Overview
|
| View of the developing storm as seen from my driveway |
The day started with a slight risk over our area. By 4 pm MDT, dewpoints
were in the mid-60s and southeast winds at 15 mph were continuing to bring
moisture into the area. A shortwave trough was moving in from the
southwest as well as increasing midlevel winds. A storm started developing
about 7 miles north of my house. After 40 minutes, it showed some
organization so I drove out to intercept. At 5:15 pm MDT I arrived
at an elevated vantage point and saw a well developed mesocyclone.
40 minutes later an RFD punched a clear slot on the western side of the
storm and 5 minutes later the first of three tornado touchdowns occurred.
The first tornado was a cone and was on the ground for 10 minutes.
After this tornado dissipated, I drove north a few miles and then east
on my only east-west road option. A needle formed behind me in what
appeared to be the old occlusion and lasted about 5 minutes. There
were at least 2 additional funnels from this old occlusion. The main
meso then produced a v-shaped tornado after another clear slot formed.
This tornado occasionally had a cone appearance as well. I was about
3 miles away on the southeast side of the storm at closest approach.
After traveling eastbound to a north-south road option, the meso became
rainwrapped and appeared to be dissipating. I left the storm by traveling
south towards I-90 and ran into a large gathering consisting of
20-30 cars. I saw one other car prior to this. The storm dissipated,
but another good storm developed on its outflow to the southwest.
I was able to get a great lightshow now that the sun was down. Overall, I saw three touchdowns and 2 funnels. The
first tornado touchdown was approximately 15 miles direct line distance
from my house. See my chase route with
locations and times. |
