A beautiful, surreal view of nature's awesome power by photographer Lori Mehmen.

From the Mitchell County Press :

...the twister came near the ground just briefly and then went back up in the clouds. Besides extensive tree and crop damage, no human injuries were reported.

Interesting debate on The Lede on whether this image shows a twister, a tornado, a mesocyclone, wall cloud or supercell. A relative of Lori's answers those who think the image has been photoshopped :

I just want to clarify to all of you who think this is a doctored photo. This picture was taken by my aunt, and while she’s never had any formail training, she’s always had an eye for photography. The storm wasn’t as close to their home as it appears in this picture. I know it isn’t doctored, because I was watching the weather coverage of tornado warnings in their area, and not 20 minutes later I recieved a call from my cousin teliing me to look at the picture she’d sent me on the web. She had several other images, but this one was a beauty shot. Believe what you want, but my aunt Lori is very talented and this picture is legit.

Associated Press, who picked up the image, should push this for a Pulitzer.