Page 43 of Through the Storms
After answering a few more questions, she walked over and stood beside Chloe and Riley.
A low rumble sounded in the distance. Oakley squinted and looked at the dark anvil-shaped cloud. To the newcomers, it must look enormous, but it was still relatively small. Oakley shifted her gaze between the sky and the pair who stood mesmerized by Mother Nature’s show.
The thunder grew louder, and lightning split the sky, as the wall cloud inched nearer. In the last few minutes, it had grown and moved closer to the ground. It was still too high to be sure, but Oakley sensed this supercell might create more action than she’d originally thought.
“Damn, it’s moving pretty fast,” Asher called.
Riley had a puzzled expression on her face when she turned to Oakley. “It doesn’t look like it’s moving all that fast.”
“From a distance, looks can be deceiving.” Oakley pointed at the biggest and darkest cloud. “That one’s probably moving about sixty miles per hour, or a mile a minute.”
“If it’s moving that fast…” Chloe gripped the bottom of her shirt. “I mean, if it’s coming at us that fast, won’t it hit us?”
“No.” Oakley leveled her hand out toward the horizon. “If you notice, it’s coming east toward us, but it’s also angling north.”
“Look,” someone yelled. “It’s spinning.”
Chloe grabbed Oakley’s arm. Her eyes were enormous. “Is that a tornado?”
“Not yet, but if it continues to drop, it could be.”
“Could it stop going north and just come due east?” Riley asked.
“It could, but it’s unlikely. We’re always on the lookout for signs it might behave squirrely.” Oakley put her hand on Chloe’s shoulder. “What do you think?”
“Oh, my god. This is so exciting.” The wind whipped Chloe’s dark hair around her face. Her eyes sparkled. No wonder Riley was so enamored, there was such a childlike spirit to her.
“If you all want to get pictures, I’d get your cameras out.” Oakley pointed. “See there in the rear flank. The rotation is speeding up. I think we’re about to get some action.”
The group stood staring in awe at the looming storm. Oakley would never get tired of seeing a storm through a first-timer’s eyes. Judging by the size and rotation in the cloud, the storm wouldn’t last long, nor would it produce much in the way of a tornado, but she hoped that at least a small funnel would develop.
“Look.” Chloe grabbed Riley’s arm. “There’s a point starting to come out of the cloud.”
“I see it.” Riley turned to Oakley. “Is that one?”
Oakley nodded. “If we’re going to get one, it’ll come from there. It’s trying.”
Despite the rising wind, the voices of the amateur chasers along the road could still be heard. The excitement was palpable as everyone stared into the distance.
“It’s coming down,” someone shouted.
“Shit,” Riley said. “Shit.”
Oakley bit back a laugh.
The thin white rope writhed like a snake as it moved closer to the ground. It continued spinning, but about halfway to the ground, its descent stopped, and it began to thin.
“That one’s called a rope tornado, for obvious reasons,” Oakley said.
“I thought they were supposed to look like a funnel,” Riley said.
“Some do. They take on many different shapes. Cones, V-shaped funnels, cylinders, ropes. There’s even one shaped like an elephant trunk.”
“Seriously?” Chloe asked.
Oakley pointed toward the rope that continued to diminish. “Imagine if the rope starts to curve...” Oakley made a gesture with her hand.
“Like an elephant trunk,” Chloe finished her sentence.
