A nearly ideal and isolated supercell in my conception for potentially becoming tornadic, finally did, though just once, with this modest and rain-wrapped cone, in an environment that seemed favorable for so much more. The folks around Pauls Valley (PV as known locally, instead of “potential vorticity” as we meteorologists use) were glad that it produced no more. Note the classical occlusion-downdraft cut, manifest as a relative clear slot around the wall cloud. Twenty years earlier, shooting with Provia slide film, I caught some great crawler lightning just a few miles away. This also was the second tornado I had photographed near a “PV.”
2 WNW Pauls Valley OK (17 May 25) Looking NW
34.75, -97.2516