Chasing tornados in a $52,000 2016 Jaguar XF is a bit silly. It’d be a fair comment if you called the very concept a bit of a publicity stunt.
However, as an amateur storm chaser documenting the journey, I learned to appreciate its comfort while on the road for five days driving back and forth between five states chasing weather fronts. And, I learned to respect its speed while looking up the business end of a funnel cloud and needing to get out of a tornado’s path as quickly as possible.
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The Jaguar XF made its debut for the British automaker in 2016. A slightly smaller and more affordable luxury sedan option from Jag’s preexisting XJ, the XF lacks none of its big sister’s comfort, technology or sophistication.
So, sending an XF through the most rural reaches of Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota and Illinois is an outside of the ordinary road test for a car more comfortable in the Hamptons or Belgravia.
Still, it’s a natural grand tourer and comfortably seats four. We needed every seat with a camera crew and veteran storm chaser Tim Baker on hand to read the skies and weather service reports in the hope predicting where weather fronts would collide and forge tornado weather.
On the final day of our hunt, we cornered violent skies in northern Illinois. We watched as storm fronts gathered and danced around each other, sending swirling clouds down closer to the earth. Just as the early stages of a funnel cloud formed over our heads and sent us scrambling back to the welcoming confines of the XF, darkness descended — cruelly denying us the chance to spy the tornado we hunted state to state.
The F1 tornado we sought for days finally touched down about 30 miles from where we lost sight of it in the gloom. It tore across the main commercial drag of Pontiac, Illinois – destroying two gas stations and most of a car dealership en route. Fortunately, its arrival after hours meant locals were home in bed. No one was hurt.
To see the Jaguar XF’s storm chasing prowess, you can catch the official video here. There’s also our gallery below documenting the final minutes of the tornado hunt.
Photos by John Scott Lewinski
Storm Chasing in a 2016 Jaguar XF
Any fool can chase a deadly tornado in a banged up heap. It takes a fool with class to chase storms in the 2016 Jaguar XF.
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Chasing Tornados in a 2016 Jaguar XF
When weather fronts collide into potential tornado weather, heavy skies begin to descend
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Chasing Tornados in a 2016 Jaguar XF
The early signs of a funnel cloud appear as storm cells collide.
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Chasing Tornados in a 2016 Jaguar XF
The mists begin to swirl lower to the ground as colliding storm cells form a funnel cloud.
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Chasing Tornados in a 2016 Jaguar XF
The early stages or a tornado form over a cornfield in northern Illinois.
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Chasing Tornados in a 2016 Jaguar XF
The Jaguar XF heads toward the danger of a forming tornado in Northern Illinois.
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Chasing Tornados in a 2016 Jaguar XF
When storm systems collide into severe thunderstorm weather, skies turn a sickly yellow/green.
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Chasing Tornados in a 2016 Jaguar XF
The storm system continued to form after dark in rural Illinois.
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Chasing Tornados in a 2016 Jaguar XF
An F1 tornado, four steps away from a possible maximum F5, wrecked this gas station in Pontiac, Illinois.
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Chasing Tornados in a 2016 Jaguar XF
After a direct hit by an F1 tornado, this gas station in Pontiac, Illinois was out of commission.
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Chasing Tornados in a 2016 Jaguar XF
The power of an F1 tornado ripped cinder blocks from a wall of a gas station in Pontiac, Illinois.
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Chasing Tornados in a 2016 Jaguar XF
A gas station's air conditioning unit almost landed in a car dealership lot during a tornado's landing in northern Illinois.
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Chasing Tornados in a 2016 Jaguar XF
One car intact, the other ravaged after a tornado hit a dealership in Pontiac, Illinois.
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Chasing Tornados in a 2016 Jaguar XF
A chunk of wood ruins an employees windshield at a gas station in Pontiac, Illinois.
