Your Favorite Type of Tornado

[Adam Lucio]

While some people prefer that photogenic Mulvane type trunk, I find myself being a bit different.

My favorite types of tornadoes to observe are those mean, dark, chaotic dusty tornadoes where you can really see the chaos churning within them. Often times these appear to be the loudest tornadoes as well. I get more of a sensation when watching these types of tornadoes.

Here's an example from Iowa of all places.



Another good example would be the Van Wert Tornado



and my very own shot of the 6-7-08 tornado south of Chicago [language]



Maybe its just a perspective thing depending on how close you are...but anyways, what is your favorite type of tornado?

 

[ChristianTerry]

I haven't seen a tornado yet, but from videos I would like to see either a cone or an elephant trunk.

 

[Gabe Garfield]

I 'em all, but my personal favorites are...

1.) Big (1/8 - 1/2 mile wide), nasty stovepipes with sharp edges.

An example from the 16 June 2010 Dupree, SD storm, as seen by Roger Hill:

Another example from the 17 June 2010 Albert Lea, MN, also seen by Roger Hill:

2.) "Drill-bit", high-contrast skinny tubes.

An example from the 29 May 2004 Harper Co., KS storm, as seen by Eric Nguyen:

And, of course, the famous Ellis Co. tube from 4 May 2007, as seen by Reed Timmer and Joel Taylor:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNL7ASvl4k4

 

[Donovan Gruner]

I'll have to agree with you Adam. I prefer the dirty, nasty looking ones.

Anything with amazing rapid rising motion is also a plus.

Who are we kidding, any tornado is good by me, and I'm sure everyone else here feels the same!

 

[Skip Talbot]

My favorite is a high contrast, front lit rope, drillbit, or trunk. Ideally though, I'd love to see a tornado that goes through several stages, starting out as a big dusty cone, spinning up several suction vortices, before filling in as a massive wedge, and then ending with a gorgeous rope out. A great example of this would be the 1998 Columbus, NE tornado. Filming a huge wedge, and then having it rope out right in front of you while being able to look straight up at the funnel... that would be a dream shot.

 

[Bob Hartig]

The one that's in front of me. Seriously. I like variety, and I haven't yet seen a broad enough selection for a favorite kind to have emerged for me. So far each one has provided different things for me to experience, from sound to violence to beauty to crazy visual effects to sheer size. I like how Roger Edwards has described it: "The smorgasbord of atmospheric violence." I have yet to see anything emerge out of the grab bag that hasn't thrilled and fascinated me to the core. Maybe one day I'll develop a preference, but I'm not there yet.

 

[Andrea Griffa]

To me I will never forget the shape of the may 3 1999 tornado while impacting on Bridge Creek as you can see by the video of Tim Marshall.
I think this video is in the top 3 of the world tornado history. No doubts about it. The monster has got an unreal, unbelivable, stunning color and shape. This thing looks like as if it was something belonging to another atmospheric phisic.

 

[Jason Boggs]

I prefer the nice high contrast drill bit tornadoes like the 3rd photo in Gabe's post. Also, the Campo tornado was the type that I really like too.

I was on the Ellis county tornado too, and that was a real treat. It had great contrast and was the king of drill bit tornadoes.

 

[Scott Weberpal]

Any one that is in my viewfinder.

 

[Chip Redmond]

Definitely the rare massive wedges that pick up huge amounts of dust and relatively rain-free. Seeing the violent rotation on the ground compared to the sheer size of the tornado are breath-taking and like nothing else in nature.

But overall I agree with the consensus, the one in front of me is the best...

Chip

 

[Adam Lucio]

I should made a disclaimer that the one in front of you was a given lol

 

[Melissa Jablonski]

Any one that is in my viewfinder.

ME TOO!
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[Rob H]

Doesn't even need to be a tornado for me - a wall cloud will do. While Campo, Mulvane, etc. are beautiful, I want a dark, grungy, dirty, low to the ground HP beast that looks ragged and ugly. If it can be over a wheatfield so the orange of the wheat balances out the dark bluish-grey of the clouds, that's even better.

And I'll take my clouds like my coffee - the blacker the better.

Those puny little ropes that are all white and pretty, and sometimes have rainbows dancing around, are no good. I want something that looks mean and scary. It's nature's way of saying 'Don't mess with me'.

 

[Darren Addy]

I'd have to say the ones that stop drop and roll
in no-population areas are my favorites.

 

[Verne Carlson]

+1 for the sunlit white drill-bit tornadoes with a violent debris cloud!