August 4th Landspout Report

Spotter: Ryan Shepard (Greeley, CO)

Above picture was taken at 8:56pm MDT from Highway 20 between Harrison and Crawford looking northwest.

Location 1 (Blue) is my location at the time of the Land spout, and location 2 (Red) is the approximate location of the Land spout Tornado.

There was a lot of terrain west of Crawford, I had to get far enough west on 20 to be able to see the storm structure and ground. I got on a high spot for viewing the storm. It was dark, but the full moon and intensive lighting allowed for great night vision on the storm. The picture is not anywhere near what naked eye sight at night was able to see. Without lighting I was still able to see the tornado. The tornado formed very quickly, started from the ground as I saw a debris swirl, it quickly connected to the cloud base and lasted for 1-2 minutes. I called 911 at 9:05 pm to report the tornado after it had dissipated. I was unable to contact the NWS office because I was out of service. Cheyenne issued a Severe Thunderstorm warning immediately after I called on the storm I was spotting. I followed the storm as it passed 20 west of Chadron. After reviewing the radar and stills, It is my opinion the land spout formed on a rapidly developing cell fed by an outflow from the cell to the east at the time. At 8:55 radar indicates that the main updraft was not in the vicinity of the report of the sighted tornado, yet the southern portions of the 30dbz cell was rapidly developing. In fact south of the main meso, there was incredible striations and structure, where the land spout connected to.

(Picture 8:57pm) South Edge of Cell