North of Baird on hwy 283 just a few miles sw of FM576. Here we have a lowered wallcloud / funnel attempt. There was some some erratic motion, but it never could get organized enough to produce a tornado. The cell is headed ne toward the town of Breckenridge.I was about the first chaser to arrive at this location but after about 20 minutes of observation we ended up with about 10 other chaser / spotter vehicles nearby. This is looking sw.

Same wallcloud inflow region (likely a bit later) looking nw.

Another wallcloud feature with two votice funnel shapes extending - looking w or wsw.

This is the same inflow region looking nnw as the storm continues to work to the ne. Notice the area on the right side of the wallcloud appears somewhat like a shelf cloud but likely it is more of a tail cloud pointing toward the precip region. The white area behind the wallcloud in the distance is likely heavy rainfall. At this point I would categorize this storm as a classic supercell structure. Later it becomes more Hp after dropping a tornado or two.

This interesting area shows the wallcloud funnel region as viewed to the north as I head east on FM 576 toward Moran. Additionally, in the darker area of clouds to the right I saw something similar to a vertical funnel mostly obscured by the clouds at base. At the time I thought it might be a potential tornado. I believe a tornado warning for Breckenridge was issued about 10 to 15 minutes after I observed this feature.

I head north up FM576 from Moran almost to FM601 intersection and I see the wallcloud to my east. This is the wallcloud region minutes before a tornado forms to the sw of Breckenridge.

This is a closer view of the same wallcloud features.

I pass through Breckenridge and obsere damage from the tornado. The first thing I see is an overturned semi-trailer lying on it’s side and laying across hwy 183 on the south side of town mostly blocking the road. I attempt to exit town to the east on hwy 180 to continue following the area of rotation, but am detoured by debris and turned around by the Sheriff. I find a shortcut via CR229 and observe this damage nearby CR229 and CR227. This is likely EF1 damage.

Another damage shot nearby as I continue to drive showing a stripped tree. I accidentally run into a few phone wires across the road a couple of times trying to get through all this. Debris is a pain for me and the residents.

Surprisingly I manage to catch up to the area of rotation. I thought for sure it was moving too fast to catch after my 20 to 30 minute delay in Breckenridge. I believe this was taken off of hwy 180 somewhere near Brad, but just a guess. It shows a fairly well developed wallcloud with a funnel attempting to protrude from the bottom, center.

Another shot of the same feature. A couple of vortices are extending and trying to touch down, but I don’t believe they manage to - although sometimes it is tough to tell ground action from a distance particularly over wet fields.

Headed northwest on hwy 16 from Brad. Looking to the left of the road there are numerous lowering in this now very large inflow region / rainfree base. Over the hills many of the vortices appear close to the ground, and I believe I see a couple of very brief ‘needle’ like spinups touching ground. I begin driving under the entire base and according to David Douglas examining radar based on my position I should be under the wallcloud. It appears to me that I am just barely west of it as it passes on the right side of the road headed ne.

Here is another shot of the same features but a bit closer.

Here is the wallcloud headed northeast from my position. At this time it is very active, showing lots of motion and is headed toward the town of Graford.

Here is a shot as the wallcloud gets further away (left side of road). Note the funnel shape on the left side of the wallcloud. This active area through video shows lots of vertical and rotational motion. I see 1 or 2 funnels which appear to be interfacing with the ground. This would mean it is a tornado, but it is a bit distant for me to make that determination. Also, on the video of my dashcam I later change my position and tape what appears to be a wedge shaped tornado. I may grab one of those pictures from video soon and post it.

At approximately 7:37cdt north of Poolville I observe this feature. This is in a secondary area of rotation to the west of the main tornadic circulation. It is fairly diffuse, and in some ways resembles a possible ‘scud bomb’, but I am unable to verify if it is that or a tornado. Note the small vortex funnel near the top left of the funnel. In several quick photos it rotates from left to right (cyclonically) around the primary funnel feature and dissipates in the next image. Near the base of the primary funnel as it extends into the trees I somewhat appears to be rotating. This is a possible tornado but unconfirmed.

Here is another shot of the feature.

© All images on this site Copyright  Bill Tabor unless otherwise noted