The Eye of the Beast
This has been a bad year for storms, and tornado season isn’t quite over yet. Fortunately, in recent years meteorologists have gotten very good at giving us at least some warning of when storms are coming. And when it comes to tornados, that’s pretty impressive. Tornados are extremely difficult to study, mostly because you can’t get too close to them. But in 1928 Will Keller got a very close look at a big twister — and lived to tell the tale.
According to the Kansas Historical Society, Keller, a Kiowa County farmer, was out in his wheat field with his wife and young son when he saw a nasty looking cloud. The air had that “oppressive” feel that so often presages bad weather. Sure enough, he soon saw the cloud was spouting not one but three twisters. The Kellers raced for their storm shelter.
But Will was a curious sort of guy — probably a lot like you, dear reader. This storm looked mighty scary, but also incredibly fascinating. After settling his wife and son in the shelter, he stepped back out for a closer look. And boy did he get one!
As he stood at the door of the shelter watching the monster storm approach, he thought he was safe. The biggest and closest of the three tornadoes was rising. He reasoned that if it dipped again, he could quickly drop down into the shelter and close the door. When the tornado was directly overhead, everything became oddly still, the farmer recalled. This is how he described it, as recounted by the historical society:
“I looked up and to my astonishment I saw right up into the heart of the tornado. There was a circular opening in the center of the funnel, about 50 to 100 feet in diameter, and extending straight upward for a distance of at least one half mile, as best I could judge under the circumstances. The walls of this opening were of rotating clouds and the whole was made brilliantly visible by constant flashes of lightning which zigzagged from side to side.”
Will Keller was a lucky man, indeed. Tornados are killers, and when one is bearing down on you, time is of the essence. It’s extremely unwise to wait around trying to get a closer look. But thanks to Keller’s curiosity (and perhaps a bit of recklessness), we now have a wonderful eye-witness account from inside the heart of a tornado.
’til next time,
Avery
Image by Prettysleepy via Pixabay