Kevin Palmer

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  • I spent the fourth of July chasing tornadoes in Chugwater, Wyoming. Chugwater has a certain legendary status among storm chasers. Storms form over the Laramie Mountains to the west, and the local terrain seems to enhance tornadic potential. On at least 3 other occasions I've seen funnel clouds here. And having one of the few paved, east-west highways also makes it a great place to target. Luckily there is not much around for a tornado to damage. I had to pick a spot either below the bluff or on top. I chose on top, which put me a little over a mile away from the developing tornado. Powerful cloud to ground lightning bolts were dropping during tornadogenesis. My camera was left outside to shoot automatically while I stayed in my car.
    Chugwater Tornado
  • A warm and humid wind gusted across the prairie causing the grasses and goldenrods to sway back and forth. In the distance a supercell thunderstorm spun away furiously. I knew a tornado was on the ground in Montana, but I couldn't see it until it crossed into South Dakota and emerged from behind a distant hill. The first tornado roped out after a couple minutes, but then this funnel quickly formed. It danced around, touching the ground briefly but not doing much. This was a cyclic supercell, which means it produced multiple tornadoes. As one ropes out, the wall cloud regenerates and another forms. Tornado #3 would be a much more substantial wedge that stayed on the ground for about 20 minutes. After I saw the storm's movement, I knew I could move a bit closer to get a clearer view. Sunset was minutes away and there was not much time left before it got too dark to see.
    Tornadic Buffalo Supercell
  • This dusty elephant trunk tornado dropped outside of McCook, Nebraska. It was one of many that formed from a long-track cyclic supercell. After firing on the dry line in Kansas, it tracked for nearly 200 miles. Researchers that are part of the TORUS project surrounded the twisters with a fleet of radar, drones, weather balloons, and other instruments. A NOAA P3 aircraft, which is typically used to fly into hurricanes, could be seen overhead circling this storm and gathering data. Altogether this was one of the most well studied and documented supercells yet. The tornadoes left some damage behind, including downed power lines across the road which ended my chase. But there were no reported injuries, which is always good news. Even though I wish I would have done some things differently, I'm just glad to have been there.
    Elephant Trunk Tornado
  • This tornado near Broadwater, Nebraska, developed almost on top of me while I was attempting to core punch the storm. At the intersection of Rd 78 and Hwy 385 I was close enough to hear the roaring waterfall sound and feel the intense RFD winds. But I couldn't see it because the storm had become HP (high precipitation) and visibility was horrible. As I fled south on Hwy 385 debris started flying past me including sheet metal hitting my car. A semi truck that I passed would be flipped over on it's side and all the sign posts at the nearest intersection snapped in half. Once I made it a safe distance away (about 5 miles) I stopped and took this picture looking north. Visibility was still bad, I couldn't see the tornado and I even missed it the first time after reviewing my pictures. But after enhancing the contrast the twister became visible in the rain shaft on the left.
    Broadwater Tornado
  • I spent Memorial Day chasing storms across the Colorado High Plains. Colorado may not be the first state people think of when it comes to tornadoes. But it actually sees more than 50 a year on average, mostly in the eastern third of the state. Upslope flow causes storms to fire when moist southeasterly winds encounter the Rockies. The Palmer Divide is a ridge east of the Front Range and it creates what's known as the Denver Convergence Vorticity Zone. The changing winds in the DCVZ generates extra spin which makes storms rotate. But many of the tornadoes are weak and short-lived, at least they were on this day. Of the 3 possible twisters I saw, none of them were very clear. This was taken near Holyoke when swirling dust appeared underneath a funnel.
    Holyoke Tornado
  • I love all the abandoned structures found in Eastern Montana. I came across this one while storm chasing outside of Ekalaka. Mammatus clouds were boiling above.
    Broken Windows
  • Outside of Ekalaka, Montana, the structure on this mothership supercell was incredible. At times it looked like a giant tsunami in the sky. This storm would go on to produce at least 8 tornadoes.
    Montana Mothership
  • This was the 2nd twister that I saw outside of Buffalo, South Dakota. It danced around, touching the ground briefly and lifting again a few times. But the wall cloud on the right was beginning to show very rapid motion. It was about to drop a wedge tornado, and I knew I had to get closer to get a better view.
    Cute Little Twister
  • Outside of Ekalaka, Montana, the structure on this mothership supercell was incredible. At times it looked like a giant tsunami in the sky. This storm would go on to produce at least 8 tornadoes.
    Sky Tsunami
  • A telephoto lens was very important to have on this storm chase, since I never got closer than about 9 miles to the tornado. This is the 3rd tornado that I saw this day and it was on the ground for about 20 minutes.
    Cone Tornado
  • I chased this cyclic supercell from eastern Montana into South Dakota. In total, it produced 8 tornadoes. This was taken just before it dropped the last tornado of the day after sunset.
    Cyclic Supercell
  • At 8:25pm, the 1st of 4 tornadoes that I saw that evening emerged from the rain shaft. This was the strongest tornado of the day, with the NWS rating it an EF-3. But it roped out about 3 minutes later.
    Tornado Road
  • This was a day I won't soon forget. The forecast called for very humid air, extreme instability, and strong wind shear in the MT/ND/SD area. Having all these conditions come together at the same time is quite rare and I knew something incredible would happen. I just had to be there. The day involved lots of waiting around in eastern Montana until I set my sights on this supercell in the late evening. The storm structure was otherworldly, looking like a tsunami in the sky. When the first tornado dropped there were hills in the way and road options to get closer were limited. But outside of Buffalo, South Dakota, finally the twister became visible. The tornado lifted and planted again about 4 times. It was looking the best as the sun was setting at 9pm. I was never closer than about 9 miles, but this gave me the advantage of seeing more of the storm's structure. Now I finally have a tornado clip to finish up my time lapse film.
    Buffalo Tornado
  • A telephoto lens was very important to have on this storm chase, since I never got closer than about 9 miles to the tornado. This is the 4th and final tornado that I saw this evening. It was after 9:00 so that made it very challenging to photograph. The 1-second exposure gave the twister a blurred look. I would lose sight of it about 7 minutes later.
    The Last Twister
  • There was an outbreak of at least 3 tornadoes in southeast Wyoming. September tornadoes are very rare in this state. But 2019 has been a strange storm season, both starting late and ending late. This supercell north of Torrington developed a long inflow tail (aka a beaver tail) feeding moisture into the storm. It’s common to feel cool outflow winds coming out of a storm. But when you feel warm and moist inflow winds blowing into the storm that’s when you know tornado potential is high. These opposing winds help tighten up the rotation near the ground. The southeasterly winds were kicking up so much sand and dust I could feel it in my eyes, ears, and mouth. Because of poor ground visibility I didn’t get a very good view of the twister, but the structure was still impressive. When the sun came out it provided a stark contrast between the dark blue clouds and the bright golden grass.
    Beaver Tail and Bluff