Photographer and tour guide Mike Olbinski was fortunate enough to capture images of a microburst right in the heart of a storm in the Permian Basin region of Texas, USA.
As a tour guide, Mike Olbinski often drives long distances to take guests out to watch the sunset. On June 1st, Olbinski’s tour group encountered a spectacular scene in the Permian Basin, according to the Washington Post.
“We were all thrilled by this sight,” Olbinski said about the level 4 microburst that occurred at sunset.
Olbinski recorded numerous images and videos of the event, featuring gigantic dark clouds hovering above a sky painted in shades of blue and red from the sunset. “This is so strange,” Olbinski exclaimed in one video.
Mike Olbinski was lucky to capture images of a microburst right in the heart of the storm. (Photo: Washington Post).
On that day, Olbinski and a friend, Brett Wright, spent the entire day “storm chasing” in the area. They hadn’t taken many good photos until they stumbled upon that breathtaking sight.
“We were almost ready to give up and said, ‘Let’s go to Bullock for the night.’ Just as we were nearing the Hobbs border area, I was watching the storm’s development when I spotted this scene,” Olbinski shared.
Afterward, the tour group stopped on a hilltop and excitedly admired the storm. Olbinski recalled: “The colors were surreal and magical. We were the only ones ‘chasing’ this storm. Even the locals weren’t involved.”
Olbinski has been “storm chasing” for quite a while. He has witnessed hailstorms before, but that experience couldn’t compare to the current event.
