11 May 2006 tornado photo enhanced

After yesterday's rain/sleet/snowstorm I decided to keep up the old chase photo posts with this one.  Taken at Todd's Tavern VA, the clump of trees in the foreground was 150 yards away and the tornado was just behind it.  You can see the rain curtains to the right of these trees; they were rapidly rotating left-to-right. 

This is a classic example of the hazards of Virginia chasing as this tornado followed us northeastward along a tree-lined road.  We knew it was in the vicinity due to the volume of torn leaves floating down around us as we sped up the road, but we couldn't see it until just after we popped out at this clearing and got out of the vehicle.  When this thing showed up we didn't know which direction it was heading relative to our position.  Definitely an underwear-changing experience...