The highlight of my 2020 storm observing jaunt across the north-central Plains was this mind-bending supercell, on what I thought would be a relative “down day”. Doesn’t it go to show that “down” time can be a magnificent time? This mothership-like storm formed hours before as a junky, nondescript mess north of Douglas, WY. It turned southeast and evolved into this astonishing storm, here located nearly atop the junction of South Dakota (my location), Wyoming (distant right) and Nebraska (distant left). The unusual vantage from the northeast, looking across and down from higher terrain in late light, rendered the precipitation shafts into a deceptively dusty hue, seemingly sliced by one crepuscular beam. Those thin, nearly linear bands crossing the nearby midlevels of the storm, between updraft and anvil, only lasted a few minutes. Out of many hundreds, perhaps thousands of supercells I’ve seen, such an arrangement in that position was unique for me, and difficult to explain.
