Kansas High Plains Tornado
One tornado photo that didn't get away was a long time comin'... It may be hard to believe, but out of all the tornadoes I had seen before this, some as far back as 1976, this was the first (and still just one of a handful) of which I have a well-defined, decent-contrast, non-distant photo! This tornado was a storm observer's dream -- spinning up under a classic supercell out in the open country NW of Liberal KS, and endangering nothing but grasshoppers and prairie chickens. It was visible for less than 30 seconds and did no damage. Curtains of precipitation can be seen behind and left of the tornado (to its SW), getting denser to its right (to its NW and N). On radar, these would appear as a tightly curved echo arc connected to the main part of the storm farther N (farther right, off the edge) -- a classic "hook echo."
6 W Woods, KS (22 May 95), Looking WSW
(GPS)
