Saturday, May 10th, 2014, was a day that almost never happened. My original target was the Kansas City metro area, where tornadic supercells were likely
along the warm front. After staying up late the night before, I left Norman just before noon. By the time I reached Tulsa, storms were already intensifying around
Kansas City, so I decided to head into southeast Kansas and wait for any new development to the south.
Eventually, several storms developed along the dryline near Wichita in south-central Kansas, and I headed west. The first storm fizzled out before I could reach it,
but the second supercell produced a corkscrew mesocyclone, spinning like a top. It seemed like it might produce a tornado, but suddenly, it collapsed. The next storm
to form would be one I would never forget. At first, the structure was unremarkable, but by the time it reached Severy, Kansas, it had transformed into an alien-like
supercell of epic proportions, as seen in the image above.
I quickly found a grassy field that provided a perfect foreground, and I began photographing as the mesocyclone advanced toward me. The sun, the teal light spilling
from the updraft, the swirling structure of the mesocyclone, and countless other small details made this shot my favorite of all time—one I doubt I will ever top.
I am truly grateful that I overslept and ended up at my secondary target that day.
