July 2, 2026 Gann Valley, South Dakota Tornadic Supercell

After a few really long driving days on tour, we started in South Dakota on July 2nd. We decided to play the MCV moving up out of Nebraska and pushed to Murdo. As we did, storms exploded on an outflow boundary that continued to drift south. Storms would spin, become severe and slowly get undercut. One storm back an hour to our east near Kimball, SD was different. It rode the boundary east and I knew we needed to get there and FAST. It became tornado warned, and eventually produced a decent elephant trunk shaped tornado just before we arrived. We pushed to Gann Valley and turned east. We got on the other side of the hook, and were greeted with a rather large wedge shaped lowering, which produced a tornado. Considerable tree damage was seen for about a quarter mile as we got on the other side of it and watched multiple funnel clouds form. A couple may have touched down briefly, but doing no damage. We stayed with the storm until a raging line formed, which also had QLCS type spin ups forming along it. Quite the surprise this day! Enjoy the photos! (Some cell and some DSLR)

June 29, 2026 Fargo, North Dakota Tornadic Supercell

June 29th kept us in far eastern North Dakota as a warm front lifted north from South Dakota. The cap was strong and it took until 7pm to get a good storm to fire along it. We had chased a tornado warned supercell towards Bismarck earlier in the day, but it moved along a front and weakened. Thus we blasted to the warm front and caught a tornado warned storm southewest of Fargo. As it approached Fargo, it was obviously spinning hard, and a long, snaky funnel formed over I-29. As the dissipated, another updraft developed on the east side, just east of Fargo and had substantial cone shaped funnel. Multiple reports that it briefly touched down came in, and I certainly can’t argue with that. Due to multiple storm mergers though, the supercell just never could take off and take advantage of the great shear along the warm front. We ended up blowing it off and heading to our hotel as it weakened.

June 28, 2026 Bismarck, North Dakota Photogenic LP Supercell

June 28th took us to central North Dakota on a set up that didn’t look great. Sometimes nature loves to surprise and it certainly did this day! An updraft developed south of Bismarck and slowly drifted north. It was severe for golfball sized hail, but the best part was the low precipitation supercell structure. Sculpted structure eventually drifted over a nice ripening canola field east of town and was just gorgeous. The storm weakened at sunset, but not before giving us a parting beautiful view! Surprise day, but oh so pretty! Enjoy the pics!

June 26th Kit Carson, Colorado Tornadic Superell

June 26th was the final day of our annual lecture tour. Needing to stay close to Colorado, nature decided to throw us a pretty supercell! A line of storms exploded on an outflow boundary south of Limon. A moisture surge came in the from the east and allowed the tail end storm to become quite intense. Structure was pretty and it spun hard. Hail fell the size of baseballs, but a wall cloud formed in the notch and really started cranking up. A cone funnel formed and descended and ascended a couple of times. Finally, it touched down before lifting back up and dissipating. We stayed with the supercell to Eads where outflow from another storm pushed north and hit our storm, causing it to become tornado warned. Another wall cloud developed and had the look. It tried hard to develop a tornado but just couldn’t get the job done. It eventually became completely undercut by outflow and diminished. A fun day and we got a lot more than what we thought we’d get! Enjoy the pics!

June 24, 2026 Northeast Colorado Tornadic Supercell

June 24th promised some intense supercells in Colorado and nature did not disappoint. Mid afternoon saw storms erupt on the south side of the Cheyenne Ridge north of Ft Morgan. These became severe and supercellular quickly, eventually resulting in a tornado warning south of Brush. As the supercells moved south, they encountered drier air and weakened. Then another storm formed on an outflow boundary north of Haxtun and became tornadic. Several tornado reports came in as we blasted north. When we got within 15 miles, you could make out the broad cone shaped funnel, but could not confirm touch down. As we got close, of course, the storm weakened. Other storms formed along the outflow boundary to our west and also became severe. Quite the sight at sunset watching the raging supercell with lightning strafing across the sky!

June 23, 2026 Plainview, Texas Tornado Warned Supercell

June 23rd we chose to chase the Texas panhandle were a stout dryline, good shear and instability were present. It was a long drive to make it there in time, but we did, intercepting 2 supercells, one near Happy and the other near Plainview. The latter supercell became tornado warned and had some interesting structure as well as great lightning, a couple gustnadoes, and a lot of mammatus clouds under the anvil. A lot of New Mexico smoke from wild fires covered the area and often gave the updrafts a yellowish tint to them. Cool coloring! A fun day and a couple really pretty supercells.

June 22, 2026 Northeast Colorado Tornado Warned Supercell

June 22nd took us to the Cheyenne Ridge along the Colorado/Nebraska border near Kimball. Storms formed on a convergence boundary there and immediately started spinning and became severe. One storm became dominant and an intense supercell. It was tornado warned off and on its entire life cycle, which lasted nearly 6 hours! The amount of air this supercell processed was astonishing, as inflow was being drawn in at 50-60mph! Blinding dirt occurred as it was lofted in the air due to dry soil conditions and into the updraft. Several times lowerings formed and spun hard, but nothing was able to focus long enough to produce a tornado. Giant hail softball to grapefruit sized fell as the storm maintained a steady state of intensity throughout the afternoon and evening. At times it became very photogenic as the updraft contained multiple striations showing rapid rotation and had the appearance of a huge soda can. One of the strongest supercells in Colorado in the past few years! Enjoy the pics!

June 21, 2026 Northwest Kansas Tornado Warned Supercells

Marginal moisture, but strong shear would be present this day. Nonetheless, we intercepted 2 different supercells with tornado warnings, one near Colby and another north of Leoti, Kansas. Both storms were quite HP in nature, but the storm structure and “hail core green” colors were quite impressive. Neither storm produced tornadoes, however the radar presentation on both suggested it could have certainly been possible. Due to lack of roads in this part of Kansas, we weren’t able to get close enough to see what was going on in the notch of either storm. Still a fun day and more than we planned on witnessing!

June 17th Illinois Tornadic Supercells

This day had big potential, but one huge problem. Unusually strong mid level winds would cause storms to move near 60 mph, more resembling March than June. Dual outflow boundaries would also wreak havoc on which one to chase, but it became clear the southern one would produce. Tornado warned storms on the northern boundary, would eventually move right and interact with the south boundary and that’s when they became tornadic. With highway alignment and speed limits not being our friend, it was extremely difficult to stay up with any storm. We intercepted 5 different storms that were tornado warned and a couple produced. We started the day near Springfield, IL and ended west of Effingham, IL, chasing like crazy. Fun day, so many close opportunities, so little rewards unless you were able to be in the right place at the right time.

June 11, 2026 Western Illinois Tornadoes

June 11, 2026 was a big day forecast in Illinois and it certainly lived up to its billing! Monster CAPE, shear and moisture were in place. By mid afternoon, an outflow boundary was the spot where initiation occurred. It didn’t take long for a supercell to form west of McComb and become tornado warned. As the storm moved closer to town, it produced a tapered elephant trunk tornado that was on the ground for a couple minutes before being interfered with by a supercell to its south. We left the first storm and headed south to catch the next supercell. As we cleared the core of the first storm, a big mothership shaped supercell came into view. It started getting a clear slot, then a bowl, then a funnel formed. It touched down in the town of Ipava causing some damage. It was a pretty tapered elephant trunk that was on the ground several minutes. The rope out stage was quite pretty with a snaking white funnel against a dark background making it quite the sight! After it dissipated, the supercell was absorbed in the line, which effectively ended our day. Amazing day, but our heart and prayers go out to those who suffered losses in Illinois and Indiana.

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