Bill Reid Art

Approach to the Capitol Tornado

Artist: Bill Reid

This is a view to the northeast as the Capitol, Montana tornado of June 28, 2018, neared the small town site. If you chase storms long enough, sometimes everything will fall into place perfectly, and if you are prepared, you have a chance to get a shot of a lifetime. This was one of those occasions! Remarkably, the only road within miles and miles worked out perfectly to keep us close to the storm. I had the chase tour out in front of the first and second tornadoes from this supercell, but this third tornado formed several miles up Camp Crook Road from us and was moving away. This image was taken just outside of the van's window during the approach --- the blurred grass in the foreground reveals our motion. The road curves right towards the tornado, which is beneath an amazingly sculpted and cyclonic storm base. The light is not too shabby, either, as some sunshine must be peaking through above the horizon to our left and is helping to highlight the foreground and the tornado.

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From Storms