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 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 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 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.

June 1, 2026 Last Chance, CO Tornado Warned Supercell

June 1st took us just east of our house in Colorado. A supercell formed near Denver and slowed moved, developed east and eventually became tornado warned near Bennett. Hail to baseball size occurred. A couple other supercells formed further east along a boundary just north of Last Chance and also became tornado warned. Due to the high based nature of the storms, there wasn’t a great threat of a tornado occurring. However, the structure was pretty and the lightning quite nice. They also produced hail to tennisball size and the moved east towards Akron, CO. Fun day, pretty storms!!!

May 31, 2026 Madison, Kansas Tornadic Supercell

Didn’t think much would happen in the daylight on May 31st. A strong capping inversion in place, as well as a mistimed upper wave seemed to lead to elevated late evening storms. Once in awhile though, nature loves to throw a wrench into things. By early evening initiation occurred along a boundary near Emporia, Kansas. An outflow boundary/dryline intersection would spawn a gorgeous supercell that rapidly intensified and even became briefly tornadic. As the storm slowly drifted east towards Madison, KS, the structure and electrification became quite pretty. Somewhere in the night skies a long snaking funnel came down that a couple of chasers said touched down. We stayed with it for awhile, but had to leave to get to our hotel in Salina, as we needed to be in Colorado the next day. A beautiful supercell, great structure and superb lightning!

May 26, 2026 Del Rio, Texas Tornadic Supercell

A very interesting day on May 26th. As often occurs, storms formed on the north side of the Del Burro mountains in northern Mexico. As they became supercells they right turned and never came across into the US. However, another supercell formed on the northeast side of the supercell cluster in Mexico. This storm quickly developed a strong velocity couplet and dropped a substantial tornado not far from Acuna, Mexico. As it finally approached the border, it became outflow dominant and still produced significant winds. It’s such a shame that we had to wait in the US side for this tornadic supercell to approach. It’s just too difficult to try and chase in Mexico. The tornado pic here was from a local resident of Acuna. What an amazing shot!

May 21, 2026 Anton, Colorado Tornadic Supercell

May 21st took us to Colorado. Between upslope into the Palmer Divide, as well as an outflow boundary, most models had storms forming near Limon, before intensifying and moving east. That is pretty much what happened. A supercell formed near Deer Trail and moved east, gaining strength and becoming tornado warned. Good shear, but relatively cool surface temps kept this from being a major event, but the storm still produced softball sized hail, several funnel clouds and one brief tornado south of Anton. As it continued to move east, it encountered cold air with temps in the 50s and became an elevated hailer. Eventually near Burlington it weakened as instability waned and nocturnal cooling set up. A fun time was had by all the guests as the structure was quite nice and the funnels fairly close with the road network being sparse. Enjoy the pics!!

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