August 23, 2008: 11 Mile Reservoir, Colorado; 1:43 PM MST.
After sitting down for lunch, we threw some steaks on the grill and enjoyed the afternoon sunshine. All the sudden, we saw what we thought was a waterspout starting on the lake. I grabbed the camera as quick as I could to record the footage.
You see the bottom funnel begin, and then we realize there is another funnel in the sky. I captured the top and bottom funnels connecting and the storm picked up intensity.
We got in the vehicles and got out of there as quickly as possible. The hail that followed was dime and nickel sized, but was extremely intense. The tornado was on the ground for about 15 minutes.
The footage was shot approximately 3/4 to 1 mile away from the storm. There are some mild profanities in the audio.
When we got back to camp, the steaks were only slightly burned, and there was about 1/2 to 1" of hail on the ground.