Ryan Alliss' electronic chasing equipment (top-to-bottom): iPhone 15 Pro for streaming, GPS, Radarscope.
2:05 pm. Storm chasing now begins in earnest. Image looks north at swirling clouds from I-80 ALT, located about 2.5 miles southeast of Seward, Nebraska, indicating a volatile atmosphere.
2:09 pm. We are now located north of Seward, and having to make the choice of intercepting the more northern tornado warned supercell (left) or the more southern one at lower right. Our position is the blue target icon.
2:25 pm. Image looks northeast along Road 322, about 2.5 miles west of Seward, Nebraska in Seward County. Ryan points his cell phone toward the sky while streaming, with mammatus clouds in the background.
2:32 pm. First Emergency Alert sounds on my cell phone!
2:37 pm. Looking northwest at a vigorous cauliflower updraft as seen from the northern outskirts of Seward, Nebraska in Seward County.
2:43 pm. Looking northwest from the side of Highway 280, just south of Highway 808, about 5 miles north of Seward, Nebraska. Ryan observes developing tornado-warned storm.
2:45 pm. Same location. Looking north at rotating storm. Clear slot at left. Updraft and inflow cloud at right. Note the line of storm chasers in the background at right.
2:55 pm. We are momentarily pulled off to the side of Highway 15, about .7-mile south of the junction with Highway 66 in Butler County, Nebraska. This vigorously rotating storm would produce our first tornado in mere minutes.
2:55 pm. Back on the road again. A Dwight (Nebraska) Rural Fire Truck parks in the middle of the road about .6-mile south of Highway 66--not to block traffic, but to warn of the danger ahead.
2:56 pm. Looking north from Highway 15 at Highway 66. This brief, weak tornado dropped just as we were approaching the intersection. Note the striking circular rotation around the funnel, and the storm chasers stopped in the foreground.
2:56 pm. Closer-in image.
2:58 pm. We have turned right (east) onto Highway 66 and pulled off to the side of the road a short distance from Highway 15. A funnel drops to the ground in this view looking north. Like the first tornado, this was a brief and weak event.
2:59 pm. The tornado lifts after having been on the ground for just a few seconds.
2:59 pm. Ryan streams the storm.
3:00 pm. Similar view looking northeast.
3:10 pm. Looking southeast at anvil topped supercells, as seen from Highway 66 about 4 miles east of Dwight, Nebraska in Butler County. These tornado-warned storms would eventually move into Iowa and impact the town of Minden.
3:11 pm. Similar view.
3:18 pm. Eastbound on County Road A in Saunders County, Nebraska, about 2.8 miles southeast of Valparaiso, Nebraska. Although not distinct in this image, ground circulation indicated a tornado contact.
3:18 pm. Second Emergency Alert.
3:32 pm. We observed hailstones on the side of the road while traveling on County Road A in Saunders County, Nebraska, about 4.6 miles east of Ceresco. Many were very large in size! The fallen hail was confined to a small area--maybe a half-mile. We did not see any hail falling. This is the first hailstone I collected--shaped sort of like a hockey puck.
3:34 pm. A conglomerate style hailstone.
3:37 pm. Using my trusty measuring caliper on a hailstone and discovering it measured an astounding 3.8 inches in width--the largest hailstone I've ever seen!
3:46 pm. Looking south at storm while eastbound on Ashland Road, about 1.75 miles west of the town of Ashland, Nebraska in Saunders County.
4:10 pm. Radar image with a very distinct tornado hook echo signature, located near Washington, Nebraska, just northwest of Omaha.
4:28 pm. Our location is just north of Omaha (target icon), tornado-warned polygon areas, and we're heading toward Iowa.
4:35 pm. Incredibly active radar image of the Omaha area.
4:48 pm. No surprise here--another Emergency Alert.
5:07 pm. University of Illinois Doppler On Wheels (DOW) truck seen while we were northbound on Laredo Avenue (L23), about 3.3 miles southeast of Pisgah, Iowa. The DOW team was led by Dr. Josh Wurman.
5:23 pm. Looking north from Lincoln Way Street near US Highway 30 (background left) in Woodbine, Iowa in Harrison County. Leading a line of storm chasers is the University of Illinois Doppler On Wheels (DOW) truck.
5:25 pm. Northbound on Loess Hills Trail about 3 miles north of the town of Missouri Valley, Iowa in Harrison County. Wedge tornado can be seen on the horizon.
5:33 pm. Yet another Emergency Alert, this one adding "A dangerous storm is approaching current location. Tornado threat: high."
5:39 pm. Ominous Radarscope image for 5:39 pm, with hail over the town of Minden, and the distinct hook echo of a tornado about to arrive from the south. We did not fully know about the disaster that had befallen Minden until the next day, but unfortunately had a good idea it would happen from this image. Our location target icon is just northeast of the town of Tennant.
5:44 pm. Traveling south (southwest) on County Road M16, about 1.4 miles northeast of Tennant, Iowa. Wedge tornado at center background.
5:47 pm. Looking southwest at a multi-vortex tornado as seen from County Road M16, about .7-mile south of the town of Tennant, Iowa in Shelby County. The tornado had just devastated the town of Minden.
5:51 pm. Looking southwest at two tornadoes on the ground--broader tornado (background), and satellite tornado in the foreground. We are stopped on Street F58, with County Road M16 in the background. Storm is approaching our location.
5:51 pm. Single tornado in an ever-changing vortex whirl.
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