Storm Chaser Captures Rainbow Alongside Tornado in Colorado

The rare weather phenomenon was seen near towns Colorado towns, Wiley and Eads.

May 12, 2015, 2:55 PM
Storm chaser Benjamin Jurkovich captured this image of a rainbow near a tornado during a storm near Wiley, Colorado, May 8, 2015.
Storm chaser Benjamin Jurkovich captured this image of a rainbow near a tornado during a storm near Wiley, Colorado, May 8, 2015.
Benjamin Jurkovich

— -- A storm chaser caught stunning photos and video of a rainbow near a tornado moving through rural fields near the towns of Wiley and Eads in Colorado.

Benjamin Jurkovich, 25, said he'd never witnessed anything like the rare weather phenomenon before in the past, and he's been storm chasing since he was 10 years old.

"This was just remarkable," Jurkovich told ABC News today when asked about Saturday's storm. "There's not many things that blow my mind, but this was truly wowing."

The storm chaser added the tornado appeared to only pass through rural areas -- and he didn't hear any damage or injury reports in the area.

Jurkovich, who works full-time during weekdays as a store manager, said he got into storm chasing after watching the movie "Twister" when he was eight years old.

"I was living in Seattle, Washington, at the time, where we don't have tornadoes and storms like that," he said. "It fascinated me, and I started reading about actual tornado events all the time."

Jurkovich also said that chasing tornadoes and severe storms make him a feel a reverent kind of nervousness, which he described as "adrenaline mixed with a little bit of butterflies."

"I have a bible verse I use for storm chasing, Nahum 1:3, which says that God is the god of the whirlwind, and the clouds are the dust of his feet," he said. "When I'm looking at these massive, ridiculous storms and tornados that scare the crap out of me, it's just like, wow, this is the dust of God's feet. It puts me in a state of awestruckness and makes me feel small, which is a good place to be."

The 25-year-old is also part of JWSevere Weather Team, a young organization of storm chasers who not only want to capture stunning storms but also provide first response aid in affected towns, he said.