This low, ominous wall cloud rotated vigorously for 15–20 minutes, becoming encircled and occluded by rain and hail from a strong rear-flank downdraft, while a new mesocyclone (at right) tried to form. As often happens in my presence, it did no more than that. The entire storm wound itself into a murky, foreboding, heavy-precip (HP) supercell, heading off past Greenville and into the dark oblivion of a northeast Texas night. A barrage of CG lightning in our immediate area was one of the most intense I have witnessed on a storm chase—an incredible fusillade of flashes inseparable from their sharp and slicing explosions of thunder, forcing me to shoot from the car. That our vehicle wasn’t struck is pure chance. Whether or not they produce tornadoes, I have witnessed distinct increases in CG lightning strokes south thru southeast of strongly rotating wall clouds when heavy precipitation begins to move southward around their west sides. Fittingly, given the name of the nearby town of Leonard (through which we passed at least twice), my storm-intercept partner on this day was none other than the late “Cyclone Jim” Leonard himself!
1 SW Wolfe City TX (13 Jun 97) Looking NNW
33.3621, -96.08Wolfe City Wall Cloud
This low, ominous wall cloud rotated vigorously for 15–20 minutes, becoming encircled and occluded by rain and hail from a strong rear-flank downdraft, while a new mesocyclone (at right) tried to form. As often happens in my presence, it did no more than that. The entire storm wound itself into a murky, foreboding, heavy-precip (HP) supercell, heading off past Greenville and into the dark oblivion of a northeast Texas night. A barrage of CG lightning in our immediate area was one of the most intense I have witnessed on a storm chase—an incredible fusillade of flashes inseparable from their sharp and slicing explosions of thunder, forcing me to shoot from the car. That our vehicle wasn’t struck is pure chance. Whether or not they produce tornadoes, I have witnessed distinct increases in CG lightning strokes south thru southeast of strongly rotating wall clouds when heavy precipitation begins to move southward around their west sides. Fittingly, given the name of the nearby town of Leonard (through which we passed at least twice), my storm-intercept partner on this day was none other than the late “Cyclone Jim” Leonard himself!
1 SW Wolfe City TX (13 Jun 97) Looking NNW
33.3621, -96.08