[Part 1 of 3]  This funnel cloud was growing vertically, with the condensation soon to rise directly off ground several times in a circulation that was tornadic throughout.  Funnel clouds and tornadoes, in fact, don't "touch down".  That's because the air in them is rising.  What happens is that a lowering in pressure, and/or an increase in humidity of the inflow air, causes the bottom of the … [Read more...]

[Part 3 of 3]  As the original condensation funnel for the Belmont tornado (left) became ragged, with its dust/mud sheath weakening, another formed separately to its north, from a newer (yet also rain-wrapped) mesocyclone.  The older vortex, originating in an earlier mesocyclone, was starting to orbit the southeast side of the newer one, behaving somewhat like a satellite funnel (even though it … [Read more...]