An unusually low-based supercell for southern Colorado, this menacing storm swept across that fabulous vista between Trinidad and Trinchera, just north of the Raton and Johnson Mesas. The storm was crossing a road void whose lack of habitation was a fortunate thing for the sake of avoiding hail and wind damage. Might a multiple-vortex tornado lurk under the partly rain-wrapped wall cloud at distant middle? The strongest cloud-base rotation by far was during this stage, in that area, and cloud elements seemed to form and move very fast, very close to (if not on) the ground. Confidence wasn’t high enough to report it as a tornado; at a minimum, it was very close. Regardless, the storm structure was spectacular across this wide-open landscape; I felt as if I had to wipe some dirt off my chin after the jaw dropped, in appreciation of this striking land and sky vista.
