Storm chasers captured stunning footage of a massive tornado that passed through rural Texas on Monday, not far from the city of Lubbock, near the town of Morton.
The giant twister, estimated to be around a half-mile wide, tore through the plains and was one of three that ravaged the South Plains on Tuesday.
The Washington Post reports the tornado was confirmed around 7 p.m. The colossal twister provided remarkable images and videos showcasing nature’s power.
Stephen Jones, a storm-chaser who witnessed the event firsthand, reacted on Twitter.
“Still gathering my jaw on this one,” he wrote.
Meteorologist Kholby Martin tweeted a photo of the massive funnel cloud. Martin, who was also on the scene, described his initial thoughts with, “I’m speechless.”
This weather formation is described as a wedge tornado, considered the most significant and menacing type of tornado.
A wedge tornado gets its name for its upside-down triangle shape, which gives a broader appearance than the narrow column seen in funnel tornados. In some instances, due to a wedge tornado’s extensive width, it may not be recognized as a tornado by the untrained eye.
Luckily, the damage caused was minimal as the tornado did not pass directly through any towns, and reports indicated no deaths.
However, following the event, evidence of the storm was visible as Laurellad Fire Department shared photos of the destruction of rural powerline poles, irrigation systems, and one barn that suffered a collapse. The energy provider in the region, Xcel Energy, detected outages around Levelland, Plainview, Springlake Earth, and Hart.
Although initial weather predictions pointed to a very low risk for significant tornado activity, one of the two rotating storms present was able to gather more energy. The area then experienced a robust supercell followed by hailing the size of baseballs.
The Weather Service in the Lubbock region notified residents at 6:50 p.m. of a possible tornado event. Shortly after the initial warning, news came that a tornado was confirmed to have touched down less than 10 miles from Morton, Texas. According to the Weather Service, the weather event became large and extremely dangerous in less than 10 minutes.
Storm chasers were the only eyewitnesses to this event due to the extensive dust the tornado was churning up. As a result of the ongoing drought in the area, debris kicked up by the twister made viewing it from more than a mile away impossible.