When you have a large thunderstorm passing through an area and it's the type that spawns tornadoes, you can end up with a whole bunch of them dropping down from the clouds (there is also evidence of them reaching up, but I'm not sure how that works). It isn't always just one big twister in one big storm. The numbers can add up quickly that way. I was driving home from work one evening and from my position (nearly stopped on the freeway, like the rest of the amazed and dumbfounded drivers) I could see three tornadoes. One to the north, one to the north east, and one to the southeast from where I was.

I was extremely glad to be traveling west as they traveled east.

SRS