What I Was Doing 17 Years Ago at This Time

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It was May 8, 2003, and the worst conditions in which I had ever storm chased. There were major fires in Mexico and the smoke had been carried into the southern and central Great Plains. I was standing in the rain and small hail while taking this photo while having a hard time seeing the tornado due to the smokey haze. I had to adjust the photo a bit to make the tornado visible.

The tornado, at this time, was west of Lyndon, Kansas, and it lifted on the southwest side of Lawrence. The tornado was rated F-3. While there was quite a bit of damage, there were no serious injuries.

There were tornadoes all over the Plains and Midwest that day (red dots, below, were tornado locations).
The most highly rated tornado that day was in the Moore-Oklahoma City area. It was rated F-4.

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