tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9279642035476827352024-03-14T03:07:21.077-05:00Twisted TexasTony Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02140857385019895603noreply@blogger.comBlogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-927964203547682735.post-26628171912299764702016-01-03T13:53:00.000-06:002016-01-03T19:27:16.666-06:00Chase Report: 26 December, 2015 - Ennis, TX tornado<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-E6l13ymIK24/Vol7-Yzc7DI/AAAAAAAAAko/I3IQ0N002ss/s1600/Ennis_201512262006a.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="324" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-E6l13ymIK24/Vol7-Yzc7DI/AAAAAAAAAko/I3IQ0N002ss/s640/Ennis_201512262006a.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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Tornado NE of Ennis, TX- 7:05 p.m. CST<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ReYQNz7Jr1s/Vol9EAn445I/AAAAAAAAAk0/GvjkhZWnGp4/s1600/day1probotlk_v_20151226_2000_torn_prt.gif" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="434" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ReYQNz7Jr1s/Vol9EAn445I/AAAAAAAAAk0/GvjkhZWnGp4/s640/day1probotlk_v_20151226_2000_torn_prt.gif" width="640" /></a><br />
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ENH 10% tor risk for I35 corridor from north of Austin to NE TX. Decided to chase about noon and spent another hour finishing prep. Chase partner was not available, so this was a solo chase. Made good time to just north of Temple when a rather weak cell pulsed up just to my north. Hit extensive traffic jam on 35 at that time and the initial cell got away. I got up to Waco and refueled/got food trying to decide my next move.</div>
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One cell SW of me near Killen was intensifying, so I moved west to the town of McGregor to intercept. Caught it SW of that town. I overshot it and had to make good time north to keep up with it. Stair-stepped FM roads up to Lake Whitney and then NE into Hillsboro. A confirmed tornado was reported directly to my north a couple of miles as I entered Hillsboro. Had good visual at the time- definite wall cloud with strong inflow but I did not witness a tornado (nor has one been surveyed there at this time).<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IUPgJXLnJzE/VomK0Dk0pQI/AAAAAAAAAnU/izDHKAp72y8/s1600/PreHillsboroWall.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="356" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IUPgJXLnJzE/VomK0Dk0pQI/AAAAAAAAAnU/izDHKAp72y8/s640/PreHillsboroWall.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">West of Hillsboro looking North, ~5:12</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gsZ9lDEWnso/VomK3rayjuI/AAAAAAAAAng/itFMHKZJhC0/s1600/HillsboroWall2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="322" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gsZ9lDEWnso/VomK3rayjuI/AAAAAAAAAng/itFMHKZJhC0/s640/HillsboroWall2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">North Hillsboro looking North, ~5:20</td></tr>
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The cell continued moving north at 45+ mph in the middle of the 35E/35W divide. I drove past the only real road option I saw to keep up with it and decided to let it go, as I didn't think I could get back on it, and another cell was strengthening to my South. The Hillsboro cell would produce an EF3 about 25 minutes after I stopped (Midlothian/Ovilla/Glen Heights). Another meso then apparently formed east of the original (need to review radar data) and produced the Rowlett/Garland EF4 and several other tornadoes NNE of Dallas.</div>
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I dropped south where I intercepted the unwarned but intensifying cell at Blooming Grove. After driving through the core, I witnessed a beautiful low wall cloud with rotating rain bands just north of Barry.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-C4-9-Irku10/Vol_jPXyxlI/AAAAAAAAAlA/bOGkuscKKxM/s1600/Barry_WallCloud_1830c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-C4-9-Irku10/Vol_jPXyxlI/AAAAAAAAAlA/bOGkuscKKxM/s640/Barry_WallCloud_1830c.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">North of Barry looking West, ~ 6:30</td></tr>
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This cell got north of me also, but was able to make good time up the deserted FM1126 and cut back N on I-45. It got a tornado warning sometime during this period. I caught the cell again right as it entered Ennis. Turned NE on 34 and almost immediately observed a tornado at around 7:00 p.m. Due to trees and limited lightning, I wasn't sure initially, but video reveals it was on the ground to my NE close to the highway.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bn0N-sE4iAI/Vol_wtl5a4I/AAAAAAAAAlM/KuXpRuGc24M/s1600/Ennis1.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="360" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bn0N-sE4iAI/Vol_wtl5a4I/AAAAAAAAAlM/KuXpRuGc24M/s640/Ennis1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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I soon got a good unobstructed view and stopped to film briefly and report the tornado. It grew to a nice cone, although it never got very wide from my perspective. Continued NE on 34 filming the tornado out the driver's side window until it roped out around 7:08. Here is a series of shots as I traveled NE on Hwy 34 and filmed the tornado out the driver's side window.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-W76WLFPRUG4/VomAp7gm9hI/AAAAAAAAAmg/YcHvZSZMWTc/s1600/Ennis10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-W76WLFPRUG4/VomAp7gm9hI/AAAAAAAAAmg/YcHvZSZMWTc/s640/Ennis10.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-E6l13ymIK24/Vol7-Yzc7DI/AAAAAAAAAko/I3IQ0N002ss/s1600/Ennis_201512262006a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="324" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-E6l13ymIK24/Vol7-Yzc7DI/AAAAAAAAAko/I3IQ0N002ss/s640/Ennis_201512262006a.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Location on map below- looking N at 7:05</td></tr>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6umGR49XqO8/VomAoajMiPI/AAAAAAAAAmU/agVtsXy6038/s1600/Ennis5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" height="358" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6umGR49XqO8/VomAoajMiPI/AAAAAAAAAmU/agVtsXy6038/s640/Ennis5.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9qWYXuSpZLU/VomA4dXEaaI/AAAAAAAAAms/3gs_TcYNeLc/s1600/Ennis15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="304" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9qWYXuSpZLU/VomA4dXEaaI/AAAAAAAAAms/3gs_TcYNeLc/s640/Ennis15.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LACW_f1J0sI/VomA73t3SII/AAAAAAAAAm4/3Ti9DhoPQn0/s1600/Ennis17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LACW_f1J0sI/VomA73t3SII/AAAAAAAAAm4/3Ti9DhoPQn0/s640/Ennis17.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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And my track and location. Ennis is the town in the lower left: </div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-t45T5FCxhUQ/VomC9MHPKCI/AAAAAAAAAnE/S-Rsqq4OOQ4/s1600/Loc2.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="408" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-t45T5FCxhUQ/VomC9MHPKCI/AAAAAAAAAnE/S-Rsqq4OOQ4/s640/Loc2.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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I followed the storm for another 90 minutes as it occasionally pulsed up and produced new wall clouds and tornado warnings. Observed no more tornadoes from it and no more have been surveyed.</div>
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Driving home on I-30, I encountered traffic completely stopped about two miles east of the bridge over Lake Ray Hubbard. Fortunately was able to exit before I got stuck. At the time I did not know about the Rowlett/Garland tornado that crossed I-30 and produced major damage and fatalities. Detoured down to US80 along with a long line of other motorists and eventually got back home just under 12 hours from when I had left.</div>
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Here is the GPS track from the active part of the storm chase, from 3:15 until ~8:20 when I gave up near Caddo Mills<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-a-Ggrs3xXVU/VomMXXgvHKI/AAAAAAAAAns/YKo5M3Mefx0/s1600/ActiveChaseTrack.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="394" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-a-Ggrs3xXVU/VomMXXgvHKI/AAAAAAAAAns/YKo5M3Mefx0/s640/ActiveChaseTrack.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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This was my first December tornado and first tornado east of I-45 in Texas. </div>
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595 miles</div>
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11 h 55 m</div>
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Solo chase</div>
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Tony Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02140857385019895603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-927964203547682735.post-75200258756545378732015-03-01T17:22:00.003-06:002015-03-01T19:47:29.497-06:00Chase Report: 28 April, 2014 - Louisville, MS EF4<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tGxAzj7dZXc/VPOj_l7xQBI/AAAAAAAAAhk/VihV2wP-CTU/s1600/Louisville0.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tGxAzj7dZXc/VPOj_l7xQBI/AAAAAAAAAhk/VihV2wP-CTU/s1600/Louisville0.PNG" height="163" width="320" /></a></div>
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EF4 tornado, looking NNW towards Louisville, MS</div>
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After two grueling and mostly fruitless days (saw the Vilonia EF4-producing cell from 20 miles west on 4/27), I departed De Valls Bluff, AR with a general target of Clarksdale, MS. Conditions were pegged for strong tornadoes. SPC initially issued a moderate risk, but upgraded to Hi on the 20Z outlook, with 30% hatched tornado area.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iOzZ7S5t7e0/VPOkQh8h68I/AAAAAAAAAiU/mmEkdARpHoA/s1600/day1otlk_20140428_2000_prt.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iOzZ7S5t7e0/VPOkQh8h68I/AAAAAAAAAiU/mmEkdARpHoA/s1600/day1otlk_20140428_2000_prt.gif" height="217" width="320" /></a></div>
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For the remainder of the discussion, all locations are in the state of Mississippi. Shortly after I got to Clarksdale, storms fired and were quickly tornado-warned. I intercepted two warned cells near Grenada netween 1:25 and 2:30 CDT. Storm motion was fast, and it was very difficult to keep up with them. One of these went on to produce the Tupelo EF3, but not sure which.<br />
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Dropped south and caught a warned cell east of Winona shortly after 3:00. This cell produced a confirmed tornado near Kilmichael. I caught the wall cloud/funnel feature shortly after that, and it appeared to have a tornado on the ground the only time terrain allowed me a view:<br />
