Upon first look, it would be easy to mistake this view for the left half of a really close tornado, under a super-dark storm base typical of a supercell capable of producing one. If it were, my neighborhood (already struck by two tornadoes since spring 2009) would have been blasted worse than ever. Instead, the “tornado” is an illusion granted by the fact that this is a two-dimensional still image. Instead it represents the edge and adjoining underside of a nearly laminar shelf cloud behind a gust front, moving from right to left, in morning twilight. Another clue: the treetops are tilted right to left too, opposite what one would have with a big tornado in the Northern Hemisphere!
