StephenHenry
EF3
Well, sometimes you go out looking for a tornado, and sometimes the tornado comes to you. My worry of going tornado-less in 2014 was wiped away last night in Limon, CO. Weirdly, our chase day started as the sun went down. We sat in an old abandoned farm south of Yuma watching some weak storms initially. Then the first big supercell near Deer Trail got a tornado warning, we dropped ahead of it to get some lightning pictures as it rumbled southeast. This cell weakened as it passed north of Flagler, but a new cell back in Deer Trail was ramping up and moving straight down I70 towards Limon. At this point in the night, Toni and I were completely out of chase mode. It was our 9th wedding anniversary and we just wanted a nice dinner and a hotel. But here was this big severe-warned supercell blocking our route. How could we just ignore it?
Sitting at my favorite spot in Limon (west side of town on 6th St behind the McDonald's) we had a great view to the northwest. Even though the storm was only severe warned at the time, it was developing an inflow notch on radar and inflow winds were screaming into the storm. Strobe-lightning lit up the updraft region and we were able to see some suspicious lowerings. Video was useless at this point, so I went with 3.6-second still exposures to get several light flashes per shot. As the storm made it's final approach into town, the tornado warning went out and we got ready to make out escape down 71. Looking north, I snapped several final photos as Toni was yelling at me to get in the car. My heart dropped as I realized I was seeing a large multi-vortex tornado just on the edge of town (we weren't the ones to report the tornado, as we were trying to safely escape town). Sick with surety that Limon was about to get nailed, we bailed down 71 a few miles to get clear of the path. We lost sight of the town lights as the meso passed over, and again I was sure Limon was getting torn up, though we could never see any for-sure power flashes.
After 15 minutes or so, we cautiously crept back towards town, scared to death of what we might find. I have never been more happy to see an intact McDonald's sign. At this point, I'm not totally sure of the details, but I'm guessing the tornado skimmed just to the north of town as it move southeast. What a harrowing end to our anniversary. I'll have a more detailed report later.
Sitting at my favorite spot in Limon (west side of town on 6th St behind the McDonald's) we had a great view to the northwest. Even though the storm was only severe warned at the time, it was developing an inflow notch on radar and inflow winds were screaming into the storm. Strobe-lightning lit up the updraft region and we were able to see some suspicious lowerings. Video was useless at this point, so I went with 3.6-second still exposures to get several light flashes per shot. As the storm made it's final approach into town, the tornado warning went out and we got ready to make out escape down 71. Looking north, I snapped several final photos as Toni was yelling at me to get in the car. My heart dropped as I realized I was seeing a large multi-vortex tornado just on the edge of town (we weren't the ones to report the tornado, as we were trying to safely escape town). Sick with surety that Limon was about to get nailed, we bailed down 71 a few miles to get clear of the path. We lost sight of the town lights as the meso passed over, and again I was sure Limon was getting torn up, though we could never see any for-sure power flashes.
After 15 minutes or so, we cautiously crept back towards town, scared to death of what we might find. I have never been more happy to see an intact McDonald's sign. At this point, I'm not totally sure of the details, but I'm guessing the tornado skimmed just to the north of town as it move southeast. What a harrowing end to our anniversary. I'll have a more detailed report later.
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