6/2/2005-----Tornado? ***Large Picture Size***

[Alex Fisher]

Here are a few images from my 6/2/05 chase in Arriba, CO outside of Limon, there was a large tornado reported on the ground at our location when these photographs were taken. Originally I didnt think I saw anything other than some nice close rotation in these pictures, but upon further review I cant tell if there is possibly a little rain wrapped something under the meso. Any thoughts on this would be much appreciated!

 

[Andrew Khan]

I don't think there was a tornado, and the pictures look really rain-wrapped.

 

[Alex Fisher]

Yeah, I guessed it was a false report. We were exactly 1 mile north of Arriba when reports of a large and destructive tornado on the ground 1 mile north of arriba started coming in over the radio. We pretty much figured they were false when we didnt see anything or get killed. However, and it's likely just my eyes or mind playing tricks on me, I cant figure out for the life of me what that darker "column-ish" thing is under the rotation. Maybe it would help if my real camera hadnt broken and I was stuck using a 1 megapixel camera at the time. Oh well, C'est la vie.

 

[Jimmy Deguara]

Hi,

Now that is interesting - so there was no tornado in it's entire history? I know in my unclear footage from the south rapid rain turning and what seems to be a large tornado but in both video footage you cannot make it out definitely. So that probably explains it. We were located further east of 30 miles or so from Limon. I was told by chasers who believe they saw a tornado further east from us looking into the notch. Whether there are any photographs video I have not seen any so cannot confirm.

Regards,

Jimmy Deguara

 

[nickgrillo]

Nope, no REAL tornadoes... I know quite a few chasers that were on that storm. When the report came in, I wasn't really surprised to see the report of a big tornado - because the storm was an absolute monster on radar. Yet, as soon as I started to talk with other chasers from the day... They all said they saw nothing in the way of tornadoes. I believe it was Scott Webberpal who was VERY close to the location of the "tornado" report, and he said himself it was falsed.

Mike Hollingshead, Amos Magliocco, Eric Nguyen, Scott Webberpal, Pete McConnell and dozens of other chasers were on that storm - no tornadoes.

 

[Alex Fisher]

Actually, I was chasing with Scott Weberpal that day. So those pics are from right there. Dont get me wrong Nick, I completely agree with you...no confirmed tornadoes from those storms. Maybe I should change my thread title, because I more want to know what the darker column-ish thing is, as it caught my eye when I was reviewing my pictures.
-Alex

 

[Gabe Garfield]

Originally posted by Nick Grillo
Mike Hollingshead, Amos Magliocco, Eric Nguyen, Scott Webberpal, Pete McConnell and dozens of other chasers were on that storm - no tornadoes.

If I remember correctly, the first three in that list were mostly getting structure shots, so they probably wouldn't have been in position to obtain pictures of any tornadoes that were wrapped in rain.

Actually, Amos himself said that Dave Fick documented a small cone tornado. http://www.cycloneroad.com/2005june2.htm

Gabe

 

[Alex Fisher]

Looking back on some chase logs, there seem to have been two seperate apparent tornado sightings. The large rain wrapped one and the small white cone tornado. Doesnt jive with the report of no confirmed tornadoes, especially if there is video. Dont really know what to think about the event. Anyways, I'm gonna call the denver office and ask about any damage surveys they did.
-Alex

 

[Shane Adams]

All I see are three gigantic pics of blackness.

 

[Andrew Khan]

Shane, I think that's because there was an excessive amount of precipitation in that area, at the time.

 

[Ben Leitschuh]

Andrew, I'm sure Shane is well aware of that and was just being a bit facetious. This thread reminds me of Jaws 2 when Chief Brody has that dark picture of he shark's eye and no one sees it but him. Seems impossible to distinguish anything from these photos.

 

[Skip Talbot]

I ran these photos through some really heavy enhancements, which means they aren't entirely accurate:

Your imagination could run wild with that first photo. However, I think the second clearly says precip core, made darker by the storm base. There even appears to be a downburst swirl on the right side of the photo.

 

[Shane Adams]

Originally posted by Ben Leitschuh
Andrew, I'm sure Shane is well aware of that and was just being a bit facetious.

No, I was being very serious. All I see are giant black squares in those top images. I can't make out anything. I can barely see the bottom ones, enough to say IMO that isn't a tornado. The bottom one looks outflowish to me, perhaps the storm was cycling at that point?

 

[Alex Fisher]

Just wanted to thank you guys, Nick et al. for taking a look and giving your opinions on the matter. It was an amazing day for a "first" chase and one that I wont ever get. Skip, those enhancements are awesome...how did you make them?
-Alex

 

[Skip Talbot]

Either Paint Shop Pro or Photoshop will do the job. Personally, I prefer Paint Shop Pro to Adobe's cumbersome, unconventional interfaces.

1. Edge preseriving smooth. This filter smooths the noise while at the same time, identifying the edges in the image and not blurring them to oblivion. Without this smoothing process, the later contrast enhancements multiply the noise to a point where its too distracting to discern any features. This filter isnt perfect of course, and rain wrapped storm bases don't have razor sharp edges, so you will still lose some fine detail.

2. Contrast Enhancement. This can be done manually with curves or with an automatic filter. Mike H is a master of modifying the curves to really make an image "pop", but I just ran it through the automatic process on this one for reasons of time. You'll want to adjust the settings so that the area of interest is in the center of the greyscale range, and so that the brightest area of the image is almost white, and the darkest area almost black (for analysis purposes, not for show).

3. Paint Shop Pro's clarify effect. What this feature does is locally enhance the contrast as opposed to the contrast of the entire image. This is extremely handy for bringing out features in all areas of the image without oversaturating or wiping out entire sections. If you have yourself a rain wrapped tornado, and the camera is able to barely discern the edges, this filter will bring it right out. It doesn't look pretty at the harsh levels I took these images to, but its great for analysis purposes.