22-04-2025
Storm Chasers Encounter Damaging Tornadoes, Find Themselves In One
Rain-wrapped tornadic system crossing Highway 49 near Joplin, Missouri, April 20, 2025.
It's one thing to see a tornado, quite another to be inside of it. This past weekend, I was lucky enough (gulp) to do both.
In June 2023, I took my first shot at storm chasing with Raychel Sanner, founder of Tornado Titans. Over the course of three days, we crisscrossed four states - Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico - in search of the powerful vortices. Although we saw some amazing super-cells, the colorful atomic bomb-type atmospheric structures that spawn tornadoes, no clear example of a photogenic twister presented itself.
I was a little disappointed, of course. In 2019, I had been on a C-130 research flight with the U.S. Air Force 'Hurricane Hunters' directly through the center of Dorian, the Category 5 monster that destroyed much of the Bahamas. But I still had not had experienced the tornado aspect of Mother Nature up-close-and-personal.
A tornado warning is issued when there is a high probability of a tornado forming or one is already on the ground. This alert was issued near Joplin, Missouri, April 20, 2025.
Beginning in April, tornado season typically ramps up in the southeastern and midwestern parts of the U.S., lasting into June. Storm chasers from all parts of the country converge during this time to find and record their encounters with tornadoes. Some chasers are in it purely for sport, others for scientific research - still others to aid persons who may be negatively impacted by the storms.
Our small group was hopeful that some tornadoes would pop up on an advancing cold front stretching from Texas to Iowa. Early on the morning of April 20, we made the long trek up, by car, to Joplin, Missouri, where significant storms were predicted to fire later that afternoon.
Once we hit Joplin, Jeff Anderson, a chaser since 2016, studied the latest weather apps. The models are quite accurate now, which has attracted hoards of the newcomers to the specialized hobby. In fact, storm chasing is all the rage now. Anderson showed me a map on his phone with dozens of red dots indicating positions of other storm chasers that day.
Tornadic weather in an area near Joplin, Missouri, April 2025.
Soon enough, an emergency warning flashed across the screens of our cell phones. Anderson immediately sprang into action. His app told him that a newly formed tornado was making its way toward Missouri Highway 49, not far from us, and moving at 60 mph, fast for a twister. We made a b-line to the anticipated interception point. Just before entering Barton County, we pulled off to the side of the highway to watch the storm cross in front of us.
Because the tornado was rain-wrapped, it was difficult to see the vortex, buried within a larger storm structure. But the wind and rain, with surprising violence, began to rock our vehicle. It was good we had stopped when we did, Anderson said. Heading further into the thing could have toppled the vehicle and sent us rolling down the embankment.
After the pass, a second twister suddenly popped up on Anderson's app. It was less than 10 miles away, and immediately we went for it. Anderson ultimately positioned us on a small paved road near a farmhouse with a mile of empty, flat field before us.
Tornado winds in excess of 100 mph drive rain across a farmer's field near Joplin, Missouri, April 20, 2025.
As we waited, the wind picked up again, this time more quickly. Anderson became concerned. The tornado had suddenly taken an expected right turn and was headed directly toward us. There was nothing we could do at that point. For aerodynamic reasons, we positioned the vehicle so that the front was facing into the wind, and then braced for impact. It was intense, let me tell you, and certainly got my attention.
After four interminable minutes of roaring, shaking and shuddering, the thing had had its way with us. The well-known chaser Reed Timmer drove by in his 'Dominator' TIV (Tornado Interceptor Vehicle) just as the wind was subsiding. A giant tree in front of the farmhouse behind us had fallen, and the occupant was already out surveying the damage. We asked if he was okay. He gave a thumbs-up.
Following an encounter with a small tornado, a fallen tree lays in a farmer's yard near Joplin, Missouri, April 20, 2025.
What had happened with this second tornado? Why had we been inside instead of on the periphery as with the first one?
Rain-wrapped tornadoes are especially tricky because often you can't see them with your eyes, and therefore they can sneak up. Sure, weather charts can delineate in real time their movements, and their strength, but losing the actual sight ability makes for more uncertainty. If one suddenly changes direction, and sometimes they do, it's harder to pick up on it and react. Luckily for us it wasn't a bigger tornado - an EF-3 or more - or things may have played out differently.
A fuzzy silhouette of Reed Timmer's Dominator Tornado Interceptor Vehicle (TIV) passing our group near Joplin, Missouri, April 20, 2025.
Later this week, we plan to do more chasing, this time with the hope of seeing a photogenic vortex from a safer distance, something still on my bucket list. Being inside of a tornado, while thrilling and interesting, is not something I want to try again. Better to observe raw nature, however compelling, from afar. Less sweat in the palms of one's hands.
