Yesterday was not the day for a spring break road trip through northwestern Texas. The same massive winter storm that brought heavy rain to California and snow to Denver also delivered multiple tornadoes to the Lone Star State.
For more than six straight hours yesterday, the National Weather Service tweeted tornado warnings for the Texas Panhandle. Texans were warned to stay inside and seek shelter, as multiple tornadoes touched down throughout the afternoon.
“Flying debris will be dangerous to those caught without shelter,” said the National Weather Service advisory. “Mobile homes will be damaged or destroyed. Damage to roofs, windows, and vehicles will occur. Tree damage is likely.”
Naturally, meteorologists and storm chasers also took to Twitter. At 11:57 a.m. CST: “Dense fog and deep moisture across the Texas Panhandle ahead of tornado outbreak with abundant spring break traffic on the roads,” tweeted Reed Timmer, who appeared in Discovery Channel's “Storm Chasers” and TVN Weather’s “Tornado Chasers” series.
Timmer and his team would indeed have a pulse-racing encounter with a tornado later in the afternoon (see below). But the most-watched tornado footage of the day was captured by chance by a regular Texas resident.
Kara Naegeli, a teaching assistant at Texas Tech University, used her smartphone to film twin tornadoes near Canyon, 19 miles south of Amarillo. “Two tornadoes side by side. Both are touching down. This is insane,” she says in her video. “Wow, they’re about to converge. Holy smokes! Are you kidding me?”
So far, Naegeli’s video has garnered over 260,000 views on Twitter. It was also yesterday’s top story on the Weather Channel.
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