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Ground level is still blocked, and surveys either did not cover this area or did not find damage . I followed it east to Europa. Once it got a little further north, only the massive wall cloud was visible. This area is extremely rural, so it is possible it did produce somewhere along that stretch, but no further damage was surveyed.<br />
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By this time, numerous tornado-warned cells, several with confirmed tornadoes, had developed to my south, so I started stair-stepping south. Picked the first one up between Europa and Ackerman. Although it looked nice visually, the next cell in line had a confirmed tornado. At 3:58 CDT, I left the Ackerman cell and then barreled south towards Louisville.<br />
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Now, I was in the unfortunate position of approaching a storm with a confirmed, damaging tornado from the north. I reached the intersection of Highways 14 and 25 at 4:16 CDT just west of Louisville. The northern flank of the cell was beginning to impact the city at that time. The choice was to drop south to Highway 15 and hope like hell I beat the tornado, or go further east on 14 and try to find another vantage point. I immediately decided to go east- had I gambled and went south, I would have either gotten an amazing up-close view of the tornado or been impacted by it- not a risk worth taking:<br />
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I nervously zig-zagged through the center of town, and cut SE on Highway 397. Continued on that road until at 4:27 CDT, I found an opening in the treeline looking. The wedge tornado was visible through the trees to my NW moving NE along the southern edge of town. <br />
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I observed for several minutes as it moved to my north. Then headed north back towards town to try to follow it NE. I ran into the damage path moments later. Several trailers had been destroyed, and numerous trees were down. I stopped and walked through the damage area with some locals calling out for victims. We were unable to locate anyone- I do not believe any of the fatalities from the tornado were from that location, although I do not know for sure. I stopped my search when a second tornado-warned cell approached our location and begin producing lightning strikes. <br />
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Position and approximate view angle, 4:27 - 4:34 CDT</div>
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Here is the initial NWS assessment of the Louisville tornado, which claimed 10 lives:<br />
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PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT<br />
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS<br />
936 PM CDT TUE APR 29 2014<br />
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...NWS DAMAGE SURVEY FOR 04/28/14 TORNADO EVENT...<br />
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.LOUISVILLE TORNADO...<br />
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RATING: EF-4<br />
ESTIMATED PEAK WIND: 185 MPH<br />
PATH LENGTH /STATUTE/: 35.5 MILES<br />
PATH WIDTH /MAXIMUM/: 3/4 MILE<br />
FATALITIES: 9<br />
INJURIES: UNKNOWN<br />
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START DATE: APR 28 2014<br />
START TIME: 351 PM CDT<br />
START LOCATION: 2 NNE RENFROE<br />
START LAT/LON: 32.888/-89.443<br />
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END DATE: APR 28 2014<br />
END TIME: 447 PM CDT<br />
END LOCATION: 5 NNE LOUISVILLE<br />
END LAT/LONG 33.194/-89.001<br />
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SURVEY_SUMMARY: THIS TORNADO PRODUCED A LARGE<br />
AREA OF EF2 TO EF4 DAMAGE ALONG ITS PATH.<br />
HUNDREDS OF STRUCTURES WERE HEAVILY DAMAGED<br />
AND THOUSANDS OF TREES WERE SNAPPED AND<br />
UPROOTED. THE EF4 DAMAGE CONSISTED OF SEVERAL<br />
HOMES AND APARTMENTS THAT WERE REDUCED TO<br />
SLABS...INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS THAT WERE<br />
COLLAPSED...CHICKEN HOUSES THAT WERE<br />
COMPLETELY DESTROYED WITH LITTLE TRACE<br />
LEFT OF THEM...DEBARKED AND DENUDED TREES<br />
AND A COLLAPSED CELL TOWER.<br />
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And here is their excellent write-up of the event:<br />
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<a href="http://www.srh.noaa.gov/jan/?n=2014_04_27_28_29_winston_tor">http://www.srh.noaa.gov/jan/?n=2014_04_27_28_29_winston_tor</a><br />
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Departed Louisville and drove south with no radar for another hour or so. I would catch another cell north of Edinburg, and another southwest of Carthage, both with reported tornadoes. In both cases, I was too late to witness any tornadoes with these cells.<br />
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Continued south where I caught another tornado-warned cell near Morton. Was approaching from the north again, though, and could not get into favorable position. With roads flooding, fading daylight, and extremely poor terrain...<br />
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...I decided to call it quits, and headed west on I-20 towards home.<br />
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4 day solo chase total: 2,120 miles<br />
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<br />Tony Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02140857385019895603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-927964203547682735.post-14575573478255770462015-03-01T16:20:00.004-06:002015-03-01T17:26:33.076-06:00Chase Report: 13 April, 2014 - Dublin, TX wall cloud<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iQMnaWzAHLw/VPOLJXKXYrI/AAAAAAAAAg0/0MZ08CNBvks/s1600/DublinWall_0.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iQMnaWzAHLw/VPOLJXKXYrI/AAAAAAAAAg0/0MZ08CNBvks/s1600/DublinWall_0.PNG" height="160" width="320" /></a></div>
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Wall cloud near Dublin, TX, 6:15 CDT, looking ~West from SR6</div>
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First chase day of 2014. Not much to tell. I screwed up and went straight up 35 to Fort Worth. Ended up 130 miles east of initiation. Moving west and then south, intercepted one cell that fizzled, then dropped south to Dublin, where I caught the wall cloud shown above.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SnhSm0AB4aA/VPOM_QlMlBI/AAAAAAAAAhQ/FBOVH_NNoM4/s1600/DublinGps.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SnhSm0AB4aA/VPOM_QlMlBI/AAAAAAAAAhQ/FBOVH_NNoM4/s1600/DublinGps.PNG" height="171" width="320" /></a></div>
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Looked like it meant business when I first got to it...<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9oOii7zX22I/VPOLJ4OM49I/AAAAAAAAAg4/VpwfWr5MbHs/s1600/DSC00599.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9oOii7zX22I/VPOLJ4OM49I/AAAAAAAAAg4/VpwfWr5MbHs/s1600/DSC00599.JPG" height="180" width="320" /></a></div>
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But it became disorganized quickly after that. Ran into fellow Austin chaser Bill Tabor somewhere around this time. Then dropped south trying to get in front of a townado-warned cell near Lampassas, Got some nice shots looking east of one of the towers with pileus with the setting sun providing some nice colors. </div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pUnA04iZj_4/VPOLQ8_WIoI/AAAAAAAAAhE/3_Y5rVAEvZQ/s1600/LampassasPileus.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pUnA04iZj_4/VPOLQ8_WIoI/AAAAAAAAAhE/3_Y5rVAEvZQ/s1600/LampassasPileus.PNG" height="320" width="196" /></a></div>
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505 miles totalTony Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02140857385019895603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-927964203547682735.post-83087443146400305162014-05-11T15:33:00.003-05:002014-05-11T15:40:32.422-05:002013: The year in review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4beXxNZYecs/U2_bwoMY0HI/AAAAAAAAAdE/t960xUTRJHU/s1600/DeadEnd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4beXxNZYecs/U2_bwoMY0HI/AAAAAAAAAdE/t960xUTRJHU/s1600/DeadEnd.jpg" height="435" width="640" /></a></div>
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East of Lawton, OK, driving north towards wall cloud. A sign of how my season would go...</div>
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In 2013 I either chased the wrong storm, the wrong day, had vehicle issues, or made tactical errors. The end result, despite seeing a few good storms, was a complete tornado shutout. The highlights and lowlights:<br />
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<li>8 chase days</li>
<li>Best chase: April 17th, Monster supercell over Lawton, OK. This did produce at least one confirmed tornado, but we were not in the right place to see it</li>
<li>Worst chase: May 19th. Missed brief rope tornado new Viola, KS, and I still don't know how we didn't see it. We were watching the wall cloud/funnel and it was very briefly obscured by a rain curtain, during which time it did this:</li>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3UbDJhvMw7M/U2_Ti_1zQ0I/AAAAAAAAAcw/TMQtKVj0CYs/s1600/ViolaTor2.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3UbDJhvMw7M/U2_Ti_1zQ0I/AAAAAAAAAcw/TMQtKVj0CYs/s1600/ViolaTor2.PNG" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image courtesy of Randy Denzer/David Douglas<br />
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<li>Worst chase, part 2: After missing the above tornado, we couldn't keep up with the cell, which produced an EF2 on the southwest side of Wichita. We dallied way too long in southern KS then, while a long-track EF4 struck the town of Shawnee, OK to our south.</li>
<li>Worst No-Chase. After missing the tornadoes on May 19th, we drove through Norman and all the way back to Austin, as we could not stay for the May 20th setup. </li>
<li>Worst Chase, runner up: May 29th. Made it to Abilene in the Subaru, but the tires were apparently screwed up, and I could go no faster than about 55. I decided to rent a car at the Abilene airport, and continued north. This 1075 mile chase netted me two tickets (one speeding in the rental, one registration expired while in the Subaru). Chased early crapvection, then one decent cell into southwest OK. I gave up on that cell and headed back to Abilene as I had to get the rental back to the airport before they closed for the day. Of course, shortly after I turned, it produced a brief, weak tornado near Vinson, OK. Limped back home in the right lane of the interstate in the wounded Subaru.</li>
<li>Worst No-Chase, runner up: May 31. </li>
