Penn State University Meteorology It has long been suspected that "vorticity" (atmospheric spin) near the ground being tilted upward plays a significant, or even major, role in tornado formation (step 1, above). To my knowledge, this process has never been photographed. This past Friday evening, Kathleen and I happened upon a tornado just as it was starting to develop eight miles west southwest of Hope, Kansas (below, target symbol), although it is being called the Tampa Tornado because it was closer to that town. I'll call it the Tampa Tornado from here, on.  We were driving south on K-15 when, suddenly, a swirl of dust and debris appeared in front of us (below). Through and to the right of both the debris and the road in the background is the cumulonimbus cloud that would produce the Wichita-Andover Tornado twelve minutes later. The photo is taken through the windshield and, as best as we could tell, there was no visible funnel cloud above. Twenty-five seconds later (my...