Storm Chasing Adventures: Tornado From A Plane

Driving up on a powerful rotating thunderstorm with very large hail (and eventually a tornado) in Western #Oklahoma. Storms that look like this can fool casual storm watchers because they seem small and inocuous, but this cell not only dropped very large hail -- it also produced a damaging tornado on the SE side of the small community of Cordell, Oklahoma. Anytime a storm updraft acquires rotation and becomes a supercell, they have to be carefully monitored for very severe weather. Even if the r

Supercell structure like this one in Kansas only happens a few times each Spring in Tornado Alley. The conditions required for this sort of storm are very rare. You need very strong turning of winds, a slight bit of capping, lots of instability, and not high wind speeds aloft to enable slow moving, picturesque storms like this to form. These are most common Late April - Mid June. #weather #nature #science #supercellthunderstorm #kansas