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Two monster wall clouds for comparison, one over open country and the other over a medium-sized city:</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9a4Wa80XFNc/U2_cWm_X2VI/AAAAAAAAAdM/W26EyJCq0cQ/s1600/PearsallDustyWall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9a4Wa80XFNc/U2_cWm_X2VI/AAAAAAAAAdM/W26EyJCq0cQ/s1600/PearsallDustyWall.jpg" height="354" width="640" /></a></div>
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Pearsall, TX: March 31, 2013</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YbnnBFdHbXI/U2_cyrhORUI/AAAAAAAAAdc/xoO6wHti8-c/s1600/Lawton1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YbnnBFdHbXI/U2_cyrhORUI/AAAAAAAAAdc/xoO6wHti8-c/s1600/Lawton1.jpg" height="330" width="640" /></a></div>
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Lawton, OK: April 17, 2013</div>
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Shot of the year:</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lltTFsD_uos/U2_eJlJX7PI/AAAAAAAAAdk/prxhseIa7CA/s1600/PearsallWall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lltTFsD_uos/U2_eJlJX7PI/AAAAAAAAAdk/prxhseIa7CA/s1600/PearsallWall.jpg" height="296" width="640" /></a></div>
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Pearsall, TX: March 31, 2013</div>
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Actually had some better shots of an incredible, stacked-plat LP near Evant TX from May 15th, but apparently I deleted that video by accident. Yep, it was that kind of year...</div>
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Tony Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02140857385019895603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-927964203547682735.post-4554862422782420762014-05-03T10:09:00.000-05:002014-05-11T15:41:36.091-05:002012: The Year in Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-okL5Q7kFdkw/U2htgQEUUSI/AAAAAAAAAcU/PnARyJEksWE/s1600/nader.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-okL5Q7kFdkw/U2htgQEUUSI/AAAAAAAAAcU/PnARyJEksWE/s1600/nader.jpg" height="449" width="640" /></a></div>
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Weak Tornado near Kingfisher, OK</div>
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5/29/2012</div>
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Yes, it's been a while since I have updated the site. Haven't had a lot to report. To catch up quickly, I am going to briefly summarize 2012 and 2013- two years of my chasing career that I'd rather forget. First, 2012...<br />
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<li>9 chase days</li>
<li>1 cracked windshield - 5/29/2012 Just NW of Oklahoma City</li>
<li>1 tornado - 5/29/2012 near Kingfisher, OK. EF0 crop-swirler which persisted for ~ 3 minutes. It later produced a well-defined white cone tornado near OKC about the time I was getting pummeled with baseball to softball-sized hail</li>
<li>Ran out of gas in Nowhere, New Mexico on the evening of 10/12/2012. </li>
<li>Chased LA gulf coast Christmas day</li>
<li>A lot of good storms, but not a lot to show for it</li>
<li>I thought 2012 was a bad year... until 2013 </li>
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<b>Shot of the year:</b></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gwU-cB3Ai5c/U2hxEgODQuI/AAAAAAAAAcg/jfJBy-f19NI/s1600/GuthrieWallCloud.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gwU-cB3Ai5c/U2hxEgODQuI/AAAAAAAAAcg/jfJBy-f19NI/s1600/GuthrieWallCloud.jpg" height="352" width="640" /></a></div>
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Massive Wall Cloud near Guthrie, TX</div>
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5/30/12</div>
Tony Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02140857385019895603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-927964203547682735.post-48593144741503223602011-11-09T13:42:00.045-06:002011-11-12T15:53:03.780-06:00Chase Report: 7 Nov, 2011 - SW Oklahoma Cyclic Tornadic supercell<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/26_yOm_8iiE?rel=0" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" width="640"></iframe><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Tornado intercept near Tipton,OK - 3:01-3:15CST</span><br /></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OhTOjWz5yoE/TrwyrO7NHPI/AAAAAAAAAWE/1X9oMYqyK_E/s1600/snyder3.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 483px; height: 258px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OhTOjWz5yoE/TrwyrO7NHPI/AAAAAAAAAWE/1X9oMYqyK_E/s400/snyder3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5673465348902165746" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />Tornado SSW of Snyder, OK, ~3:23 CS</span>T<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><br /></div><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: georgia;font-family:times new roman;" ><br /></span><div style="text-align: center; font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; ">The Details</span></span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; "></span></div><span style="font-family:georgia;">De</span><span style="font-family: georgia;font-family:times new roman;" >parted Austin with chase partner John S at about 7:30 a.m. Slight risk for southern plains, with hatched 10% tornado in SW OK:</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9XvaAXhwWoU/TrwyR1c5FrI/AAAAAAAAAV4/yTT0G-WUEN4/s1600/day1otlk_20111107_1300_prt.gif"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 272px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9XvaAXhwWoU/TrwyR1c5FrI/AAAAAAAAAV4/yTT0G-WUEN4/s400/day1otlk_20111107_1300_prt.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5673464912567408306" border="0" /></a><br /></div> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Forecast parameters looked good for NW TX/SW OK, including 1000-1500 CAPE and nicely veered profiles. There was some concern that overly moist atmosphere and lack of Convective Inhibition would create conveyer-belt showers and hurt the prospects for discrete cells. Still, with a healthy November jet moving in, and such impressive forecast profiles, felt like it was worth a shot.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Initial target was Childress, TX. By the time we got to Anson, elongated cells were already forming in the east TX panhandle- several hours ahead of forecast initiation from the NAM or HRRR models. Decided to go NE to Vernon to try and stay in front of the activity. Caught initial cell near Quanah, TX and followed it across the Red River on 6. It produced several strongly-rotating lowerings, and one RFD that blew a huge red dust cloud over the vehicle. We did not witness a confirmed tornado from this cell. Images below from 2 p.m. CST, just south of the Red River.<br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-f9hrG_SVx2I/TryunSlnc2I/AAAAAAAAAWQ/_F-VFHN23KA/s1600/RedRiver_Wall_2003Z.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 232px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-f9hrG_SVx2I/TryunSlnc2I/AAAAAAAAAWQ/_F-VFHN23KA/s400/RedRiver_Wall_2003Z.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5673601620607726434" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-O03a9vrpy1Y/TryuqobfPEI/AAAAAAAAAWc/V8TR4yMQ_O4/s1600/RedRiver_WallDust2_2004.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 217px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-O03a9vrpy1Y/TryuqobfPEI/AAAAAAAAAWc/V8TR4yMQ_O4/s400/RedRiver_WallDust2_2004.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5673601678010432578" border="0" /></a></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Meanwhile a cell to our SE had quickly become supercellular as it crossed the River. We went South and East out of Olustee, and got our first glimpse of what would shortly become the Tipton tornado. Hail shaft, rain free base, and lowering already apparent, roughly 15 miles away. Time is 2:49, view is SE:</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-muQR2uioARU/Tryvm9ENzjI/AAAAAAAAAWo/PI8-E3--6e0/s1600/PreTiptonWall_2049Z.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 220px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-muQR2uioARU/Tryvm9ENzjI/AAAAAAAAAWo/PI8-E3--6e0/s400/PreTiptonWall_2049Z.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5673602714342116914" border="0" /></a></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">By the time we turned east on 5 and began to approach the town of Tipton, we had a great view of the back side of the cell, with a beautiful hail shaft obscuring a violent tornado in progress. Time is 3:01, view is east:<br /></p><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bi7lPpesszY/TryvtKeVcAI/AAAAAAAAAW0/j6a1bsi4v4U/s1600/Tipton_HailShaft_2101Z.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 204px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bi7lPpesszY/TryvtKeVcAI/AAAAAAAAAW0/j6a1bsi4v4U/s400/Tipton_HailShaft_2101Z.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5673602821020545026" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />Shortly after driving through Tipton, we observed the big, dusty tornado as it crossed hwy 5C just to our east at 3:08 CST. Link to youtube video and stills below:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=26_yOm_8iiE">Tipton Tornado Video on the YouTube</a><br /></div><p style="margin-bottom: 0in"></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HSO26GoVgS8/Tryw7G17TtI/AAAAAAAAAXA/c_Sym7XFyzo/s1600/Tipton1.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HSO26GoVgS8/Tryw7G17TtI/AAAAAAAAAXA/c_Sym7XFyzo/s400/Tipton1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5673604160075550418" border="0" /></a></div><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"> Here is our position for the picture above:</p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nmK-oQm81k8/Tryw7I25PYI/AAAAAAAAAXI/3uO_FubefvA/s1600/Tipton_zoom.PNG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 231px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nmK-oQm81k8/Tryw7I25PYI/AAAAAAAAAXI/3uO_FubefvA/s400/Tipton_zoom.PNG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5673604160616480130" border="0" /></a></div><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">We move slightly east and stopped again, observing the Tipton Tornado move north. Time is 3:10-3:12 CST, view is N:</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MnkGQF-yb6I/Try-DHumZdI/AAAAAAAAAak/iLyYooFM_6Y/s1600/Tipton1a.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 222px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MnkGQF-yb6I/Try-DHumZdI/AAAAAAAAAak/iLyYooFM_6Y/s400/Tipton1a.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5673618591403369938" border="0" /></a></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pQpW00IC8L0/Try-DfsmxYI/AAAAAAAAAaw/pAaOjF_ETLs/s1600/Tipton1aa.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pQpW00IC8L0/Try-DfsmxYI/AAAAAAAAAaw/pAaOjF_ETLs/s400/Tipton1aa.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5673618597837456770" border="0" /></a></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uq9TjIOkrMs/Try8a7-C0LI/AAAAAAAAAaU/BLvR1L79jbk/s1600/Tipton2.