Fact check: Image doesn’t show mass of tornadoes; it’s an edited evolution of one tornado – USA TODAY

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If the world of misinformation had its way, Dorothy would be adding parades of deadly tornadoes alongside lions, tigers and bears on Kansas'list of worst nightmares.

Despite fact-checkers efforts, Facebook users continue to misrepresent a photo illustration of a May 2016 tornado's evolution. The image, which MamouChoctow posted July 11, appears to depicta series of seven hurricanes simultaneously striking a Kansas horizon.

Intense Supercell with a Mass of Tornados North of Minneola Kansas. By @ Jason Weingart,Choctaw captioned the photo.

There were more tornadoes in Kansas between 1950 and August 2018 than in every other state besides Texas.(Photo: clintspencer / Getty Images)

Many Facebook users expressed awe at the photo and terror at the presumed destruction, while some commented that the scene was not as it seemed.

Like a menacing army of tornados marching on. Wow, what a photo! Nyla Slosson commented.

But Harris John quoted from the image's Wikipedia caption: This image is created from eight images shot in two sequences as a tornado formed north of Minneola, Kansas on May 24, 2016. This prolific supercell went on to produce at least 12 tornadoes and at times had two and even three tornadoes on the ground at once,

Choctaw has not yet responded to USA TODAYs request for comment.

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The supercellstruck north of Minneola, Kansas, on May 24, 2016, and was photographed by storm chaser Jason Weingart.

According to the National Weather Service, the supercell produced 12 to 15 tornadoes that afternoon and early evening. The tornadoesdid not strike simultaneously in a line as Choctow suggests.

Supercell tornadoes are the most common kind of tornado, which form from supercell thunderstorms. Scientists theorize that supercell tornadoes form when winds at different heights, speeds and directions form an updraft of rotating air.

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Weignart has confirmed via phone call with USA TODAY and within the description on his website that the image captures one single tornado, not a mass of multiple tornadoes.

It is the evolution of one single tornado, Weingart told USA TODAY.

Evolution of the first of several tornadoes in Ford County, Ks on May 24, 2016, Weingart describes the photo on his website.

He told USA TODAY he created "Evolution of a Tornado" from a time-lapse he recorded.

Weingart sells the image online and has made it availableon Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons. He also uploaded a video of the tornado to YouTube.

In 2017, Weingart submitted"Evolution of a Tornado" as an image series to the Wiki Science Competition and won.

"About a year later someone on Facebook downloaded and posted it as a 'mass of tornadoes'and it went viral," he said.

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We rate the claim that a widely shared photo of a May 2016 stormdepicts a mass of tornadoes simultaneously striking FALSE because it is not supported by our research. The photographer Jason Weingart has confirmed in his online descriptions and directly to USA TODAY that he edited a time-lapse of a single tornado into one image to createa visual representation of thestorm's evolution.

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Our fact check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.

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Fact check: Image doesn't show mass of tornadoes; it's an edited evolution of one tornado - USA TODAY