half mile Wedge Tornado on the ground.

The town is being ripped apart.. Power flashes could be seen every few moments.

A very sobering sight.

........................................{}...............
There's the Wedge... You can see the right hand side of the Tornado. (Just above the brackets)

Wedge still on the ground.

I felt quite distressed and sick watching this.

Major reports coming though the spotter network.

The back end of the wall cloud.. As you would expect with a major Wedge Tornado.

Everyone in the Vans has gone quiet with shock and distress.

Heading into the storm.

VERY BAD VISIBILITY.. I rolled video during the worst parts.. we could not see more than 10 metres in front of us.

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Tornado is still rain wrapped.

Very dangerous to be on the roads right now.

Hail fast approaching.

Wow!

The two TIV's

Hello TIV.

Does not look very comfortable.

Passing the TIV.

Do we follow...

WE DO NOT...

Rabbit is good.

Rabbit is wise..

You realise that had to be said somewhere in these comments.

Nice shot of TIV 2

Hi There.

We will be seeing you later..

I said.... LATER...

Doppler Radar.\

Farm.

Clouds..

Rain.\

Hello TIV's we meet again.

Are they following us? (They just passed us).

The DOW & TIV Crews.. They really take over the road.

They look kinda cool though.

If I were a farmer and saw these people parked outside.. I would get a little worried.

A storm... we see a storm.

OMG.

We got one..

TORNADO!!!

/
NOW THAT'S A MESO.

Confirmed Tornado on the Ground.

WEDGE.

Lifted.

There it is.

Getting closer.

Much closer.

Multiple rotations present.

This is now VERY dangerous.

Very violent storm.

Another funnel.

Outside the vans.. TORNADO ON THE GROUND.

Major lightning strikes everywhere.

Wow.

Isn't that incredible.

A darker shot for stock..

Ooops.. Wrong setting.

That's better.

Starting to cross the road.

Winds are incredible..

Cone has died.

No it has not!

Back on the road... So is the Tornado.

Stovepipe Tornado.

Wedge again.

$$#^$#^@#^ MULTIVORTEX.

OMG...

Just as I was taking this we nearly drove through the back of the TIV Support crew vehicles.
As they say.. The most dangerous part of chasing.. Is the driving..

Incredible.

Amazing to watch.

Back to a wedge again.

This storm is incredibly violent.

Debris being thrown around.

Debris still on the ground, but funnel lifted.

What a storm. Still going strong.

It's now heading for a small town. The funnel touched down once again and ripped apart homes.

Road closed.. power poles down.

DAMN.

Very destructive.

Thankfully, from our reports, our team were the first chasers to spot the Tornado and urgently reported it.
People in the town had 8 minutes to seek shelter after our initial report.
Hopefully our efforts saved some lives.. No injures or fatalities were recorded on this storm.