The Red Terror © Tori Jane Ostberg

The Red Terror © Tori Jane Ostberg

Photographer name: Tori Jane Ostberg

From: Phoenix, Arizona, USA

Age: 31 

Photo title: The Red Terror

Photo location: Wray, Colorado, USA 

Date photo taken: 05/07/2016 

Story behind the photo: An incredible EF2 tornado tears through a rural Colorado field after destroying a home. This tornado marked my very first day of my very first great plains storm chase adventure, and it was only a sign of the incredible things to come.

Weather caption: A tornado is a violently rotating column of air, which extends from the base of a storm cloud to the ground. Tornado Alley is a nickname given to the region of Central USA where tornadoes frequently occur. In the spring and summer, warm air from the Gulf of Mexico meets cold air from Canada, leading to the formation of severe storms called supercells. These can produce tornadoes, which with top wind speeds of around 300mph and flying debris, can cause catastrophic damage. Indeed, the rating scale for tornadoes – the Enhanced Fujita Scale – is based entirely on the damage they cause. 

What were the technical challenges?

There was no rain to contend with, however, narrowly avoiding being run over by a large tornado was a bit of a challenge!