Major tornadoes hit U.S., Reed Timmer survives extraordinary close-up encounter in Nebraska
AccuWeather's extreme meteorologist Reed Timmer survived a direct hit by a tornado just west of McCook, Nebraska on Friday, May 17, 2019, one of the biggest days for severe weather in the central U.S. so far this year.
Timmer experienced an extraordinary up-close encounter with tornado Friday and lived to talk about it, meteorologist Brian Lada writes.
"I just intercepted a tornado on foot," Timmer said.
"I was unable to get back to the vehicle and couldn't see it, so I just turned my back to the wind and hoped for the best until it passed," he said.
TORNADO INTERCEPT in Dominator 3 with drones in the air!! Tornado intensified to the north then roped out @SeanSchofer @breakingweather @accuweather @skyforcex pic.twitter.com/TyUOtkTNRN
— Reed Timmer (@ReedTimmerAccu) May 18, 2019
MUST-SEE VIDEO: https://t.co/bDpqmNNDVW@ReedTimmerAccu survives wild close-up encounter with tornado in Nebraska this evening! pic.twitter.com/Mvv751uMzh
— AccuWeather (@accuweather) May 18, 2019
Must see: @ReedTimmerAccu survives a wild close-up encounter with a powerhouse tornado near McCook, Nebraska.
"I just intercepted the tornado on foot!" https://t.co/h6UoqZ463V pic.twitter.com/WJJ8AvktKQ
— AccuWeather (@breakingweather) May 18, 2019
This was one of several major tornadoes that touched down across the region on Friday, May 17. The National Weather Service received a total of 39 tornado reports from Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas.
Another close call took place near Minneola, Kansas where Connor McCrorey chased a tornado which impacted his vehicle.
Severe storms are possible over a large area today, from Texas to southern Minnesota, with the greatest threat from northeast Texas across southeast Oklahoma into Arkansas and northwest Louisiana on May 18. A few tornadoes, widespread damaging winds and large hail are expected, NWS SPC warns.
Significant event Including widespread wind damage and a few strong tornadoes are expected today across parts of the Southern Plains, ArkLaTex and southern Ozarks.
Featured image: NOAA GOES-East. Acquired at 04:00 UTC on May 18, 2019
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