Uploaded December 2023 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
The first week of June 1995 was a very active one for NOAA research Project VORTEX-95 [VORTEX 1: Verification of the Origins of Rotation in Tornadoes EXperiment] which kicked off with this tornado event between Friona and Dimmitt, Texas on June 2, 1995. This unedited videotape was recorded by Probe 1 meteorologists, including Bill Gargan and Bob Davies-Jones, as the events unfolded.
The Dimmitt, Texas tornado was historically noteworthy as for the first time, high resolution volumetric radar scans from the prototype Doppler on Wheels mobile radar of a significant tornado in progress were obtained. A full paper on the study can be read here: journals.ametsoc.org/view/journals/mwre/128/7/1520-0493_2000_128_2135_frootd_2.0.co_2.xml
Edited versions of this tornado video sequence, one of the more dramatic from the June 2-9, 1995 Plains tornado activity, were used by numerous broadcast television, cable and documentary media outlets in the mid-1990's and years to follow. Several other angles of the Dimmitt tornado were recorded, with this being the most close range of the batch.
An excellent detailed write up of the VORTEX chase day by Bill Gargan from 2008 can still be accessed here: weather.gov/media/top/newsletter/news0508.pdf
Remastered from a Hi8 to VHS videotape copy.
© 1995 NOAA. Video by Bill Gargan, Bob Davies-Jones and the VORTEX Probe 1 crew.
The first week of June 1995 was a very active one for NOAA research Project VORTEX-95 [VORTEX 1: Verification of the Origins of Rotation in Tornadoes EXperiment] which kicked off with this tornado event between Friona and Dimmitt, Texas on June 2, 1995. This unedited videotape was recorded by Probe 1 meteorologists, including Bill Gargan and Bob Davies-Jones, as the events unfolded.
The Dimmitt, Texas tornado was historically noteworthy as for the first time, high resolution volumetric radar scans from the prototype Doppler on Wheels mobile radar of a significant tornado in progress were obtained. A full paper on the study can be read here: journals.ametsoc.org/view/journals/mwre/128/7/1520-0493_2000_128_2135_frootd_2.0.co_2.xml
Edited versions of this tornado video sequence, one of the more dramatic from the June 2-9, 1995 Plains tornado activity, were used by numerous broadcast television, cable and documentary media outlets in the mid-1990's and years to follow. Several other angles of the Dimmitt tornado were recorded, with this being the most close range of the batch.
An excellent detailed write up of the VORTEX chase day by Bill Gargan from 2008 can still be accessed here: weather.gov/media/top/newsletter/news0508.pdf
Remastered from a Hi8 to VHS videotape copy.
© 1995 NOAA. Video by Bill Gargan, Bob Davies-Jones and the VORTEX Probe 1 crew.
