Huge Beaver’s tail approaching Miller.

Passing through Miller, we could see the incredible mesocyclone/wall cloud bearing down from the west.

The big one--a quarter mile wide F3 rated wedge tornado touches down just east of Wolsey.

What an incredible day!! Witnessed seven tornadoes from one classic cyclic beast of a supercell that went on an all-out tornado spree over a two-hour time span across southeastern South Dakota. I left Denver with Roger Hill & a couple of his guests around 4:00 am on a moderate risk day, feeling more jazzed than I had ever been for such a late-season chase! Today had a lot of potential, with the right elements forecasted to come together over some ideal chase areas for an outbreak of large, violent tornadoes.

On the way up, we mulled over the possibilities, constantly analyzing the impressive surface and upper-air charts. Wind shear parameters, jet stream support, surface moisture & instability were all off the charts! Best of all, the storm’s timing would be ‘in-phase’ with the diurnal cycle (i.e. big, chaseable storms during the DAY, not just at night).

We reached northeast Nebraska by late morning & realized we had to head further north, since moisture inflow & low-level helicity would be maximized across southeast South Dakota, with storm motions aligned nearly perpendicular to the upper flow (important for updraft venting &

As a side note, in retrospect this particular storm chase went a long ways in teaching me some important fundamentals about the hobby--many which I probably would’ve taken much longer to learn alone.

1. 1.If you are fairly new in the field, do yourself a big favor & go with someone more experienced. This will save you a huge amount of time, money & energy in the long run.