listen to that... (wind whooshes)
Many people dream of witnessing a tornado from a safe distance.
If that day arrives it's often not what they imagine it would be.
Dramatic images of well lit cylinders, cones and ropes rise above the white noise of more typical rain-wrapped
weak contrasts ill-defined, tornadoes.
In 2015 I witnessed 31 tornadoes. Of those few if any were photogenic.
In over two decades of storm chasing, I never dreamed I'd ever see a year like 2016!
music: "Angel's Serenade" by Southern Backtones
RFD cleared out. Now we can kind of see this sucker.
There she is.
Look at that.
My first and only tomato of April manifest itself as a misty carousal of suction vortices.
Thank you
Though producing well below average tomatoes for the month, April well over compensated with another striking phenomenon.
music: "Slumber Party Adagio"
A good hailstorm can leave you with some bad Karma
After a small offering to Juan and a 45-minute penance in his waiting room, you'll be good to go again.
That's dreamy.
On may 9th 34 tornadoes were reported, this being one of the two strongest rated tornadoes of the year.
This Ef4 was responsible for onedeath and thedestruction of several homes.
Along with extensive ground scouring and severe tree damage, some vehicles were thrown and Mangled Beyond recognition
Listen to that sucker.
There it is.
Massive!
The second tomato from the storm grew to over a mile wide.
Unanchored homes, mobile homes and outbuildings were leveled or completely swept away.
A large metal storage garage would be swept away and the vehicles inside it thrown up to 280 yards.
Young man who was taking shelter in his home's most interior room had his entire house around him violetly demolshed.
Only the two walls and toilet he was clinging to would remain. He would walk away without a scratch.
When they say you can't keep a good man from his work. I doubt they factored in tornadoes
Look closely, and you'll see a farmer and a tornado turning in for the day
moo
I hear you cow.
moo moo
I see it cow. Moo
Don't worry. It's not gonna suck you up.
Yet.
Thank you, Mr.Tornado. It's been a pleasure.
Monster funnel cloud up there.
It's horizontal.
Early forecasts on may 21st suggested tornadoes were unlikely to be in the picture
But in May, tomatoes seem to find a way to make the scene.
on the ground
There she goes.
Three small tomatoes would touch down, but as it turned out, the showstopper was the mesocyclone.
I can see...
suction vortices on the ground
After staying up for the late night light show, I was late for the next day's round of tomatoes.
However just in time to capture a rare close strike of bead lightning.
Bead lightning or chain lightning is the decaying stage of a lightning channel where its luminosity breaks up into segments.
For the first couple hours this supercell lacked the ingredients to drop tomatoes. So after the lights went out...
I decided to abandon my post and check out the lightning activity.
Right after turning my back on it the storm produced a large night wedge. Two days in a row now...
I missed the tornado show by only moments.
Days of exhausting chasing and little sleep was starting to take its toll. While cutting distance to the following days Target area
I stopped to help a little tiger salamander find his way out of dangerr. 15 minutes or so later...
My left eye felt like it was being gouged out with a rusty spoon.
I've handled hundreds of tiger salamanders in my life and had no idea they can secrete poison.
Just when you start to think you know a lot, Mother Nature has her ways of correcting your attitude.
After four hours of paine
I eventually passed out in the car and got a solid three hours of sleep. I considered taking a much-needed day off to rest.
Glad I didn't
Oh there it is!
That's what we came to see.
It's conception of the gods!
That's about as epic as it can get right there.
Wow!
music: "Glamorous Adagio"
That's three on the ground.
I hope i'm in focus.
This is one of the most spectacular storms I've ever seen.
This thing is heading right for Dodge City.
Might miss town to the West.
[beautiful eerie siren]
Several times throughout this evening two and even three tornadoes were on the ground simultaneously.
For many veteran chasers the may 24th Dodge City Supercell exceeded wildest dreams.
A dozen incredibly photogenic tornadoes.
moved slowly over good Road networks.
though some damage occurred to several homes there were zero fatalities reported.
After another late night of spectacular lightning, I considered taking the next day off...
Glad I didn't.
As I drive into the shadow of death...
I will try not to fear no evil.
this Ef4 was the other highest-rated tornado of 2016
It completely swept away a split-level home.
and bent railroad tracks horizontally.
Numerous vehicles including a freight liner truck and a combine harvester were tossed and mangled beyond recognition.
Despite being on the ground for ninety minutes, no fatalities were reported.
it's hitting something... debris falling through a rainbow if you can wrap that around your brain.
It's making some racket.
I got too close. There could be a satellite...
in all this inflow...
Yeah, way too close
That sucker's
Just getting warmed up
I should have known better than this.
It's in there.
Time to get out of here
In all I witnessed 27 tomatoes in 2016.
most of which were dramatically photogenic.
I get a lot of comments on this channel suggesting that it's extremely
courageous to do what I do.
I kind of find this ironic because many of the people that are saying this...
To me THEY are the courageous ones.
To them it might seem brave to drop everything and drive alone all over this beautiful country
getting close to monster tomatoes.
To me there is nothing riskier or scarier than the thought of having and raising a child.
To me parents that make all the sacrifices to raise their children are the courageous ones.
After my father died, my mother at times had to work three jobs
To raise my sister and me and always found the time took us warm meals.
That is true sacrifice. That is guts. That is courage!
This one goes out to my Mom.
it's her dedication, sacrifice, hard work and bravery that got my sister and me where we are today.
Thanks for watching friends!
'Til next time happy trails.