Amarillo Tornado


Posted by Mike Umscheid on Fri Dec 23, 2016 7:46 pm

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I have been storm chasing for 18 years, and this is a "holy grail" type shot in storm chasing, as far as tornadoes go. It is hard enough to track down and witness a long-lived tornado, but it is exceptionally unusual when such a tornado has this ghostly white appearance with a stark background complete with an aqua hue. The storm was so dark to the west at sunset, that the best ambient light was coming from the direction opposite of the sun! The ranch in the foreground was struck by this tornado only a few minutes after this frame -- as the tornado was coming straight for my location. I bailed east (I did have an escape route!) not too long after this frame. 15 miles northeast of Amarillo, TX on 13 June 2016. Thanks for looking!  Please left-click for 1100px version

Nikon D3 • 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 62mm • 1/5s • f/2.8 • ISO 800
Mike Umscheid  •  Birds & Storms  •  Southwest Kansas
Gallery & Photoblog: www.mikeumscheidphotography.com

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by Ron Day on Fri Dec 23, 2016 11:45 pm
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This is outstanding, Mike. Congratulations on capturing such a powerful image.
 

by John Labrenz on Sat Dec 24, 2016 12:15 am
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Wow...amazing capture!
 

by Swissblad on Sat Dec 24, 2016 2:33 am
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WOW - that is impressive - congrats on the pic - and for having an escape route!
 

by Neilyb on Sat Dec 24, 2016 10:22 am
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Something I would love to shoot, fantastic!
 

by Arabinda Debnath on Sat Dec 24, 2016 11:53 am
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Beautiful image,Mike!
 

by Gary Briney on Sat Dec 24, 2016 2:42 pm
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Truly awesome!!! Great composition, especially considering the circumstances. Was the ranch badly damaged?
G. Briney
 

by Mike Umscheid on Sun Dec 25, 2016 6:27 pm
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Gary Briney wrote:Truly awesome!!! Great composition, especially considering the circumstances. Was the ranch badly damaged?
The tornado was rated EF-2 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale.  This rating was due to damage at this ranch, unfortunately. Most of the structures, from what I understand, suffered at least some moderate damage and one or two were very heavily damaged or destroyed.
Mike Umscheid  •  Birds & Storms  •  Southwest Kansas
Gallery & Photoblog: www.mikeumscheidphotography.com
 

by Jeff Munoz on Wed Dec 28, 2016 12:19 am
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AMAZING shot, best ever!!!
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by E.J. Peiker on Thu Dec 29, 2016 12:59 pm
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Super cool!
 

by MarkoPolo on Thu Jan 26, 2017 6:31 pm
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I grew up near there and as an idiot high school kid would go with my buddies to chase tornadoes. The object was to get close enough to hear them, which we did on a couple of occasions.
Mark Brown
 

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