Apparent tornado near Addison

This picture was taken near Addison in Winston County as the storms came through.  There has been a lot of speculation around the internet as to whether or not this was a tornado, or a scud cloud hanging down.  This was almost certainly a tornado.  Note the wall cloud (lowering) at the top, the smooth appearance to the funnel, and the fact that it goes all the way to the ground.  Scud is generally a little rougher, and typically does not go to the ground. 

I conferred with Dr. Kevin Knupp on this at UAH, and he agrees with me that this was a tornado.  There was damage around Addison also.  The radar picture around the time of this picture shows some irregularities in the line.

Sometimes, along the leading edge of bow echoes like this, small tornadoes form due to the extreme wind shear and vertical motion.