5/22/04 Hallam Report Continued...
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
Loaded Gun Chasing
website of storm chaser Mikey Gribble
website of storm chaser Mikey Gribble
The tornado quickly filled in with dirt and became a wedge. Visibility wasn't
good because of my location (looking North with the core in the background).
I doubt the tornado would have been back lit even if you were in front of it
though. There was a ton of dust getting picked up by the storm that day. To
the right is a picture of the wedge about five minutes after it first touched
down as a white cone tornado.
good because of my location (looking North with the core in the background).
I doubt the tornado would have been back lit even if you were in front of it
though. There was a ton of dust getting picked up by the storm that day. To
the right is a picture of the wedge about five minutes after it first touched
down as a white cone tornado.
I was just South of the tornado by about a mile when the last video grab was taken. The storm was moving
northeast so I had to cut back to the North to get in closer to the tornado. Below are a couple more video grabs of
the wedge just before I turned North to move in closer. The first picture is back lit by lightning. You can tell by the
pictures below that the wedge was quickly growing in size.
northeast so I had to cut back to the North to get in closer to the tornado. Below are a couple more video grabs of
the wedge just before I turned North to move in closer. The first picture is back lit by lightning. You can tell by the
pictures below that the wedge was quickly growing in size.
It is too long ago to remember exactly how it happened, but at some point I lost site of the tornado before I
turned North to get closer. I don't think the tornado got rain wrapped. I think it was just too low contrast with
too much dust to be visible at this time. Anyway, when I approached the base of the updraft, a smaller white
elephant trunk tornado came into view. I am pretty sure this was a satellite tornado and not the wedge that I had
been watching. It's been a hell of a long time, but I remember seeing some other chaser's video from West of the
tornado that showed this satellite tornado touching down. I was about a half mile South of it. It is kind of
obscured in the picture because there were scud clouds quickly rotating around it and getting pulled in towards
the tornado. Below are video grabs of this tornado, which would have been the fourth tornado the storm
produced if you count this big wedge as the long-track tornado that went on to hit Hallam (the first tornado was
a weak one North of Hebron that I couldn't personally confirm, but it was reported on the official survey).
turned North to get closer. I don't think the tornado got rain wrapped. I think it was just too low contrast with
too much dust to be visible at this time. Anyway, when I approached the base of the updraft, a smaller white
elephant trunk tornado came into view. I am pretty sure this was a satellite tornado and not the wedge that I had
been watching. It's been a hell of a long time, but I remember seeing some other chaser's video from West of the
tornado that showed this satellite tornado touching down. I was about a half mile South of it. It is kind of
obscured in the picture because there were scud clouds quickly rotating around it and getting pulled in towards
the tornado. Below are video grabs of this tornado, which would have been the fourth tornado the storm
produced if you count this big wedge as the long-track tornado that went on to hit Hallam (the first tornado was
a weak one North of Hebron that I couldn't personally confirm, but it was reported on the official survey).
Now here is the terribly undramatic conclusion, at least for people that weren't there, you can't really see the tornado
in my video after it got 2.5 miles wide. It was simply too damn big. You couldn't distinguish it from the rain core. It
basically looked like a big wall of shit. You could see it in person better than it shows up on the video though (and a
lot better than it shows up in these video grabs I posted). It is hard to comprehend something that big until you see
it in person. It was practically pitch black under the storm by this time even though there was still a little bit of light
out. It was blatantly obvious that there was a monster tornado on the ground at the time even after you couldn't
really see it anymore. I still remember my storm report I posted on Stormtrack after this chase. I said that the last
tornado (that hit Hallam) was a "beast" and "all you could see was a huge wall of dust". The inflow was incredibly
strong, you could see a big wall of dust under the updraft, and you could hear the tornado. It was kind of eerie
seeing that and knowing what was taking place in there. The town of Hallam, Nebraska got hammered by the tornado,
killing one person. They just took a grazing shot from the North side of the tornado, so it could have been worse.
Below is a picture of the far southern edge of the storm, which must have been pretty close to the edge of the
tornado. You can't see much in this video grab, but you can kind of tell how there was a huge wall of crap there and
you couldn't really see a well defined tornado, simply because it was so big. I was pretty much straight East of the
tornado when that picture was taken.
in my video after it got 2.5 miles wide. It was simply too damn big. You couldn't distinguish it from the rain core. It
basically looked like a big wall of shit. You could see it in person better than it shows up on the video though (and a
lot better than it shows up in these video grabs I posted). It is hard to comprehend something that big until you see
it in person. It was practically pitch black under the storm by this time even though there was still a little bit of light
out. It was blatantly obvious that there was a monster tornado on the ground at the time even after you couldn't
really see it anymore. I still remember my storm report I posted on Stormtrack after this chase. I said that the last
tornado (that hit Hallam) was a "beast" and "all you could see was a huge wall of dust". The inflow was incredibly
strong, you could see a big wall of dust under the updraft, and you could hear the tornado. It was kind of eerie
seeing that and knowing what was taking place in there. The town of Hallam, Nebraska got hammered by the tornado,
killing one person. They just took a grazing shot from the North side of the tornado, so it could have been worse.