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 213px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uq9TjIOkrMs/Try8a7-C0LI/AAAAAAAAAaU/BLvR1L79jbk/s400/Tipton2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5673616801540526258" border="0" /></a></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><br /></p><div style="text-align: left;">Over the next couple of minutes, the tornado ropes out. Time is 3:15, View NW:<br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xDPEEt3P9Js/Try0cZEcQzI/AAAAAAAAAYs/AZMC6NmKNCY/s1600/TiptonRope2_2115Z.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 253px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xDPEEt3P9Js/Try0cZEcQzI/AAAAAAAAAYs/AZMC6NmKNCY/s400/TiptonRope2_2115Z.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5673608030438834994" border="0" /></a></p><br />Here is the NWS PNS regarding this tornado:<br /><div style="text-align: left;"><pre><span style="font-style: italic;">PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">400 PM CST THU NOV 10 2011</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">...TIPTON TORNADO RATING UPGRADED TO EF4...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">BASED ON ANALYSIS OF DATA COLLECTED DURING A GROUND DAMAGE SURVEY...</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">THE RATING FOR THE NOVEMBER 7TH TIPTON TORNADO HAS BEEN UPGRADED TO</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">EF4 ON THE ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE. THE RATING IS BASED PRIMARILY ON</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">DAMAGE OBSERVED AT THE OSU AGRONOMY RESEARCH STATION ON HIGHWAY 5.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">THIS IS THE FIRST NOVEMBER EF4 TORNADO IN OKLAHOMA SINCE RECORDS</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">BEGAN IN 1950.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">ESTIMATED WIND SPEEDS IN AN EF4 TORNADO RANGE FROM 166 TO 200 MPH.</span><br /></pre></div>As the initial tornado was dissipating, a large low wall cloud formed and begin to produce brief vortices to our NE. Seconds later, the tornado consolidated. Time is still 3:15CST, view is ENE:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BjkPJWvsOag/Try0IoggIAI/AAAAAAAAAXY/u3GJffkT4Cs/s1600/Snyder1_2115Z.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 226px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BjkPJWvsOag/Try0IoggIAI/AAAAAAAAAXY/u3GJffkT4Cs/s400/Snyder1_2115Z.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5673607690985676802" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />We drove east to Manitou, then north up 183, observing the tornado strengthen into a stout stovepipe. View approximately NE, time is 3:20 - 3:24.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-N54GC9VS6XU/Try0I9V26GI/AAAAAAAAAXw/7CWw3adCMHg/s1600/snyder1.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 234px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-N54GC9VS6XU/Try0I9V26GI/AAAAAAAAAXw/7CWw3adCMHg/s400/snyder1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5673607696578177122" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-R-yofcEuWpU/Try0JVpx3II/AAAAAAAAAX8/l1ZxuqOoeUI/s1600/snyder2.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 215px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-R-yofcEuWpU/Try0JVpx3II/AAAAAAAAAX8/l1ZxuqOoeUI/s400/snyder2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5673607703104183426" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZMgYEPQRW5U/Try0JvHJlwI/AAAAAAAAAYM/YXYegmGtjRs/s1600/snyder3.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 214px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZMgYEPQRW5U/Try0JvHJlwI/AAAAAAAAAYM/YXYegmGtjRs/s400/snyder3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5673607709938259714" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />The tornado began to weaken as it appraoched 183. It produced this needle funnel in the center of the broad circulation, and seemed to rapidly dissipate shortly thereafter. View is North, time 3:25 CST:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LT5Doh67P5g/Try0NmtBbjI/AAAAAAAAAYU/BhaY5ewpL6Q/s1600/snyderRope.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 255px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LT5Doh67P5g/Try0NmtBbjI/AAAAAAAAAYU/BhaY5ewpL6Q/s400/snyderRope.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5673607776400666162" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />Here is out track and the approximate tornado track during this intercept: <p style="margin-bottom: 0in"><gps image=""></gps></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7d34t3Y7S-8/Try0IpSxyrI/AAAAAAAAAXg/eaVHpwhyFBQ/s1600/TiptonSnyder.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 238px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7d34t3Y7S-8/Try0IpSxyrI/AAAAAAAAAXg/eaVHpwhyFBQ/s400/TiptonSnyder.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5673607691196549810" border="0" /></a></p><br /><br />We went east on 62 east of Snyder, where we observed this brief tornado just north of the highway. Time is 3:38, view N.<br /><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7A4vYEs1eRY/Try2dbpDXoI/AAAAAAAAAY4/opD_1j_72E8/s1600/EastSnyderTornado_2138Z.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 185px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7A4vYEs1eRY/Try2dbpDXoI/AAAAAAAAAY4/opD_1j_72E8/s400/EastSnyderTornado_2138Z.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5673610247332388482" border="0" /></a></p><br />I believe this tornado briefly had a satellite tornado, but was unable to video this feature. During this same time frame, observed a white funnel under a separate circulation which produced a couple brief surface spinups. Time is 3:40, View N:<br /><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XdX6jDv_e4s/Try2dnuC7xI/AAAAAAAAAZI/GVpan78tDH8/s1600/EastSnyder_BriefTor_2140Z.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 298px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XdX6jDv_e4s/Try2dnuC7xI/AAAAAAAAAZI/GVpan78tDH8/s400/EastSnyder_BriefTor_2140Z.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5673610250574556946" border="0" /></a></p><br />Turned north on 54, and then east on mud road E1590. John kept us between the ditches on the treacherous mud roads for the next few minutes, and we witnessed the initial stages of the Wichita Mountain tornado. Time is 3:51, view is E:<br /><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wcQHxs0pR1Y/Try33xY6m2I/AAAAAAAAAZc/we9pCpmx5eQ/s1600/WichitaFalls_2151Z.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 217px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wcQHxs0pR1Y/Try33xY6m2I/AAAAAAAAAZc/we9pCpmx5eQ/s400/WichitaFalls_2151Z.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5673611799358511970" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in">We took “Scenic Highway” east, hoping we could catch the cell once we got to the other side. This strategy failed miserably, but we were able to witness the large tornado from time to time when terrain was favorable. Time is after 4:07, view is NNWish:<br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in"><images></images></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CO9mFsYCwjY/Try34e7CGjI/AAAAAAAAAZk/hhJlhDtQa98/s1600/WichitaMtn_2212_use2.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 226px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CO9mFsYCwjY/Try34e7CGjI/AAAAAAAAAZk/hhJlhDtQa98/s400/WichitaMtn_2212_use2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5673611811581205042" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Here is our position for this leg of the chase, up until the GPS software failed.</p><br /><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1yegbrGhwDo/Try4oi9ebuI/AAAAAAAAAaA/WfW4f-13oZ4/s1600/WichitaMtn.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 235px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1yegbrGhwDo/Try4oi9ebuI/AAAAAAAAAaA/WfW4f-13oZ4/s400/WichitaMtn.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5673612637298912994" border="0" /></a><br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;">Slow traffic and wandering Buffalo killed any hope of catching the cell again.<br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2kI4ZP7Pt-E/Try34bWJc5I/AAAAAAAAAZ0/3ctIK_AZ4QY/s1600/buffaloXing.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 241px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2kI4ZP7Pt-E/Try34bWJc5I/AAAAAAAAAZ0/3ctIK_AZ4QY/s400/buffaloXing.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5673611810621191058" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pERx7-dqFPM/Try33-qPyvI/AAAAAAAAAZQ/LjdnT7EjEHQ/s1600/Buffalo2.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 247px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pERx7-dqFPM/Try33-qPyvI/AAAAAAAAAZQ/LjdnT7EjEHQ/s400/Buffalo2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5673611802920864498" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in"><buffalo></buffalo></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">We dropped south to Wichita Falls, and then to Electra where we intercepted another supercell shortly after sunset. By the time we got to it, the storm had weakened below severe limits, and we ended the chase.<br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.srh.noaa.gov/oun/?n=events-20111107">NWS Norman page on Nov 7 tornadoes</a></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Depart: Austin, TX 7:30 a.m.<br />Arrive: Austin, TX 12:30 a.m.<br />980 miles, 17 hours<br /></p>Tony Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02140857385019895603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-927964203547682735.post-4805583632542687542011-11-09T13:32:00.002-06:002011-11-10T14:32:39.357-06:00Chase Report: 24 May, 2011 - Goldsby, OK EF4<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_Q3ynYAuNQE/TrrLbGCZqcI/AAAAAAAAAUY/3pTDwkAd1Yc/s1600/Goldsby_20110524.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 521px; height: 275px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_Q3ynYAuNQE/TrrLbGCZqcI/AAAAAAAAAUY/3pTDwkAd1Yc/s400/Goldsby_20110524.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5673070346964150722" border="0" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;">EF4 Tornado near Washington, OK - ~5:55 CDT</span><br /></div><br />High risk for Central and Northern OK. The associated Tornado prob from the 1630Z outlook shown below, with huge 45% hatched contour.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wSGnHGkb6R0/TrrLAapvOmI/AAAAAAAAAUM/lMaN1MQkExQ/s1600/day1probotlk_20110524_1630_torn_prt.gif"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 272px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wSGnHGkb6R0/TrrLAapvOmI/AAAAAAAAAUM/lMaN1MQkExQ/s400/day1probotlk_20110524_1630_torn_prt.