BILLINGS- The National Weather Service issued a tornado warning Saturday evening for northeastern Montana, in an area near Poplar in Roosevelt County.
And while confirmation of a tornado landfall is yet to be determined, a Michigan-based storm chaser took advantage of the rare opportunity to travel to Montana to get a glimpse.
And in doing so, I captured incredible images of the storm.
Jaden Pappenheim told MTN News the tornado warning in Poplar will go down in history for him.
“It was just an incredible experience,” he said.
Not only for the images he saw in the sky as the storm formed over Montana and North Dakota, but also for the interaction he had with residents during the storm .
“A truly incredible experience,” he said. “It’s only happened to me a few times where the live stream went crazy and reached the local audience.”
He travels the country during storm season, but says whenever there’s something to see in Montana, he goes the extra mile.
“Ever since I started hunting, I’ve always loved Montana and North Dakota,” Pappenheim said.
He’s been running for five years and already has more than 50,000 followers on social media, he says when the live stream began during the tornado watch in Montana, at one point he had as many as 900 views at the highest points.
And he heard about it.
“(They said) I’m here, or you just pass me, or you stop at a gas station and someone says, I’m watching your life,” he said.
Even making friends with a local MP, also watching the storm unfold and watching the live stream from Pappenheim.
As for the storm, Pappenheim said, he’s never seen a tornado touch down, but he can understand why it was created.
“There were a lot of funnels along the gust front before and I think an emergency official probably saw that funnel and reported it as a tornado and that’s what confirmed the problem,” he said. he declared.
He chased the storm for 100 miles and said he finally let it “crush him” when it got dark. However, he also said, he experienced intense winds with the storm.
“Destructive winds for sure, I know there were a lot of 70 mph gusts at the airports,” he said. “The trash was blowing everywhere and even saw a few flashes of power. »
When MTN News spoke with Pappenheim Sunday afternoon, he was already well on his way to leaving Montana and arriving in Minnesota to chase another storm.
But he said if another tornado warning was issued in Montana, he’d be eager to return.
“Just an incredible experience.”
