Tornado captured on camera by WeatherWorks meteorologist Sherilyn Graham about 15 miles away, beyond the ridge-line
We have touchdown! After a slightly disappointing day on Thursday 6/05, in which the storm near Lamar, Colorado we were chasing all day finally produced tornado (albeit "rain-wrapped" again) after dark, Friday 6/06 was our day! On this particular day, we forecasted for the best chance of isolated supercells and tornadoes in eastern New Mexico. Our first stop was Clayton, NM, to re-assess the situation during the afternoon as the storms began to build during the early afternoon hours. Like clockwork, storms began firing around 2 PM MDT. As we began our chase, multiple storm cells began firing near Abbott, NM, sandwiching the town between two strong storms. As we waited for the storms to catch up to us, out of sheer luck I caught this amazing bolt of lightning striking down between some sheering, building cumulus, with a beautiful blue sky in the background. This is a perfect example that even though you may be under blue skies and fair weather, if thunder roars, go indoors! A thunderstorm does not need to be right on top of you for lightning to strike nearby.
Spectacular cloud to ground lightning bolt captured by WeatherWorks meteorologist Sherilyn Graham over eastern New Mexico
As a result of the two storms forming on either side of the town, one storm's "inflow" - winds that suck warmth and moisture into the growing storm, was being fed by another storm's "outflow". This resulted in wind gusts up to 47 mph, as dust and tumbleweeds barreled towards the cars and we attempted to make our escape. Finally, near 4:30 PM MDT, somebody in our caravan screamed "funnel!". After numerous close calls and failed attempts, we nearly shook it off to crying wolf, but alas, there it was behind a ridge, about 15 miles away to our northwest. I called it into the National Weather Service in Albuquerque, describing the brief funnel cloud, before it slowly lifted back up behind the ridge. Another storm chaser who was on the other side of the ridge called it in as well, and confirmed it completely lowered and touched the ground. Our elusive tornado was finally found! Below is the official storm report from the Storm Prediction Center and the National Weather Service in Albuquerque, NM.
2239 20 N ABBOTT COLFAX NM 3660 10426 TRAINED SPOTTER SPOTTED BRIEF TORNADO TOUCHDOWN. (ABQ)
Storm Prediction Center storm reports for Friday June 6th, 2014. Note the "red dots" over eastern New Mexico indicate several tornado touchdowns
All in all, this trip was certainly a very rewarding experience! Not only did I improve my severe weather forecasting techniques, I developed connections with the people and cultures of the multiple states I passed through. 7,174 miles and 122 hours in the car later, it is finally nice to settle back down at home in New Jersey after two weeks on the road, chasing. Sure, the thunderstorms back home are often not nearly as impressively photogenic as the ones I witnessed back in the Midwest, but I have a whole new respect for their power, regardless of their size or magnitude.