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5673069888641383010" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><br />Solo chase. My forecasted target was around the OK/KS border, Alva, OK to Medicine Lodge, KS. Fortunately, I was working all morning and did not get out of the driveway until about 12:30 p.m. While there was action at the Northern target, Central OK ended up being the breeding ground for the strongest tornadoes of the day. Stopped just north of Fort Worth at the I-35/287 junction around 3:15 CDT. Severe cells were in progress to my west within a couple of counties. Broken line of supercells had fired on the dryline W and NW of OK City. Made a quick decision to shoot north and try to get to the southern end of the Central OK storms. Within a few minutes of that decision, three of the Central OK storms went tornado-warned.<br /><br />Made good time moving up 35, but cell motion was NNE at the time, and fast- 45-55 knots (I think). Around 4 p.m., crossed the Red River. The most damaging tornado of the day was already in progress. It would go through El Reno and Guthrie over its 75 mile track, and cause 9 fatalities. This tornado has been rated EF-5 based on radar data collected by a mobile radar.<br /><br />As I approached Purcell, OK, a new cell that had formed south of the original OK line went tornado-warned near Bradley. I had no data for a long stretch about this time. Got some much needed help from chasing partner John S, who was unable to go with me on the trip. There were two cells within range, both with tornado warnings. The northern cell produced an EF4 from Chickasha to Moore, and at the time had a better radar presentation. However, I did not think I could get up to it in time, and the hail core from the southern cell was already over I-35. I decided to pull off and try to get the Bradley tornado.<br /><br />Took exit 101 (Ladd Rd), and pretty quickly had a visual on the southern edge of the rain free base. Contrast was poor and I was taking some small hail with an occasional larger stone. Moved slightly west to Pacer Field, and about 5:52, a tall stovepipe tornado in progress came into view to my Southwest.<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Tj6SdE-yPyU/TrrSO0mMiQI/AAAAAAAAAUw/d_2eOV_1h8Y/s1600/Goldsby_3.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 235px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Tj6SdE-yPyU/TrrSO0mMiQI/AAAAAAAAAUw/d_2eOV_1h8Y/s400/Goldsby_3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5673077832705411330" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-n_IagKsxCRg/TrrSR0p23WI/AAAAAAAAAU8/J6Qyz_0EXnA/s1600/Goldsby_4.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 223px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-n_IagKsxCRg/TrrSR0p23WI/AAAAAAAAAU8/J6Qyz_0EXnA/s400/Goldsby_4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5673077884260375906" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AVGrXckODM4/TrrSUzQyY1I/AAAAAAAAAVI/fYI_KC7oFnc/s1600/Goldsby_5.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 216px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AVGrXckODM4/TrrSUzQyY1I/AAAAAAAAAVI/fYI_KC7oFnc/s400/Goldsby_5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5673077935426397010" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><br /><br />I reported the tornado and observed it for several minutes as it got closer. Initially thought it would track over my location, but it ended up turning north towards the end of its life cycle according to the current survey details (survey not yet finalized). That is consistent with what I observed.<br /><br />While observing this tornado, a new lowering formed to my immediate west. It quickly began to produce a funnel cloud and shortly after that, at around 5:58, it kicked up a debris cloud within 100 yards of my location.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lHbIVEYzylM/TrrSbkfpcEI/AAAAAAAAAVg/dxSX_Z6-ADE/s1600/Goldsby_7.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 220px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lHbIVEYzylM/TrrSbkfpcEI/AAAAAAAAAVg/dxSX_Z6-ADE/s400/Goldsby_7.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5673078051721277506" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />While it did not look to be a very strong tornado, I had to relocate quickly to avoid getting hit. The new tornado went past me- technically, I was probably in the outer edge of the circulation- but it remained weak and dissipated once it crossed I-35. The main tornado was roping out by this stage, and completely dissipated shortly after 6 p.m.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-T-F3Bewo9sI/TrrSX9YmKDI/AAAAAAAAAVU/ruPXxN9vw6w/s1600/Goldsby_6.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 239px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-T-F3Bewo9sI/TrrSX9YmKDI/AAAAAAAAAVU/ruPXxN9vw6w/s400/Goldsby_6.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5673077989683111986" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eb-5puAYXi8/TrrSeAPZYGI/AAAAAAAAAVs/C-x68j2hj4k/s1600/Goldsby_8.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 250px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eb-5puAYXi8/TrrSeAPZYGI/AAAAAAAAAVs/C-x68j2hj4k/s400/Goldsby_8.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5673078093529047138" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><br />Here is the preliminary NWS survey of the Goldsby tornao:<br /><br />STORM 4... WASHINGTON-GOLDSBY<br />PRELIMINARY DATA...<br />EVENT DATE: MAY 24, 2011<br />EVENT TYPE: TORNADO<br />EF RATING: EF-4<br />ESTIMATED PEAK WINDS (MPH): 190<br />INJURIES/FATALITIES: UNKNOWN/NONE<br />EVENT START LOCATION AND TIME: 4 SW BRADLEY 5:26 PM CDT<br />EVENT END LOCATION AND TIME: 1 NW GOLDSBY 6:05 PM CDT<br />DAMAGE PATH LENGTH (IN MILES): 27 MILES<br />DAMAGE WIDTH: UNKNOWN<br /><br />Continued chasing eastward on I-40 past sunset, narrowly missing a tornado near Shawnee reservoir, and observing numerous lowerings and a couple of possible tornadoes after dark. Finally stopped at Hulbert, and about 9:45 CDT, decided to end the chase, as I had to be at work the next morning. Crossed the path of the April 14 Tushka/Atoka EF3 shortly after midnight, and arrived back in Austin around 5 a.m.<br /><br />Another bad day for strong tornadoes hitting populated areas, and a well-deserved high risk call by SPC. I was happy with most of my chase, especially considering how late I started. Missing a couple of minutes of the Washington-Goldsby rope out, and missing at least one other late tornado was frustrating. Still, this was a difficult day with multiple HP cell interactions and fast NE storm motion. Impossible to stay with cells for long when the road network runs mostly NS and EW. A lot of chasers had trouble and went home empty-handed, so I am just glad I got up there in time for one of the main tornadoes.<br /><br />Special thanks to John S for nowcasting during the crucial Goldsby intercept and later in the evening also to help keep me close to good cells.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.srh.noaa.gov/oun/?n=events-20110524">NWS Norman page about the outbreak</a><br /><br />Depart: Austin, TX 12:30 p.m.<br />Arrive: Austin, TX 5:00 a.m.<br />1020 miles, 16.5 hours<br />Solo chaseTony Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02140857385019895603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-927964203547682735.post-49218821320750499022011-05-27T10:12:00.007-05:002011-05-27T11:01:09.043-05:00Chase Report: 19 May, 2011 - Marathon Bust<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT" lang="en-US"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fLmy847b1HM/Td_HN5FvSbI/AAAAAAAAAUA/Tk6eaWM4EwA/s1600/GPS_track.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 160px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fLmy847b1HM/Td_HN5FvSbI/AAAAAAAAAUA/Tk6eaWM4EwA/s400/GPS_track.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611422702204045746" border="0" /></a></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT" lang="en-US"> </p><span style="font-weight: bold;">Depart: Austin, TX 7:45 a.m.<br />Arrive: Austin, TX 3:25 a.m.<br />1303 miles<br />Solo chase</span><p style="margin-bottom: 0in" align="LEFT" lang="en-US"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b>Phenomena Encountered:<br />2 minutes of marble-sized hail<br />1 lame attempt at a wall cloud<br />1 unfortunate armadillo, now deceased<br /><br />The ugly truth:<br />Thanks to D Douglas for nowcasting on a a futile day. The hail and wall cloud both occurred near Kingman, KS with a small, isolated cell that was east of the dryline cells. After that cell dissipated, I made it almost to I-70 just south of the storm that produced the tornado reports in Russell/Ellsworth counties, KS. By then, cells from the south were starting to merge with that one, and it got messy. I decided to cut my losses and turn south, as I had to be back at work Friday morning. Of course, 20 minutes later, the cell north of I-70 ramped up again and produced another brief tornado. </b></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in" align="LEFT" lang="en-US"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b>Encountered another dying severe cell on the drive home in OKC. Not a blue-sky bust, but definitely a bust. </b></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in" align="LEFT" lang="en-US"><b>ON a positive note, things would get substantially better on my next two chases, May 21 and 24. Reports to come soon...<br /></b><br /></p>Tony Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02140857385019895603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-927964203547682735.post-61733738380147375212011-04-20T00:30:00.019-05:002011-04-20T21:42:29.124-05:00Chase Report: 15 April, 2011, Part 1 - De Kalb to Scooba, MS EF3 tornado<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/15Apr2011/Dekalb2.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 602px; height: 438px;" src="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/15Apr2011/Dekalb2.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Tornado just North of De Kalb, MS, ~1:22 p.m. CDT.</span><br /></div><br />After a much needed 3 hours of sleep following a long chase on the 14th, I woke up in Little Rock, AR about 7:30 a.m. (all times CDT). A cursory check of models and I was on the road quickly. As I crossed the MS river at Memphis, noted vast area of clearing SW of the initial line mess moving through North MS and West TN. It quickly became apparent that the odds of a big tornado day were increasing. SPC's 1730Z Day 1 included a hatched 15% tornado probability:<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sDlCOqBMYxc/Ta56ABWubiI/AAAAAAAAAT4/DXzLiLtnuXo/s1600/day1probotlk_20110415_1630_torn_prt.gif" target="_blank"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 280px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sDlCOqBMYxc/Ta56ABWubiI/AAAAAAAAAT4/DXzLiLtnuXo/s400/day1probotlk_20110415_1630_torn_prt.