Lightning strike rips through a tornado in rare scene captured by a storm chaser in Kansas
- Greg Johnson, 49, captured phenomenal images during Kansas supercell storm
- He said tornado had chased him for several miles before he captured the images
- Other striking shots from the past year showed twister rampaging through farm
A lightning strike ripped through a tornado in phenomenal images captured by a photographer as a fierce storm brewed above Kansas.
Tornado hunter Greg Johnson, 49, took the stunning photographs during a thunderous supercell storm in Colby earlier this year.
'Every storm provides scary moments,' Johnson said. 'The biggest issue is the road network and trying to position somewhere that allows for good photography.
'In the case of the shot with the lightning passing through the tornado, in the moments leading up to this shot, the tornado was actually chasing me!
'There were no roads which allowed me to turn and get out of the way so I simply had to keep moving forward with the tornado in my rear-view mirror. When I got far enough ahead, I was able to stop and capture this image.'
A lightning strike rips through a tornado in Colby, Kansas in a phenomenal photograph taken by storm hunter Greg Johnson
Other striking images taken in the past year captured a huge twister as it rampaged through farmland and an extraordinary series of lightning forks underneath a menacing sky.
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Johnson, from Regina in Canada, also witnessed the wreckage these powerful storms can leave behind when he photographed a family home that had been obliterated by the harsh weather.
According to the storm hunter, this year has been 'particularly wild' for severe storms with several extreme weather events occurring outside of the typical tornado season of April to June.
Johnson, 49, said he had been chased by the storm in the moments before capturing the stunning images
A purple lightening strike crashes into the ground through the eye of a tornado in Kansas
Johnson added that the biggest challenge in storm photography is 'finding and getting to the storm'.
He said: 'As a storm photographer, clearly I am shooting in stressful situations all the time. Generally, I am shooting from a moving vehicle, however when I am able, I do like to put the camera on a tripod to improve the quality of the shots.
'To capture lightning a slow shutter speed is required. The biggest challenge however is finding and getting to the storm. Road navigation, meteorological forecasting and timing are the biggest hurdles.'
Johnson's remarkable imagery, captured throughout the year, was predominantly snapped on the plains of Canada and the United States - often referred to as 'Tornado Alley'.
The image was captured by the seasoned storm chaser as a supercell storm gathered above
In another stunning photograph, a series of lightning forks strike down on farmland in Kansas
He was particularly pleased to grab the supercell storm photos over the American Midwest this summer.
'A supercell thunderstorm is the most violent of all storms and is characterised by an updraft, where a tornado would develop, and a nasty downdraft, the area with rain and massive hailstones', he said. 'In the one photo you can see that the lightning strike is actually going through the tornado. This is a very rare phenomenon.'
Despite the danger of extreme weather, Johnson said he is thrilled to have a front row seat for some of nature's greatest spectacles.
A powerful twister moves above farmland in Nebraska as a field of cows watches on below
This tornado, seen near McCool in Nebraska, missed the town by 'several hundred metres'
The extreme weather did, however, cause injuries to one elderly couple as it ripped through the area
A home in Nebraska was also destroyed by the powerful storm, as photographed by Johnson
There is a sense of accomplishment to find a tornado and photograph from a location that most photographers will never get to visit,' he said.
'If I want to fly to Norway and take a photo of a beautiful landscape, then I can get in a plane and fly to Norway. So can anyone else. But not everyone can put themselves in front of a deadly tornado and capture images from a few hundred yards away.
'We can control a lot in our lives. The work we do, how we raise our kids, where we live, what we eat, the friends we make along the way. But we cannot control the weather. I hope when people look at my images that they realise just how powerful nature is and how much respect the planet deserves.'
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