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A large funnel cloud took shape as we covered the five miles back to U.S. 36 (along Road W). When we reached U.S. 36 and headed west, our disbelieving eyes viewed a large funnel all the way to the ground! We turned south again onto Road U (two miles later) in light rain and small hail.
Now we were afforded only occasional views of the tornado along Road U: the updraft base of
the tornadic storm was very low, and the terrain was hilly. Only at each hill crest could we see
what was happening---and each time the thing was larger!--it was wider!--it was a big wedge tornado! Charlie and I were incredulous! This was the farthest thing from our minds! We ARE in
Colorado, are we not?
The precipitation ended as we churned southward down Road U. Five miles from U.S. 36, we came upon a road west, Road 7. Road 7 headed straight towards the black, menacing, deadly monster! Anticipation, anxiety, and exhilaration reached new heights for Charlie and me! This was our first real tornado---not just some wimpy landspout or funnel-less dust whirl! I turned right on Road 7. I punched the accelerator again and honked at a farm worker who was working with some equipment by the road. He did not appear to be aware of the impending doom spinning a few miles away.
Which way was the tornado going? Probably towards us. Which way were we going? Definitely towards it! How close, how scared, how daring did we want to be? It took us only one mile to decide. We stopped at Road T. It was 8:00 p.m. The tornado still appeared to be three or four miles west of us, but it also looked at least one-half mile wide! It was not moving forward very fast, however. I pointed the truck east, left the engine running, and we hastily set up the camera tripods. We both felt that we would not be able to linger very long at this site. We had escape routes only to the north and east (and west???).
The weather where we were was wonderful--the view spectacular! We were alone! (Where are those other chasers?!) Charlie's camera clicked away and I monitored the camcorder as the tornado slowly approached. We had an excellent view---there was NOTHING to obscure this grand vision! Sunlit skies framed the black and ominous wedge. How did we feel? We felt awestruck; we felt blessed. This was not Colorado--this was heaven!
The tornado slowly moved east-southeast and gradually became smaller and more compact. Its right-moving path took it to our southwest--about two miles away--but its base was now less than a quarter-mile wide. At this point Charlie and I became more concerned (safety-speaking) with the dark wall of storm encroaching from the northwest, and the classic supercell rotating directly overhead. Thunder to our north sounded like shotgun blasts--perhaps thunder trapped in a chamber of hail. We were in no-man's land: We were in heaven, surrounded by hell.
An amazing sequence of events was about to transpire as the tornado continued to our southwest. Its base began to dissipate, and for a few moments we could see a multiple-vortex structure. Just when it seemed that total dissipation was near, a needle-thin funnel suddenly formed inside of the larger, largely transparent circulation. This "needle-in-the-funnel" was on the ground and it quickly expanded. The large, squat, wedge tornado had transformed into a tall canister, or, columnar, shape. One-half minute later, the lower portion dissipated again, but once more a narrow funnel cloud quickly redeveloped along the ground. The tornado took the shape of a slender, classic-looking twister, then changed back to a canister shape again. To our south-southwest it stood at an angle in "Tower-of-Pisa-like" formation. It quickly roped out over a dusty field, still south-southwest of us, about ten minutes after we had arrived at the intersection of Roads 7 and T in Washington County. (Was "7" for luck, was "T" for tornado?).
How fortunate could two storm chasers be? We had just captured some of the most incredible and spectacular tornado video ever! We were provided with a large, slow-moving and dynamic tornado from a tranquil, obstruction-haze-and-dust-free viewing site with great backlighting and contrast. What do we do now?
Well, we had to try to stay alive. I thought that we might have to pay for our luck by sacrificing the integrity of the chase vehicle. Fortunately, large hail skirted by just to our north, and just a few golf-ball-sized stones sprinkled our vicinity.
A minute or two after the tornado roped-out, a couple in a truck drove up to us to see what we were up to. He had watched the tornado from a field on his farm; she had seen us from their farmhouse, wondered if we were stuck or something, then glanced west and fled to the basement! Now the tornado was gone, and we went a quarter of a mile west to take refuge from the impending wind, rain, and hail at their home. Their home, right on Road 7 and directly east of the tornado's birthplace, was spared because the tornadic storm turned a little to the right.
From the porch of the home of Philip Scott I videotaped the storm as it swirled a few miles to our east-southeast. The base was incredibly low, and the land below it appeared to be awash in hail.
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