Terrifying Twisters: Storm chaser Captures America's Extreme Weather

Tornadoes, mammatus clouds and super-cells are pictured wreaking havoc across the Mid-West.

Mike Hollingshead, 38 from Nebraska, spends his time driving 20,000 miles a year between fierce storms to capture the dramatic images.

But the full time job comes with an element of danger as Mike is often forced to race down roads away from nearing tornadoes and navigate through sheets of baseball-sized hail.

Mike recalled a nail-biting moment as a supercell – a rotating thunderstorm - formed near the Black Hills of South Dakota.

He said: “At first it wasn't that great to look at, but the lightning frequency was almost scary.  It was probably averaging a bolt to the ground every second.

“As it was crossing the interstate it began to look a bit more angry.  Then a huge nasty hail core bomb formed.  It really looked like an upside down bomb went off over the interstate.  It was just a white wall of hail and looked especially nasty on the radar too. 

“As it entered the town of Valentine it got cut off by a new storm firing right next to it.  As I drove through town the most intense barrage of lightning bolts was peppering the town.  It was especially frightening to the northeast side of town. 

“It wasn't scary until right after I took the picture of the two lightning bolts. I was trying to get those lightning shots knowing I was running out of time to bail south before that gust flung east over the highway.

I thought I had enough time to snap some and then zoom south really fast.  But no, that thing came racing over the highway much faster than it had been doing all along.

“Suddenly I was in very strong outflow winds buried in rain and hardly able to stay on the road as the winds push me east.

But the possible tornado could have been in there, so I didn’t have much choice in slowing down.”

Despite the risk Mike enjoys his thrilling work.

He added: “Seeing an supercell take on other worldly structures has its own way of amazing you. 

“You can't believe you are seeing moisture take on such shapes and power.”