Photo confirms twin twisters can spin in opposite directions

Tuesday, June 9, 2015, 8:09 AM - To get a sense of the unbelievable size of the cloud in the shot up above, have a peek underneath.

Dwarfed by the storm, two tornadoes wind their way across the Colorado countryside -- and to add to the rarity, one of them is even spinning the 'wrong way.'

"The cone tornado that was on the right of the image, that's a cyclonic tornado," severe weather photographer Kelly DeLay, who shot the image on June 4, told The Weather Network. "And as I was shooting it, a secondary tornado, an anticyclonic tornado, started coming down on the left hand of the storm."

DeLay was travelling south from Denver, and encountered the storm an hour from the city. He watched it for an hour as it developed to its eventual enormous size.

But when it came to following it, the limited road network in that area made it tricky, and he eventually had to maneuver around to its rear side, contending with nickel-to-baseball sized hail in the meantime.

"I was about seven miles from the storm when it dropped its first tornado," he says.

It was followed by a second, but though DeLay found a road that would take him closer, increasing mud forced him to abandon the storm.

Still, the photographer, who typically aims at capturing striking storm formation rather than twisters, said it seemed like he'd had all the time in the world to get his shots.

"It really didn't fully comprehend what I was looking at. there was so much going on," he said. "There's chaos going on around me, then watching the storm and the debris that was coming from the storm on the right. This total elation seeing the second one come done, and then seeing the structure ... Just an amazing experience. It took my breath away, that's for sure."

The Washington Post reports the storm may have dropped as many as four tornadoes, although the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration hasn't confirmed that number.

As for the second twister, spinning in an anticyclonic or clockwise direction, tornadoes typically only behave that way in the southern hemisphere, although tornado researcher Josh Wurman told the Washington Post it's possible for such tornadoes to form in the north.

"Anticyclonic tornadoes can form if a supercell contains an anticyclonic mesocyclone," Wurman, who is the director of the Center for Severe Weather Research, told the Post. "Or, a pair of tornadoes, one cyclonic, one anticyclonic, can form. Both of these are rare."

As for DeLay, he's an old hand at severe weather photography. Check out his website, Twitter and Instagram accounts for more shots.

SOURCE: The Weather Network | Washington Post

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