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Chase Photos Funnel - tornado Tornado Gallery Home |
Platte County Nebraska July 20, 2003 Finally! After going nearly 2 years with only 2 funnel producing storms and a lightning strike to punctuate a 2002 season, our tornado drought was over. The day had gone by without any activity until 5:00PM when a supercell thunderstorm developed in less than a half hour over Stanton County, some 50 miles away. We gathered our equipment and headed west on Highway 30 in an attempt to intercept the southward moving storm. While in route near the Dodge and Colfax County borders, a more promising storm with a reported tornado had developed in Platte County, which is SW of Stanton County. With low visibility on the horizon and frequent lightning surrounding us, we approached the town of Richland. The rain to the NW began to diminish and we noticed a wall cloud with multiple funnels. Upon closer inspection, a rain shrouded tornado appeared on the south edge of it. The tornado itself lasted less than 5 minutes, but the wall cloud continued to show signs of producing more. We continued to film the wall cloud for about another 15 minutes at which time it became rain wrapped again and shortly afterward fell apart. |