Storm chasers in Georgia captured footage of a particularly photogenic tornado as it zipped across a country dirt road. Then, as they high-tailed it out of there, the twister seemed to all but disappear. But did it?
Published Apr. 7, 2022 12:32 PM EDT | Updated Apr. 7, 2022 1:36 PM EDT
The southern U.S. has been bombarded with round after round of severe thunderstorms since mid-March, and on Wednesday, one tornado spun up that was so photogenic that even veteran storm chasers were in awe.
Storm Chaser Vince Waelti positioned himself in the perfect spot to watch one twister race across an open field in Leslie, Georgia, a small rural town in the southern part of the state about a three-hour drive from Atlanta. Just as he rolled up to the field, the twister came into view.
As the tightly-packed tornado tracked across a dirt road, it appeared to change color as it sucked up dirt and flung it high into the sky. The storm chasers can be heard in the video marveling at the spectacle before them, and road signs could be seen shaking as the winds intensified.
A tornado in Leslie, Georgia, sucks up dirt from a nearby road as it tracked across the region on April 6, 2022. (SevereStudios/Vince Waelti)
Then, the tornado continued to race across a field in close proximity to Waelti and a few other chasers in the area.
At one point, other funnels appeared to be spinning in the sky around the primary tornado, but they did not reach the ground.
Although the chasers were extremely close to the tornado, they kept their own safety in mind while filming the mesmerizing phenomenon.
"It's going to come back at us," one of the storm chasers yelled. "We got our escape route down here."
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Waelti then backed up to get some distance and reposition himself for more views of the tornado as it moved away.
Within about 60 seconds, the whole episode was over as the tornado seemed to all but vanish into thin air and the video cut away, a moment of extreme weather that was as ephemeral as it was thrilling.
Another storm chaser captured video of the tornado appearing to dissipate then suddenly reforming. A subsequent video posted online by Waelti shows a tornado, perhaps the one seen in the previous video reformed, spinning in the same general area, lofting debris into the air, moments later.
"Tornadoes are hard to see in the South, due to frequently being rain-wrapped and with tall trees narrowing the field of view," AccuWeather Senior Weather Editor Jesse Ferrell, noting that this video was particularly special. "To be chasing a storm and suddenly see a tornado in an open field was an extremely lucky break for these chasers."
As of Thursday, the National Weather Service had yet to give a rating to the tornado, which tracked across Sumter County.
Other tornadoes and severe thunderstorms across the Southeast on Wednesday caused property damage, injuries and at least one death.
Much of the region will get a much-needed break in the stormy pattern through at least the start of next week, giving residents and businesses time to clean up after the destructive storms of late March and early April.
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