Your First Tornado

[Chris Wilburn]

I think this has been discussed in the past, but I thought it would be interesting to see that answers again. Where did you see your first ever tornado?

My first tornado was Mulvane, KS on June 12, 2004. Many remember this day quite well and it's one I will never forget as well. I saw a total of 4 tornadoes this day, including the Rock, KS tornado from several miles away as the sun was going down.

 

[Rick Schmidt]

My first was in my home town of Topeka on June 8,1966. I saw it when it was roping out, but no photos.

 

[Andrew Ryan]

My first legitimate one was on May 1, 2008 near Hominy, OK. The pictures came out slightly less than terrible. Although, the images are burned into my brain forever.

 

[Jason Boggs]

I started slowly getting into chasing in 1998. I saw a few dirt whirls with some being gustnadoes and maybe 1 or 2 being legitimate weak tornadoes, but my first real tornado was Oct 9th, 2001 near Cordell, OK. The actual tornado I saw was not the one that hit Cordell that day. I was a little further east. Also a big plus...I met SPC forecaster Rich Thompson while viewing the tornado which was pretty cool.

That night I got a media pass to go into Cordell and document the damage. The east side of town had very heavy damage. It was the first time I had seen tornado damage in person, and that was the point where I really began my respect for the power of tornadoes.

 

[Skip Talbot]

I'll never forget my first! On April 20, 2004, not even expecting to chase that day, I turned in a philosophy assignment and ran north up 57 out of Champaign, IL. Just south of Kankakee a stacked plates LP came into view and minutes later a tornado dropped.

Here's a similar thread from almost 6 years ago:
http://www.stormtrack.org/forum/showthread.php?t=572

It'll be interesting to compare those stories to the new ones, as I'm sure a lot of people have bagged their first since then.

 

[Verne Carlson]

June 20, 1987 Littleton, CO - this funnel formed over my apartment and I ran out to the parking lot and got this shot of it.

 

[Stephen Levine]

This was not a tornado, but my first significant funnel cloud.
It was May, 1967 and I stood in my back yard in a suburb of Pittsburgh PA.
All afternoon, the sky had an eerie yellowish tinge with purplish clouds in it.
Finally, a tongue-like funnel passed just north of my home, nearly overhead.
I could see scud puffs rotating around it, and the top of the funnel disappeared into a hole within the overcast above.
The funnel dissipated, unwinding like a watch spring uncurling itself.
It was truly amazing.
I lived in very hilly terrain, and some acquaintences told me that they saw this same funnel just a bit earlier off to the west, coming very close to the ground.

 

[Shane Adams]

http://www.passiontwist.com/6696chase.htm

 

[Tom Roberts]

I don't remember the date, but I remember the cirumstances. Maybe someone on here will remember the date!

I was 9 or 10, so the year must've been around 1989-90. The family was staying in a motel on the west edge of Phillipsburg, Kansas. Shortly before leaving the motel for dinner, I was outside admiring the storms. At that age, I was singularly obsessed with tornados, hehe.

I couldn't see the base of the storm to the west (northwest) of town from the parking lot, so I took a stroll down to a better vantage point. What I saw was a brown elephant trunk tornado, perfectly visible (no rain obscuring it).

I had no camera at that age, so I have no evidence...just the vivid memories.

The first tornado for which I have photographic evidence was the infamous Almena, Kansas tornado of June 3, 1999. Not only did I get some great photos of that storm, I have proof I was there in the form of someone else's photos. Yeah, I was a little enthralled that a DOW showed up to the storm I managed to intercept. They didn't want to talk, and I understand that, now.

Ninth photo from the top, the DOW photo, I'm the red-headed kid in the purple shirt. LOL
http://www.hprcc.unl.edu/nebraska/june3chasephotos.html

 

[Rick Schmidt]

I neglected to mention in my earlier post, for those who are not familiar with the 1966 Topeka tornado event, that it was an f5 that tore right through the middle of town, and killed 17 people, injuring 500. It was the costliest tornado in U.S. history up to that time, estimated at $100 million in damage.

 

[Laura Duchesne]

On Aug 9, 2000 I saw a brief landspout with no condensation just north of where I live, and alas, never had the chance to grab pictures. Now, my first "real" tornado would be the June 5, 2006 storm in South Dakota. It still is one of my fave chases to date. Here's a video capture.

 

[Rob Satkus]

My first tornado was June 8, 1974 in Tulsa as an F3 passed less than a mile from our house. We lived in a horseshoe shaped valley, so I could only see the wall cloud and top of the tornado, but there was plenty of debris in the air as it was passing through a subdivision. My first chase tornado was March 28, 1988 as Troy Knight and I witnessed a small, brief tornado along the flanking line of a tornadic supercell passing through southern OKC.

 

[Danny Neal]

My first real tornado was June 1st, 1999. Embedded HP supercell within a squall line just north of Bloomington, IL. http://northernilstormchaser.com/1999---1-Chase.php Can read about it here

 

[Tim Millspaugh]

About 1973 a waterspout on Cheney Lake (west of Wichita Kansas) that took the lives of 3 boaters was my first.
The 2004 Mulvane tornado was the first I actually got pictures of.

 

[Bob Hartig]

August of 1996, right here in Michigan. I knew just enough about wind shear to recognize it as I looked at the clouds. An hour or two later, shortly before closing, I spotted a wall cloud forming outside the southwest window of my work place. I took off early, chased it for maybe fifty miles, and watched it drop a beautiful, slim tube that lasted for maybe a minute out in the open farm country of central Michigan. The storm was a classic supercell, beautifully structured.

On the way back, I encountered another supercell with a nice flying saucer meso. It was as good a day for structure as I've ever seen here in Michigan. If only I'd had a camera! But I do have some great memories.