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597545527650446882" border="0" /></a></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"> </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT">There was already a tornado-warned cell in Jackson, MS (which produced EF3 damage), and north of that, a cluster of cells with embedded tornado warnings to my south. I got to Hwy 45 and decided to punch through the cluster to the more isolated cell that was now east of Jackson. I calculated I could catch it near De Kalb, MS.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT">Arrived at Scooba at 1:07 p.m. The Jackson cell had maintained a tornado warning the entire time, and was now rapidly approaching De Kalb. I went west on 16 and immediately saw the rain-free base and low broad wall cloud. As I got a little closer, saw the top of a cone below the treeline. The wall cloud above this feature exhibited extremely rapid rotation. Called NWS Jackson and reported possible tornado. </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"> </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT">Turned around at the junction of 16/39 in De Kalb and hurried slightly east to try to find a suitable spot to observe the area of concern. Pulled off on Old Scooba Road with a good view to the north and observed a large tornado in progress. It was just north of De Kalb, and crossed my field of view over the next 90 seconds. Called NWS Jackson again and relayed the report.<br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT">As the wrapping wain curtain on the south side of the tornado arrived at my location, I moved ENE on 16 to reposition. However, it was soon clear I could not safely outrun the tornado on 16, and I stopped to let it cross the highway. All I saw was a solid wall of white, with rapid rotation in the rain curtains as they crossed. Once the back edge had passed, I continued east and noticed a swath of downed trees and powerlines. I was able to safely continue to Hwy 45 at Scooba.<br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT">Here is the video- see Video index and map below for details:</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"><span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IFD5wvTruc" target="_blank">De Kalb, MS Tornado Video</a><br /></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT">Video index:</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT">0:00-1:02 - Driving west into De Kalb through the intersection of Hwy 16 and 39. Wall cloud and brief shot of top of tornado over the treeline. Time is 1:16-1:18 CDT.<br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT">1:02-2:52 - Looking ~north from Old Scooba Road. Wedge tornado crossing to my north. Time is 1:20-1:22 CDT.<br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT">2:53-4:00 - Driving ENE on 16 between De Kalb and Scooba- low-contrast back edge of tornado crossing highway. Time is 1:32-1:33 CDT.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT">And here is my position, time, and approximate look angle of the features noted in the video:</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"><a href="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/15Apr2011/DekalbGPS_2.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 608px; height: 311px;" src="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/15Apr2011/DekalbGPS_2.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"> </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT">Continued east on 16 hoping to trail the tornado until I could navigate back to the SE of it. Instead, I found a tree across 16, and had to turn around and backtrack. Went up to the next eastward road. Delorme 2011 showed that this road would take me into AL at Geiger:</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"><a href="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/15Apr2011/ThanksDelorme.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 602px; height: 418px;" src="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/15Apr2011/ThanksDelorme.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"> However, after a few minutes of mud and gravel, the road abruptly turned into a grassy, overgrown trail with trees and bushes everywhere:<br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"><a href="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/15Apr2011/EndOfTheRoad.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 602px; height: 338px;" src="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/15Apr2011/EndOfTheRoad.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"><br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT">I could see the storm and wall cloud/fat funnel through the trees, but it was moving away quickly. By the time I got back out of the jungle, I decided I could not catch back up to that cell, and moved back to Scooba to catch the next cells in line.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT">Here is NWS Jackson's summary of the EF3 tornado.:</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"><a href="http://www.srh.noaa.gov/jan/?n=2011_04_15_tor_neshobakemper" target="_blank">http://www.srh.noaa.gov/jan/?n=2011_04_15_tor_neshobakemper</a></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT">and NWS Birmingham's summary (see Geiger, Sumter, AL portion):</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"><a href="http://www.srh.noaa.gov/bmx/?n=event_04152011" target="_blank">http://www.srh.noaa.gov/bmx/?n=event_04152011</a></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT">From the wording of the NWS surveys, I believe this was the same tornado, with contiguous damage track. If so, it had a path length of 49 miles, width of up to 1 mile, and duration of 71 minutes.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT">Over the next 6 hours, observed and filmed several big wall clouds and funnel clouds, but have not confirmed any more tornadoes. I will have to sift thru NWS surveys to see if any of the features I filmed is coincident with tornadic damage. A couple of the features I saw obscured by treelines certainly could have been tornadoes. Will update this report with a part 2 once that work is complete. </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT">As daylight waned, there were still warnings in progress near my location. I was physically exhausted, though, and with flooding issues ramping up, and lack of visual on most of the storms by that time, I decided to call the chase. Spent the night in Meridian, MS and drove back to Austin Saturday. Heard reports of the NC tornadoes during my drive. </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Depart: Little Rock, AR 8:00 a.m.</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Arrive: Meridan, MS 9:00 p.m.</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">720 miles, 13 h</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">2245 miles, 3 day round trip total</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Solo chase</span><br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"><br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"><br /></p>Tony Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02140857385019895603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-927964203547682735.post-79353940531182959952011-03-30T23:44:00.032-05:002011-03-31T10:08:33.036-05:00Chase Report: 26 Mar, 2011- Crazy in Alabama<div style="text-align: center;"><bold><span>I-22/Hwy 78 Alabama Supercell</span><br /><span>Wall Clouds, Funnels, Phantom tornadoes</span></bold><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Broad, low wall cloud with inflow band near Cordova, AL, ~8:26CDT, 3/26/2011</span>:<br /></div></div><a href="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/26Mar2011/Cor_00121_0752.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 640px; height: 358px;" src="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/26Mar2011/Cor_00121_0752.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT">Left Austin about 4:45 a.m. (all times CDT). Initial target was Winona, MS, where parameters looked most favorable for afternoon/evening supercells. SPC upgraded a chunk of MS/AL/W GA to MDT on the 1630 Day 1 outlook:<br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jEt_ReikTEA/TZQbvNYaXMI/AAAAAAAAATo/ejRW7HU8dlc/s1600/day1otlk_20110326_1630_prt.gif"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 280px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jEt_ReikTEA/TZQbvNYaXMI/AAAAAAAAATo/ejRW7HU8dlc/s400/day1otlk_20110326_1630_prt.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5590123535333481666" border="0" /></a></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT">Around the time I was crossing the MS river on I-20, storms fired and rapidly became supercellular near Meridian, MS. A TOR box went up for a swath of AL and GA for this activity. Numerous supercells produced numerous tornado warnings for the next several hours across the watch area. Rather than try to catch this activity, I elected to stick with my original target and turned north on 55 in Jackson. Realistically, I don't think I could have gotten into the initial action in time in AL and GA, and terrain in that area is among the worst I have chased in. </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT">Moving north along 55, I crossed the damage track of the 4/24/2010 Yazoo City super tornado. A swath of trees at least .5 miles long on both sides of the interstate were literally sheared off not far above the surface (20-30 ft). I have seen this signature before from other violent tornadoes- Limestone County AL, 5/18/1995 among others.<br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT">Arrived in Winona 2:45 p.m., with clear blue skies and surface temps in low 80's. Quickly noted surface winds were SW, which did not bode well for low-level rotation. With nothing anywhere nearby, I decided to wait, as I was at least near the warm front, and <a href="http://rapidrefresh.noaa.gov/hrrrconus/">HRRR</a> was showing cells popping in the 22-0Z time frame near my location. </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT">Around 5 p.m., I noted a tower had popped up to my NE. It did not look like much, but I immediately turned back east and went charging after it. A new cell had popped South of the line in North MS, and was now showing up on radar, albeit only weak echoes. As it began to strengthen, it became apparent that it was well ahead of me, 60-80 miles to my NE, and my prospects of catching it weren't great. I had to hope that it would move ESE and track along the warm front and into the moist tongue, which is exactly what it did. I cut NE on 12 at Columbus, MS, with a nice view of the strengthening cell to my NNE, complete with anvil and hard tower. Time is ~6:27, view NNE: </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"><a href="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/26Mar2011/2327Z_NNE.png"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 640px; height: 293px;" src="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/26Mar2011/2327Z_NNE.png" alt="" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT">About the time I crossed into AL, the storm went tornado-warned. I got to Guin, AL a few minutes behind the circulation, and noted a possible lowering obstructed by the Guin downtown buildings. No good shots of the lowering at this stage, but one nice lightning capture as I went through town. Time is ~7:20, view is east:</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"><a href="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/26Mar2011/GuinLightning.