Marshal79344
Member
Not sure if you've ever seen this video of the Joplin tornado but it makes me think of the Tri-State storm in a few ways, the main thing thing to note here is how quickly the area goes from light as day to dark as midnight within mere minutes, also how the tornado is indistinguishable from rain and cloud. Now Joplin is obviously nowhere the Tri-State tornado in longevity, forward speed or intensity, but it was a rain-wrapped wedge that darkened the sky quickly. This trucker drives right into it as he (understandably) can't recognize the danger until it's too late (don't worry, the driver survived).
Yeah that will usually occur with any Dixie Alley low-based wedge tornado, the base of the tornadic mesocyclone is so close to the ground it blocks a lot of light from actually reaching under the mesocyclone, making tornadoes incredibly difficult to see. Also very heavy rain wrapping around the tornadic circulation can block out light, making these tornadoes very deadly to chase.