Twister sisters: 'Satellite tornado' amazes storm chaser in Oklahoma
A storm chaser got to see a rare weather phenomenon in Oklahoma on Thursday: A pair of tornadoes, one circling the other.
Footage captures a satellite tornado orbiting a primary tornado near Braman, Oklahoma, on April 23 during a severe weather outbreak.
Storm Chaser Aaron Rigsby was pursuing storms in Oklahoma Thursday night when he was surprised by a rare "satellite tornado" near the town of Braman.
"Oh my god! That is unbelievable, they're sling-shotting around each other!" Rigsby exclaimed after seeing double tornadoes.
Satellite tornadoes are usually weaker and rotate around the parent tornado, not unlike how the moon orbits the Earth though not for gravitational reasons. The storm's mesocyclone rotates counter-clockwise, carrying the smaller tornado with it.
Twin tornadoes spinning in an open field south of Akron, Colorado, on June 21, 2023. (AccuWeather/ Tony Laubach)
Satellite tornadoes are distinct from twin tornadoes, which are two big tornadoes following their own paths, and multi-vortex tornadoes, which have vortexes of strong winds rotating close to the outside of the main funnel.
"This likely occurred due to the size and intensity of the supercell thunderstorm, with a large mesocyclone capable of supporting multiple tornadoes at once," AccuWeather Senior Storm Warning Meteorologist Tristan Irish explained.
A radar image from the El Reno tornado in 2013 showing the main tornado circulation, containing a satellite tornado encircled. (NOAA)
Satellite tornadoes typically occur in conjunction with intense tornadoes, which Thursday's environment was certainly supportive of, Irish said.
A research paper found that the first satellite tornado was documented in 1925, and close to 20 were documented between 1992 and 2014, including the El Reno 2013 twister.
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