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 640px; height: 360px;" src="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/26Mar2011/GuinLightning.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT">I took 118 E out of Guin through Winfield and Glen Allen in dwindling daylight, continuing to note possible lowerings to my East. I finally approached the radar-indicated circulation near the town of Eldridge, and noted a solid wall-cloud south of my location near Eldridge. I reported this and continued east on 118 through Carbon Hill and onto the I22/78 corridor. Stopped just West of Jasper at 7:58 with a large Wall cloud to my immediate south. Here is the location and appx. look angle of the next few screen grabs:</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"><a href="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/26Mar2011/JasperLoc.png"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 731px; height: 437px;" src="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/26Mar2011/JasperLoc.png" alt="" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"><a href="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/26Mar2011/JasperWall_00118_0848.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 640px; height: 361px;" src="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/26Mar2011/JasperWall_00118_0848.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT">A couple of moments later, what appeared to be a funnel cloud became evident. Upon careful review of the video, it looks like the funnel is actually behind the wall cloud. Here are a couple of captures:</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"><a href="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/26Mar2011/JasperWall_funnel_00118_0936.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 640px; height: 361px;" src="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/26Mar2011/JasperWall_funnel_00118_0936.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"><a href="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/26Mar2011/JasperWallFunnel_00118_1005.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 640px; height: 361px;" src="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/26Mar2011/JasperWallFunnel_00118_1005.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT">I began to get rain and small hail, so proceeded ESE on 22/78. Got a couple more looks at the funnelish feature while moving:</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"><a href="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/26Mar2011/Jasper_WF_00118_1405-1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 640px; height: 357px;" src="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/26Mar2011/Jasper_WF_00118_1405-1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"><a href="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/26Mar2011/Jasper_Wall_00118_1330-1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 640px; height: 360px;" src="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/26Mar2011/Jasper_Wall_00118_1330-1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT">At 8:18, I stopped again. Talked to some other chasers, who alerted me to a new circulation just to the North of the highway, in the vicinity of Cordova. At ~8:26, I filmed an ominous wall cloud with protuberances for several minutes. Terrain blocked the lowest level of the feature. Over the next 30 minutes, it would exhibit double wall cloud structure, funnels, inflow tail, and essentially everything but a confirmed tornado. Location and appx. look angle:<br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"><a href="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/26Mar2011/CordovaLoc.png"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 840px; height: 481px;" src="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/26Mar2011/CordovaLoc.png" alt="" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"><a href="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/26Mar2011/Cor_00121_0655.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 600px; height: 356px;" src="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/26Mar2011/Cor_00121_0655.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"><a href="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/26Mar2011/Cor_00121_0752.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 640px; height: 357px;" src="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/26Mar2011/Cor_00121_0752.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"><a href="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/26Mar2011/Cor_00121_0831.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 640px; height: 347px;" src="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/26Mar2011/Cor_00121_0831.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"><a href="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/26Mar2011/Cor_00121_0948.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 640px; height: 369px;" src="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/26Mar2011/Cor_00121_0948.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"><a href="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/26Mar2011/Cor_00121_1412.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 640px; height: 310px;" src="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/26Mar2011/Cor_00121_1412.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"><a href="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/26Mar2011/Cor_00121_1540.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 640px; height: 343px;" src="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/26Mar2011/Cor_00121_1540.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT">Continued ESE on 22/78, filming the area of ciruclation and stopping occasionally. I never saw evidence of a tornado on the ground. During this time, spotter reports of a large tornado prompted continued tornado warnings. These reports turned out to be erroneous, although from my visual evidence at the time, I did not doubt a tornado was in progress. </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"><a href="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/26Mar2011/Cordova_00123_0232.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 640px; height: 297px;" src="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/26Mar2011/Cordova_00123_0232.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"><a href="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/26Mar2011/Cordova_00123_1017.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 640px; height: 354px;" src="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/26Mar2011/Cordova_00123_1017.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"><a href="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/26Mar2011/Cordova_00123_0839.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 640px; height: 343px;" src="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/26Mar2011/Cordova_00123_0839.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"><a href="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/26Mar2011/Cordova_00123_0801.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 640px; height: 350px;" src="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/26Mar2011/Cordova_00123_0801.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"><a href="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/26Mar2011/Cordova_00123_0736.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 640px; height: 302px;" src="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/26Mar2011/Cordova_00123_0736.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"><a href="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/26Mar2011/Cordova_00123_0345.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 640px; height: 326px;" src="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/26Mar2011/Cordova_00123_0345.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT">Despite all these ground-hugging wall clouds, funnels, etc., NWS BMX has not surveyed any tornadic damage from this cell to my current knowledge. That doesn't mean it did not produce briefly a time or two along its path, but without an official damage survey, the video evidence does not support calling any of these features a tornado. The wall cloud/circulation began to get further to my east, and about that time, my outdated version of Delormes had me in the middle of nowhere. Had to call a friend to get me back on track. Made it back to 65, by which time the tornado warning had been canceled.<br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT">I stayed on the 65 corridor north of Birmingham for another hour, picking up a couple more cells as they crossed the interstate. Did not see anything else of note, though. Headed towards home, and made it as far as Meridian, MS. Stayed the night in the Relax Inn on the north side of the frontage road on I20 in Meridian. Wasn't the worst dump I have stayed in, although every time I flushed the toilet, water shot out the back of the tank lid. Here is the full GPS log of the chase up until just south of Birmingham, where I disabled the GPS:<br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"><a href="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/26Mar2011/FullTrack.png"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 640px; height: 290px;" src="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/26Mar2011/FullTrack.png" alt="" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT">Got up Sunday and drove back to Austin. Special thanks to <a href="http://www.tornadoxtreme.com/index.html" target="”_blank”">Bill Tabor</a> for providing nowcasting support during some of the hairier moments of the chase.<br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT">Depart Austin, TX: 4:45 a.m.<br />Arrive Meridan, MS 1:00 a.m.<br />Solo chase<br />1165 miles, 20h15m<br />1855 miles 2-day round trip total<br /></p>Tony Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02140857385019895603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-927964203547682735.post-89015699209027994532011-03-09T10:23:00.016-06:002011-03-16T13:59:51.848-05:00Chase Report: 8 March, 2011 - Lamar/Red River county supercellSPC started with a slight risk for the day, then upped a chunk of LA and Southern MS to a MDT in their 1630 update, with a 15% hatched tornado area:<br /><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"><br /></p> <a href="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/8March2011/SPC_Day1.png"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 524px; height: 366px;" src="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/8March2011/SPC_Day1.