Photo from 7/22 in Southern Wisconsin

[ahaberlie]

I hadn't really looked at this photo on a bigger screen until now. The contrast is pretty bad, but I think there may be a funnel cloud in the picture.. what do you guys think? Pretty much in the center of the picture.

This would be my first photographed tornado/funnel. Hopefully it's one or the other.

 

[Skip Talbot]

Trying to shed a little light on the subject, I took the liberty of contrast enhancing your image:

I've tried to label portions of the image here:

I'm assuming the area I've circled in yellow in the center is the feature in question. It does look like the front end of it has a cone type shape, but it also appears that it extends further into the storm so its more of a long type lowering than a cone.

You've definitely photographed the rear flanking core and clear slot and what appears to be an HP supercell. These storms are notoriously difficult for spotting tornadoes because of the visibility limitations.

Unfortunately, I don't think we can say with any certainty whether or not this is a funnel cloud, because its a still image, and because of the distance and contrasting issues. Although its certainly possible that this portion of the storm can produce funnels/tornadoes and that this feature may be one, I think its more likely that you've got a lowered portion of the rear flanking gust front here. This would be something closer to a shelf cloud. You'll notice there are other portions of the gust front that I've circled that have similar lowerings. From the right angle they may appear to have a more cone type appearance.

In my experience, the area circled in red is the area most likely to produce a tornado. This is the northern portion of horseshoe type base created when an RFD punches through the updraft base and is often the site of tornadogenesis (again though they can form down the length of the updraft base). You can see why spotting on an HP storm is so difficult as there is a lot of precip blocking our view of this part of the storm. You have to be north and just ahead of that rear flanking gust front in what I call the inflow notch in order to have any sort of view in there.

In summary I don't think we can say definitively one way or the other what exactly that lowering is. For spotting purposes I would not report this as a funnel since we cannot confirm it without getting in closer to see rotation. It does look like you've captured a nice HP supercell though.

 

[ahaberlie]

Wow.. the enhanced image looks much more impressive... very interesting thanks for the analysis.