It's storm chasing season! Every spring, storm chasers travel the long road across the American Prairie in search of that perfect tornado.
The tornado in Morton, Texas was captured two nights ago by Megan Dodson, a friend and colleague of mine who works in the Midwest.
She, along with her husband and two of their friends recently went on a chase across America's Great Plains.
The couple they went along with met on a storm chase years ago.
Megan and her husband met through the National Weather Service. Sounds like romance straight out of the movie Twister.
"I had the truck, the degree, the husband... I just needed the tornado!" said Megan Dodson.
On the third day of their chase, Dodson finally got her tornado.
"I could not believe how much dust was just blowing around. It was just like we're on the Moon." said Dodson. "And then once the storm got going it kind of looked like a spaceship and that's what I was looking for..."
Soon after that, the curtain of dust faded, and the main show was about to begin.
"And then all of a sudden you see the funnel there. And it's like whoa! It just was there." said Dodson.
Excitement... but also concern.
"As a meteorologist we have that really interesting problem where we're like excited about weather but we don't want the weather to happen because of people and property. So it was like a very weird feeling." said Dodson.
Expanding on what Dodson said, it’s kind of a chaser's guilt. We as meteorologists go to the Plains and want to see a spectacular tornado that we can just be in awe at. But at the same time we realize that the tornado could be putting people in harm’s way.
But it's the excitement and fascination that leads us closer to the answer of one the most fundamental questions about tornadoes. Why do some t'storms produce them and others do not? It's this answer that leads to better, more coordinated warning technology... which ultimately saves lives.
The Morton, Texas tornado was perfect in every way. From the sheer site of it... to it's powerful, but yet eerie calmness.
"That's the best thing I could have ever asked for on this trip. And plus it didn't hurt anyone. There was minimal damage if any that we know of." said Dodson.
This was the kind of tornado that chasers seek, but never see. The holy grail.
And for Dodson, it was not only her first tornado, but what will likely remain the best she's ever witnessed for a long long time.