2 days ago
It's A Wrap. A Productive Tornado Season In The Books For This Chaser
An EF-U tornado with invisible vortex churns up dust in farm fields near Parmelee, South Dakota, July 20, 2025. Jim Clash
It's a wrap. Tornado season for the most part is over in the U.S.
This past spring/summer, I spent more than a dozen days chasing, and with four separate storm groups. Of those days, we were successful on four. That's better than in 2023 where we chased in Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado and New Mexico but found no twisters.
Below are synopses and photos of the various wonders of nature we saw and photographed this year, including spectacular supercells. The photos were all taken with my iPhone 12. Next year, I plan to get a proper camera.
Tracking an EF-0 rain-wrapped tornado as it was about to cross Highway 49 in Barton County, Missouri, April 20, 2025. Jim Clash
LAMAR, MISSOURI, APRIL 20:
Chasing with Jeff Anderson, we made the trek up from Dallas to the outskirts of Joplin. Just as we arrived in the early afternoon, tornado warnings went out - both on our iPhones and via sirens.
The thing was rain-wrapped, so the actual funnel wasn't visible. But we did catch the storm system cross Highway 49 directly in front of us. A few minutes later, we had positioned on a backroad ahead of it, hoping for a better view.
A downed tree near a farmhouse in the path of an EF-0 rain-wrapped tornado near Lamar, Missouri, April 20, 2025. Jim Clash
Unfortunately, the tornado took an unexpected turn and suddenly was upon us. It was only an EF-o, thank God, but those few seconds with the car rocking and shuddering got my attention. After the storm had passed, we saw a giant downed tree in the yard of the farmhouse behind us.
I had experienced my first twister - maybe even gotten too close - but it wasn't photogenic, and the goal of any storm chaser is to get one that is.
A rare anticyclonic tornado near Silverton, Texas, April 24, 2025. Jim Clash
TEXAS PANHANDLE, APRIL 24:
On a 2%-chance tornado day, Tim Bovasso, Jeff Anderson and I worked our way from Dallas over to the Texas Panhandle. Bovasso had an inkling that something would happen there that afternoon.
Sure enough, at 5 p.m. a spectacular supercell was building just outside of Silverton. After about an hour and out of nowhere, a sharp funnel poked out of the dark wall cloud above it and began snaking to the ground.
A strong stovepipe tornado near Matador, Texas, April 24, 2025. Jim Clash
It was highly photogenic, a rare anticyclonic cone that only lasted only 6 minutes. But what a six minutes! I had finally seen my first photogenic twister.
Wedge tornado outside of Matador, Texas, April 24, 2025. Jim Clash
We then tracked the cell south and, just outside of Matdaor, it produced another tornado, much stronger - a stovepipe which eventually morphed into a dangerous wedge. Effectively, three different tornadoes in one day! The group was ecstatic.
Strong stovepipe tornado near Santo, Texas, as viewed from the side of Highway I-20, May 18, 2025. Jim Clash
SANTO, TEXAS, MAY 18:
Three weeks later, I went chasing with Chis Coach, a good friend of Bovasso's and Anderson's. We reached a monsterous supercell not too far outside of Dallas in the early evening that produced numerous tornadoes. We were lucky enough to witness them from the side of highway I-20. Interestingly, cars kept passing by, as if oblivious.
EF-U invisible vortex tornado near Parmelee, South Dakota, July 20, 2025. Jim Clash
PARMELEE, SOUTH DAKOTA, JULY 20:
To close out the season, I traveled to South Dakota with the OTUS group. They are making big strides in tornadic science by flying specially prepared drones into the voilent cores of twisters to learn more about surface winds, barometric pressures, temperatures, wind shear, etc.
On the the first of three chase days, we encountered a short-lived EF-U tornado near Parmelee with an invisible vortex. As it scattered a massive bowl of dust at its base, Lois Anderson sent his OTUS drone toward the thing, about three miles away. The drone didn't make it into the cone in time, but it did get some stunning shots and valuable data upon approach.
Large supercell near Santo, Texas, produced multiple tornadoes, May 18, 2025. Jim Clash
Next year? I'm hoping to get even closer to a twister - to the point where I can hear the reported freight train and waterfall sounds that they produce. It could be in the TIV-2 with Ryan Shepard's Storm Of Passion, or with OTUS, or with any of my other chaser friends, including Raychel Sanner of Tornado Titans or Bovasso, Anderson and Coach. Like with any powerful drug, storm chasing is addictive, and one always needs more adrenaline to get the same high.
