04:44
Exclusive video: Apparent tornado sends silo toward storm chaser
Meteorologist talks to FOX Weather Exclusive Storm Tracker Brandon Copic after a possible tornado stripped a roof off a building then blew a silo in front of his car.
SALEM, Iowa – Tense moments for FOX Weather Exclusive Storm Tracker Brandon Copic on Tuesday. As he was live on television, a possible tornado tore a grain silo from the ground and sent it right in front of his vehicle.
"I try not to get that close overall," Copic said.
He was chasing a tornado-warned storm near Salem, Iowa, when the apparent twister surprised him.
FOX Weather meteorologists Kiyana Lewis and Bob Van Dillen sounded as surprised as Copic as they watched it unfold live.
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01:09
Caught on camera: Roof torn off building just misses storm chaser
FOX Weather Exclusive Storm Tracker Brandon Copic got a little too close to a developing apparent tornado. Live on camera, winds tore the roof off a building and sent it flying in front of his car.
"It was an educated decision to get that close," Copic said. "I was seeing the main circulation was a little bit further away. The collar cloud was almost over top of me, so I knew the circulation of deviant motion would be close."
According to NOAA, seeing a collar cloud is rare. It is a circular ring of clouds that surrounds the upper part of a wall cloud. Wall clouds are generally on the south or southwest side, or inflow, of thunderstorms that spawn tornadoes.
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FOX Weather meteorologists watched live as a grain silo narrowly missed Copic.
(FOX Weather)
Deviant tornado motion is a change in the tornado's path. A study published in the Journal of the American Meteorological Society said that it is uncommon, but some tornadoes take sudden left turns from their previous path, representing an extreme challenge for forecasters.
"He was seeing that deviating behavior, saw the overall storm moving in one direction," explained FOX Weather Meteorologist Steve Bender. "This came in from the rear flank downdraft, pushed in a new direction. Before he knew it, it was already moving on top of him."
This is the view Copic saw from the windshield and the sounds he heard.
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Copic said that he could see the system was intensifying west of town. He tried to get into a clearing to get a clear shot.
"As I approach the circulation, that's when just everything unfolded," he said. "We had the Hawkeye Steel Plant there just west of Salem, Iowa. I saw parts of the roof come off. I didn't see any parts of the building collapse, but I saw the grain silo top got ripped off, and then it just picked up that silo and threw it right across the road in front of me."
He noticed power flashes indicating the wind snapped power lines, so he moved to the left side of the road.
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File: A power flash during a tornado in Round Rock, Texas.
(FOX Weather)
"That wasn’t an ‘Oh crap! I need to turn around,' thing," Copic said. "That was from years of experience. Knowing there's power lines to the left of the road, I need to get under or to the left of them because of the wind direction, it will push them on top of the road. So, I needed to get off the road immediately, and thankfully, those power lines did not come down."
Van Dillen guessed that Copic didn't see a funnel because it was rain-wrapped. Some tornadoes have no funnel, according to the NWS.
Copic said he saw a lot of debris when leaving the storm.
He wasn't done chasing storms, despite catching an incredible scene on camera. He and other storm chasers checked for survivors in need as he always travels with medical supplies his EMT chasing partner.
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Storm chasers watch a tornado spin near West Point, Iowa, on April 16, 2024.
(Corey Gerken / FOX Weather)
"I have to give props straight forward right now to all the storm chasers in the field right now," he said. "There's a bunch of us out here, but it was absolutely beautiful to see … We literally had swarms of chasers going down people's driveways to check on people's homes and things like that."
He told Bender that he was going to get some sleep because he was running on only two hours of rest. He plans to chase tornadoes closer to home in Ohio on Wednesday.
