<img class="styles__noscript__2rw2y" src="https://dsx.weather.com//util/image/w/dajxmodxuaemt4l.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0" srcset="https://dsx.weather.com//util/image/w/dajxmodxuaemt4l.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0 400w, https://dsx.weather.com//util/image/w/dajxmodxuaemt4l.jpg?v=ap&w=980&h=551&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0 800w" > This image, taken on the evening of Thursday, May 18, 2017, shows planes in the air as a tornado outbreak strikes the Plains. (Image via Luke Sampe/FlightRadar24 app) (Image via Luke Sampe/FlightRadar24 app)

It appeared few people other than the storm chasing community wanted to be a part of the tornado outbreak Thursday in the Plains – including pilots in the sky.

In the image above, posted to Twitter by WFRV-TV chief meteorologist Luke Sampe, hundreds of planes are seen in the air all across the United States Thursday evening. One thing that stands out is the lack of planes flying over Kansas, Oklahoma and northern Texas in the screenshot Sampe acquired while he accessed the Flightradar24.com app.

Pilots avoided that part of the country because of the weather it experienced. Explosive storms developed rapidly as the cloud tops rose higher and higher in the atmosphere, which would have made it dangerous for pilots. Instead, they flew around the storms – and around the region altogether.

"The most vigorous tops of thunderstorms can reach heights of 60,000 to 70,000 feet," said weather.com senior meteorologist Jon Erdman . "A cluster of thunderstorms then requires some extensive re-routing of flights, as we saw Thursday in parts of the Plains."

For comparison, passenger jets are assigned a cruising altitude of 39,000 feet or lower , according to USA Today, so it wouldn't have been possible to fly over some of the highest cloud tops. Therefore, due to the explosive nature of Thursday's storms, pilots chose to play it safe, and there was a sizable air-traffic gap in the middle of the country.