Tough day! Two clear choices were in play. Chase the Cheyenne Ridge, which can (and did!) produce magical results. Or chase the eastern side of the Palmer Divide where dewpoints 5-7 degrees higher were forecast to pool along a boundary. I had a feeling the Cheyenne Ridge would get interesting, but also the latter target would also produce. Higher dews/instability usually result in better results. We caught a stunning structured supercell near Kit Carson. However the Cheyenne Ridge produced one supercell that dropped a few tornadoes. Our storm also produced a tornado, but had far superior storm structure. We chased it down towards Eads where it slowly started to weaken. Having the appearance of a spiraling barber pole, the structure was the best of 2025! We were a bit too far east (after chasing another storm) to get a good shot of the tornado, but a highly contrasted image clearly shows it. No regrets with a storm this pretty! Enjoy the pics!

2025, barber pole, funnel, hail, lightning, May, May 2025, mothership, storm, thunderstorm, tornado, twister