The Tornado Project.

Mark & Alister head off to the Plains of Tornado Alley in search of tornadoes. Their aim is to hunt down, photograph and record the most violent storms on this planet including tornadoes, supercell thunderstorms, huge hail and intense lightning. The trip will be an elemental adventure ride of a lifetime.

Technical - A tornado is a violent rotating column of air that reaches to the ground from a storm cloud in the shape of a condensation funnel created and maintained by strong inflowing winds. The spinning winds can attain extremely high speeds which provide great risk to property and life at the ground and in the air. When the humidity is high enough, the tornado funnel is made visible by the circulation of condensed water vapor in its outer sheath, but although the flow of air is inward and upward, the cloud within the low-pressure funnel actually extends downward from the cloud base.

The Great Plains in the mid west of USA, known as Tornado Alley, is an extraordinary place during storm season. It truly is the eigth natural wonder of the western world. It is an area in which 1000 tornadoes occur each year and geographically encompasses the central core of the United States (Great lowland areas of the Mississippi, the Ohio, and lower Missouri River Valleys). During the main storm months of April to July three main ingredients come together. Tropical moist air from the south via the Gulf of Mexico collides with hot dry air from the east via the Rockies and cool dry air aloft from the north. These air masses stack up over the centre of the nation, creating a unique combination of atmospheric ingredients and which provide a perfect breeding ground for severe storms. Such storms can flatten entire communities within minutes and cause utter devastation.

Mark and Alister forecast, pursued and captured exceptional severe weather on their trip to Tornado Alley. Once again their efforts were rewarded as they witnessed and captured a tornado, supercells, large hail, lightning and flash flooding on camera and video on a number of successive days.

Watch the amazing videos, look at the stunning photos, read the articles and download the entire experience here on The Elemental Project.

Tornado Project Blog

• Tornado Project Video
• Tornado article & slide show download
• Independent Newspaper Article
• Gallery updated
• South Dakota Bust
• South Dakota target

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