Tornado warnings were still sounding while this one and a half mile wide
rotating wall cloud continued to expel strong winds downward.
Sitting near the Colorado / Nebraska border the winds around me made it difficult to
photograph. I exited my car to take some still shots of this intensifying storm. I clocked
the winds at 60+ miles per hour. I realized that the winds were winds of suction. This
rotating wall cloud was sucking everything around it into its center. A constant howling
sound of wind was all around me. I began to wonder if I was going to be pulled into
the storm. My car was rocking from the wind. At times I felt as though I was inside of a
neuclear power plant as it was about to melt down.
Beneath the center of this monster storm, the winds continued blowing dirt around. The
base was tighter than ever now. Doppler radar continued to show a tornado and tornado
warnings continued for the area. The clouds above me raced towards the center of the
cell at an incredible rate. I followed the storm for another hour going further into
Nebraska. Night was moving in so I broke off chase when staying safe seemed impossible.
When I returned home 3 hours later I turned on the weather channel and they were talking
about this very cell. It was still just as strong, it was still showing a tornado in it
and was showing no sign of weakening. That was the most powerful storm cloud I have ever
witnessed short of a tornado being on the ground.
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