Waurika OK, Tornado

Photo Courtesy of NSSL

Waurika OK, 30 May 1976, looking E. This is the same tornado as in the previous picture, at almost the same instant, from about the same distance, in nearly the opposite direction. It appears front-lit by filtered (refracted) sunlight streaming in from the west (behind the photographer). Fuzzy gray areas beneath the cloud base at right are precipitation curtains wrapping southward around the west edge of the mesocyclone -- the same process which forms a hook echo on radar displays.