The Prospect Valley tornado of 2018 elongated southward from its cloud-base location, the foot of the vortex shoved along gently by downdraft air wrapping around the ground-level mesocyclone. I had a nice vantage for viewing this spectacular specimen, except for the minute or less where its ground-contact area migrated behind the largest tree in that distant clump. That experience brought to mind what I’m using for a title: a famous line from one of fellow storm observer Tim Marshall’s 1991 chase videos, when a tornado refused to shift either side of a single, intervening tree. As in many tornadoes, the condensation tube doesn’t mark the outer edge of the tornadic vortex. I could tell rather readily here because the scuddy cloud puffs just off the funnel’s edge (see right side, upper portion) were wrapping around from unseen far, across the top, then over the near side, at apparent speeds very similar to elements in the funnel itself, which soon assumed an even more serpentine form.
4 S Prospect Valley CO (19 Jun 18) Looking NE
40.0152, -104.4178