We started the day in Wichita Falls and targeted San Angelo TX as our initial area of interest.

Our initial set up drive took us towards Abilene TX with storms expected to get going around 2pm. Like our chase on Sunday however things started to fire earlier than expected and our leisurely drive to our target area turned into an almost immediate start to our storm chase as we left Abilene.

One of the challenges of Monday’s chase was the difficult terrain. This part of Texas has a lot of hills and trees and doesn’t have the typical grid of roads that we usually rely on to navigate to the area of the storm where interesting things will happen.

By the time we were on location the storm had received a severe warning and was starting to get organized.

We relocated trying to stay in a good position which was not made easy by the roads and terrain.

It was obvious geography was going to play as much of a factor as meteorology on Monday’s storm.

We relocated again in search of a view, navigating along gravel roads and farm tracks to stay in position.

As the storm developed the lightning strikes picked up pace, a sign of a strengthening storm.

We stayed on the storm and managed to stay in a good position to view tornado activity just as the storm received its first tornado warning!

We were in a great position as a rotating wall cloud crossed in front of us, with rapid circulation and significant lowering this is where a tornado would form if there was going to be one.

In the following videos, you can see the circulation on the ground caused by a tornado. While not the most photogenic its another one for the tally!

As the storm moved away from us we relocated through the town of Menard to the sound of tornado warnings.

With a fairly long drive, we found a great vantage point for one of the best lightning storms I have experienced. The photos that follow don’t really do the storm justice. As the storm approached, we were surrounded by lightning in almost every direction. There were several strikes per minute with many within a couple of miles, meaning the sound was like a cross between cannon fire and the rumble of a jet engine with its after burner running. Unfortunately, the microphone on my phone can’t compete with the wind to pick this sound up!

After enjoying the show for around 30 minutes as the storm approached we felt the tell tale cold blast of outflowing air and could see oncoming hail and rain heading towards us. It was time to leave and stay ahead of the storm.

As we navigated through the storm, we had to somewhat thread the needle staying ahead of the storm behind us, without driving into the hail core in front of us!

The storm was forming into a line behind us, so it was time to head for our stop for the night in San Antonio. The chase ended with one last pit stop in Fredicksburg, TX, and another intense drive through the storm.

Another successful chase of what is turning into a very active week of storms!