TornadoVideos.net

Posted At: May 5, 2006 @ 3:00 PM

Posted By: Reed Timmer

TV.net stormchasers Reed Timmer and Joel Taylor were chasing and incredible supercell in western Gaines County, TX near the New Mexico border that made several attempts at producing a tornado. The supercell was initially moving ENE, but when the second meso occluded, the storm appeared to weaken and it made a hard turn to the right just northwest of Seminole, TX. Reed and Joel flew south and thought they had avoided much of the damaging hail, but suddenly, numerous baseball to softball-sized hail began falling from the sky. Four stones impacted the windshield leaving massive craters and covering Reed and Joel with glass, including glass splinters in their eyes. While Reed was videotaping with his window down, a softball-sized stone struck and destroyed the side mirror, narrowly missing Reed's right hand and un-insured videocamera. Two people in the vehicle sustained minor cuts, marking the first time a stormchase has drawn blood on the TV.net team. The radar image below at left shows the storm when it nearly produced a tornado WNW of Seminole, TX, just before the hail incident. The TV.net position is indicated by the white circle, and the radar was indicating 3.5" hail at the time of the radar image from this storm. The image at right is from just north of Seminole, TX during the brunt of the hailstorm.