Looking
NW from FM 1585 E of FM 179.
Getting further south and west I took the next shot of a sloped lowering area with dust whirling just in front. The whirl had been present for some minutes at this time and had been reported by others as possibly being smoke or a gustnado or maybe downburst winds. This was taken at 5:52 PM.
Looking
WNW from FM 41 W of FM 179.
I continued west on FM 41 with the dust column getting stronger, unfortunately
being convinced that this wasn't a true severe weather event I didn't get
a shot of the ground event during its most intense period. This definitely
proved to have been a mistake. I started to notice that the dust,
smoke, or whatever seem to be connecting up to the cloud base. I was under
the impression that this material was being pushed up by and flowing over
the top of the surface outflow and into the intake area. Passing
through Ropesville, I continued west on FM 41 to a short way past
where FM 168 turns north. As I pulled up to take more shots, a funnel
was reported just to my north northwest and was starting to show connection
with the previously mentioned dust column.
The event which may have been going on for some time was now definitely
a tornado.
Below is a shot of the debris cloud, now somewhat less impressive than
it had been earlier. Sorry, no proof from me, but other people
sent the local TV stations video and stills of the debris cloud from fairly
close up, I just don't have the links to any of them. (6:03
PM)
Looking
NW from FM 41 W of FM 168N.
Below is a picture of the funnel cloud extending down and away
from what can be visualized as a rotating wall cloud, unfortunately I may
have gotten too close and definitely wasn't watching the area above and
to the north as I should have. A mistake that did not prove costly
but might have in other circumstances. In the future I don't think I'll
dismiss such dust columns as quickly. The lighter band running across
the lowering may be indication of the RFD which might have intensified
the funnel formation.
Condensation funnel of the tornado at 6:03 PM.
Looking
NNW from FM 41 W of FM 168N.
A very different angle on the funnel or possibly a shot of a different funnel is provided by Rob Hogan who was north of the intake area, watching from about three miles south of Smyer on FM 168. This shot is looking due west. He had also believed the dust to be outflow related and the cloud material above as most likely being a shelf cloud. It turns out that it most likely is what our team calls a CAC or Complex Accessory Cloud. This formation is seen on many northwest to southeast moving storms and tends to shift characteristics from shelf cloud to wall cloud and back as the storm plows into its inflow. The cycle time varies but usually is on the order of five to ten minutes.
Looking
W from FM 168 S of Smyer.
A wider shot of the funnel and the debris cloud at 6:04 PM.
Looking
NW from FM 41 W of FM 168N.
Once the funnel reached maximum, the whole thing began dissipating rapidly.
The debris cloud had lost much of its intensity before the funnel got going
but within a couple of minutes of the above shot the funnel was no longer
visible and the debris cloud was also getting hard to make out.
The wall cloud area shown below was much less organized after the funnel
dissipated though it never was what I would call a classical wall cloud.
Due to the nature of the parent storm and its motion calling it as a CAC
is probably the most appropriate situation.
Wall cloud area at 6:05 PM.
Looking
NW from FM 41 W of FM 169N.
This was not the usual short lived F0 tornado which is produced by what we call northwest flow storms. Assuming the dust whirl was in fact a true debris cloud, it may have been around for 40 minutes maybe longer. Fortunately it seemed to move only very slowly and confined itself to fields and causing no known damage as of this time. It was also the only really interesting event of the day.
