- Day two of our 2016 storm chase and
it turns out to be our second tornado day in a row. This time
southeast of the town of Spearman, Texas.... On my birthday no
less! Because my birthday falls in late May, it's not uncommon
for me to witness tornadoes on my birthday, and this year it
was a bit of a surprise.
The storm that we had been tracking was looking unimpressive
on radar and visually, and we were in the process of giving up
on it and started driving away a bit frustrated. Luckily, Jaclyn
Whittal wasn't done with the storm yet and urged us to turn around
and check it out one more time. Well that certainly paid off.
The storm ramped up, became tornado warned, then started producing
at lease two tornadoes. The first had a classic "elephant
trunk" look to it as we raced to get closer to it. Once
that tornado lifted, we turned around and started heading east,
and suddenly, we noticed that a second, much larger tornado had
formed behind us. This second tornado looked very strong, so
we kept our distance as it churned away in a field.
The tornadoes didn't hit any towns, which is good considering
how strong the second one likely was. I'm so glad that we turned
around. Persistence pays off!
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