May 25 2008 Wright County Minnesota

~Our condolences to the families of the victims this tragic day~

A more detailed chase account can be found on my blog

Tail cloud and the underside of the wall cloud on the supercell shortly after initiation near Annandale, MN

Video grab from Cullen showing the meso really getting cut by the RFD now.  Do or die for this cycle.

Video grab from Cullen using a .7x wide angle showing the wall cloud with well definded clear slot cutting in.

Video grab from Cullen .  David Drufke gets a few stills of the tail cloud before bailing south to get on the south side and out of the way.

Video grab from Cullen .  Me trying to get a few stills before this thing eats us.  Moving east / northeast at nearly 50 mph now.

Near Maple Lake, MN.  Cell is tornado warned and I really thought this going to do it at this point.  As Cullen shot video, I kept scanning the ground for debris.  Incredible cascading RFD with very strong rotation and rising motion.  We followed the cell east towards the metro area but the roads and heavy traffic made it too dangerous to continue the pursuit.  The cell would eventually spawn a destructive, fatal EF3 torando starting near Coon Rapids, MN and continuing through Hugo, MN.

Melinda's view looking west at the approaching wall cloud in Buffalo, MN

Looking east from Buffalo, MN after the wall cloud passed overhead

Typical of the hail damage we saw along and north of Wright CR 37

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