Dangerous Road To Arthur

The dark funnel of a wedge tornado, made visible by a flash of lightning, looms in the distance as our storm chase vehicle speeds northward toward it along County Highway M31 in southeastern Ida County in the state of Iowa. The time and date was 8:25 PM, Saturday, April 9, 2011. We were located just north of 310th Street (County Road D56) and about five miles south of the town of Arthur. The dark post-like silhouette right of the tornado and just left of the yellow blur of a No Passing Zone sign is the support of a water tower. The tornado would morph into a stovepipe shape minutes later while northwest of Arthur. Driving our chase vehicle at left is son Ryan Alliss. The bluish smudges at top are windshield reflections from dashboard lights. This image is a video frame capture.