Driving southward past the west side of a supercell, out in the rain-free area just behind the storm, we were hearing tornado reports but couldn’t see it buried in the storm’s murky precipitation shield to our left. While crossing a creek valley, this—the dying tail end of the tornado being reported—emerged back to our northeast, off port stern. The snakelike funnel had quickly popped out of the dying precipitation shield that had wrapped around a deeply occluded mesocyclone. Our sudden spotting of it, fast pull-off and frantic scramble to get out and view the vortex reminded me of an infamous line from someone’s shaky amateur video of a Southeastern tornado: “Look, be-HIND you!” It only lasted a minute or two more, just long enough for us to snap a few photos, and most importantly of all, to enjoy and appreciate the full sensory beauty in the scene. This ghostly west Texas tornado roped out amidst the chorus of meadowlarks, a cool gentle breeze, and the wondrous smell of fresh rain in an arid land. We missed a few other tornadoes that day, and saw a poorly contrasted one later. But thanks to this experience, we finished the afternoon satisfied.
2 N Clairemont TX (12 Jun 5), looking NE
33.1985, -100.751