Below is a picture of the far southern edge of the storm, which must have been pretty close to the edge of the
tornado. You can't see much in this video grab, but you can kind of tell how there was a huge wall of crap there and
you couldn't really see a well defined tornado, simply because it was so big. I was pretty much straight East of the
tornado when that picture was taken.
By far the best footage I have ever seen of the tornado after it got huge is from the stormgasm guys, Simon Brewer
and Jim Bishop, both of which are incredible chasers who I have huge amount of respect for. They are probably the
most under rated chasers out there IMO. Some of the older chasers who have been chasing for 20 plus years get a
lot of credit as being some of the best out there, but I would bet Jim and Simon would eat a lot of their lunches on
any given day. Those guys always manage to nail the forecast on the big days and more importantly they always had
the enthusiasm and drive to work their asses off to get on tornadoes. I remember how they chased South Dakota on
May 11, 2004 (a bust) and turned around and got on the Harper County, Kansas storm the next day on May 12,
2004. I've done that kind of extreme driving before and I can promise you it isn't easy. I'm getting totally off topic,
but my point is that those two guys are incredible chasers and deserve way more credit than they've ever received.
Here is a link to their video of the Hallam tornado as it grew into a 2.5 mile wide F4 (the largest tornado ever
recorded). BTW the reason they managed to get video of this when nobody else did was because they were
northeast of the tornado, or in other words, they were right in front of it. The other clip on this page is their video
from when they got hit by a satellite tornado after shooting the video of the wedge. They paid a price for the footage,
but IMO it was well worth it. Here is the link to the page that has both videos.
and Jim Bishop, both of which are incredible chasers who I have huge amount of respect for. They are probably the
most under rated chasers out there IMO. Some of the older chasers who have been chasing for 20 plus years get a
lot of credit as being some of the best out there, but I would bet Jim and Simon would eat a lot of their lunches on
any given day. Those guys always manage to nail the forecast on the big days and more importantly they always had
the enthusiasm and drive to work their asses off to get on tornadoes. I remember how they chased South Dakota on
May 11, 2004 (a bust) and turned around and got on the Harper County, Kansas storm the next day on May 12,
2004. I've done that kind of extreme driving before and I can promise you it isn't easy. I'm getting totally off topic,
but my point is that those two guys are incredible chasers and deserve way more credit than they've ever received.
Here is a link to their video of the Hallam tornado as it grew into a 2.5 mile wide F4 (the largest tornado ever
recorded). BTW the reason they managed to get video of this when nobody else did was because they were
northeast of the tornado, or in other words, they were right in front of it. The other clip on this page is their video
from when they got hit by a satellite tornado after shooting the video of the wedge. They paid a price for the footage,
but IMO it was well worth it. Here is the link to the page that has both videos.
This was definitely one of my most memorable chases ever. Not because the tornadoes were really good, or because I
got great video, but simply because the storm was so amazingly powerful. I will always be able to say that I was there
to see the largest tornado ever recorded. If I would have screwed up the forecast that day and missed the Hallam
tornado, I don't think I would've ever been able to forgive myself. I got lucky though and got to watch the storm
from the very begining. I watched it all the way from being a tower will a small anvil all the way up until it became an
F4 wedge that wiped out the town of Hallam and went into the record books. My heart goes out to the victim that
lost her life that day, but in reality it could have been a lot worse. Whenever there is a strong long-track tornado like
that there is a good chance that people are going to be hurt and killed. There was a strong tornado on the ground
that day for more than 50 miles and in all honesty I'm shocked that a lot more people didn't get killed.
got great video, but simply because the storm was so amazingly powerful. I will always be able to say that I was there
to see the largest tornado ever recorded. If I would have screwed up the forecast that day and missed the Hallam
tornado, I don't think I would've ever been able to forgive myself. I got lucky though and got to watch the storm
from the very begining. I watched it all the way from being a tower will a small anvil all the way up until it became an
F4 wedge that wiped out the town of Hallam and went into the record books. My heart goes out to the victim that
lost her life that day, but in reality it could have been a lot worse. Whenever there is a strong long-track tornado like
that there is a good chance that people are going to be hurt and killed. There was a strong tornado on the ground
that day for more than 50 miles and in all honesty I'm shocked that a lot more people didn't get killed.