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT">We left Austin around 8:45, There were two broad target areas for the day. First was the dryline which was forecast to be near the I-35 corridor in N TX in the afternoon. Second was the open warm sector, covering most of LA, Southern AR, and SW MS. By around noon, we were heading east on 20 between Dallas and SHV, and briefly toyed with the idea of heading into the warm sector target, which SPC had just upgraded to MDT. The dryline target was a bit more conditional, and also storms along the dryline would be working with less helicity/shear, as the 850 jet was forecast to be translating away from N TX later in the day. </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT">Shortly after 1 CST, convection did fire (far earlier than most models were showing) north of DFW in North Texas. We stopped at Longview, and turned back NW, heading towards this initially small set of discrete cells. Tornado watch went up shortly thereafter for NE Texas and SE OK. </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT">We caught the first cell to generate a tornado warning in western Lamar county near Brookston. The radar-indicated circulation was heading east just south of Hwy 82 in our direction. We were moving south on FM 38 trying to clear the front flank of the storm and beat the circulation. Time is 4:11 CST, view is SW:</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"><a href="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/8March2011/BrookstonFrontFlank.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 587px; height: 390px;" src="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/8March2011/BrookstonFrontFlank.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"><frontflank></frontflank></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT">A laminar funnel/lowering with wrapping rain curtains crossed 38 just to our south, at which point we turned and moved back North up to 82. The lowering is near the top of this image, well above ground level. Time-lapse review of the video shows this feature was rotating. Time is ~413 CST, view is South:</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"><a href="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/8March2011/BrookstonLowering.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 600px; height: 400px;" src="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/8March2011/BrookstonLowering.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"><funnel></funnel></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT">NWS surveyed a non-continuous damage path from a weak tornado. Here is the survey info and diagram:</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: italic;" align="LEFT">PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT<br />NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX<br />731 PM CST THU MAR 10 2011<br /><br />...PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT...<br /><br />NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE METEOROLOGISTS FROM THE FORT WORTH<br />FORECAST OFFICE CONDUCTED A STORM DAMAGE SURVEY IN LAMAR COUNTY<br />AND DETERMINED AN EF0 TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN AROUND 415 PM CST ON<br />MARCH 8TH. THE TORNADO PATH WAS NON-CONTINUOUS...BUT TOTALED 4<br />MILES WITH A MAXIMUM WIDTH OF ABOUT 200 FEET. THE MAXIMUM WIND<br />SPEED WAS ESTIMATED TO BE 65 TO 70 MPH. THE TORNADO INITIALLY<br />TOUCHED DOWN NEAR 33.6053 DEGREES NORTH AND -95.7812 DEGREES WEST<br />AND FINALLY LIFTED NEAR 33.6144 DEGREES NORTH AND -95.7148 DEGREES<br />WEST. </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"><a href="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/8March2011/8March2011_Brookston.png"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 698px; height: 314px;" src="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/8March2011/8March2011_Brookston.png" alt="" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT">We got there a couple of minutes too late to see a tornado, but it is obvious the lowering with the wrapping rain curtains we shot crossing just south of us was the remnant circulation of that tornado. In the figure, red line is the tornado track, yellow line = 1 mile, and our position and look angle are shown by green dots and blue arrow respectively.<br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT">Heading back to Paris, we swung south on loop 236 and stopped at the intersection of 236 and FM 137. At about 4:25, a ragged rotating wall cloud was visible just to the west of our location. A narrow band of very low-level cloud tags was rapidly feeding into the circulation. Here is a pic of the wall cloud at time, looking west from 236/137. Time is ~4:25 CST</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"><a href="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/8March2011/ParisSW_wall.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 593px; height: 395px;" src="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/8March2011/ParisSW_wall.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"><sw_paris_wall></sw_paris_wall></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"><br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT">Here is a radar image of the circulation and our position from Spotter Net during this time frame (image courtesy of Adam Cuker).</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"><a href="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/8March2011/dd2_edit.png"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 795px; height: 403px;" src="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/8March2011/dd2_edit.png" alt="" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"><dd2.png></dd2.png></p><br /><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT">And here is our Delorme's GPS log showing our position and the position of the Paris and Brookston storm features we observed:</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"><a href="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/8March2011/8March2011_Paris-1.png"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 788px; height: 408px;" src="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/8March2011/8March2011_Paris-1.png" alt="" border="0" /></a></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"><br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT">We moved east on 236 to the intersection of 236 and Hwy 271. The area of circulation approached, and we decided to head south on 271, rather than try to get up to 82 and follow the storm eastward. My thinking was that we could move SE on 271, then north out of Deport or Bogata and get back to cell. Did not want to trail it in the core. </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT">Once we got to Bogata, we still could have moved N and intercepted the storm again, but new cells were now intensifying to the initial cell's SW. We decided to head back West and intercept the northernmost new cell. While we moved back NW on 271, the Paris cell produced at least on confirmed tornado east of Detroit. The same or a separate tornado also produced damage north of Clarksville along 82. </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT">Electing not to trail the cell east out of Paris cost us a shot at seeing the tornadoes. Had we moved back up to 82 to follow the cell, there is still no guarantee we would have caught the tubes. From other reports, they were rain-wrapped and low contrast. Still, there is at least a decent chance we would have caught them had we been able to navigate around the core. Lesson learned- if you see visual indication of rapid low-level rotation, stay with it as long as you can safely do so. Do not assume the next storm in the line will also be rotating. </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT">By near sunset, multiple cells had formed in a broken line from the initial tornado producer SW down to and south of I-20. We gingerly moved south, picking off a couple of these cells as we made our way home. Had some interesting after-dark scary-looking lowerings on a sub-severe cell south of Frankston, TX. </p><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><br />Depart Austin, TX: 9:45 a.m.<br />Arrive Austin, TX: 1:15 a.m.<br />875 miles , 16:30h<br />Chase Partner: John S<br /><br /><br /><br /></span>Tony Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02140857385019895603noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-927964203547682735.post-84559939010241360972010-05-26T21:55:00.065-05:002010-05-27T07:35:38.864-05:00Chase Report: 19 May, 2010 - Hennessey to Stillwater, OK cyclic tornadic supercellTornado NW of Hennessey, OK:
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<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_3il_vGiPI/AAAAAAAAAM4/dfVl373ucs4/s1600/HennesseyTorCem2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_3il_vGiPI/AAAAAAAAAM4/dfVl373ucs4/s400/HennesseyTorCem2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475781864344422642" border="0" /></a>
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<br />Left Shamrock, TX eastbound on I-40 at 10:15 a.m (all times CDT). Met up with fellow Austinites Bill Tabor, Randy Denzer, and non-Austinites Verne Carlson and Stephen Locke. Check out Stephen Locke's site <a href="http://www.tempestgallery.com/">TempestGallery </a>for some amazing storm photography, btw. SPC upgrades much of Central OK to High Risk on the 1630 Day 1. The forecast wasn't difficult. Go on I-40 to West Central, OK, where satellite was showing a meso-boundary snaking from west to east in the vicinity of I-40.
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<br />Several of us ended up at Hwy 281 and I-40 when cells fired in NW OK. Randy and Verne immediately took off after the closest cell, while Bill and I dragged our feet. The cell looked wimpy on radar, but Randy texted us soon afterward telling us to get up there. Good thing- it began producing tornadoes early, even before it looked supercellular on radar. Check out Randy's video:
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<br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gj3_uLd9ksw">5/19 Tornadoes from Randy Denzer</a>
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<br />Here was our view around the time the budding supercell was dropping its first tube.<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT" lang="en-US"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_3jOCcRfyI/AAAAAAAAANA/NrEPbRLeJb4/s1600/InitialTower_2020Z.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_3jOCcRfyI/AAAAAAAAANA/NrEPbRLeJb4/s400/InitialTower_2020Z.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475782552265522978" border="0" /></a></p>
<br />Bill and I headed towards Watonga, then cut up to Hwy 51 to get to the storm quicker. We came out a little behind the cell, but caught it easily, as it was meandering down the highway at only about 25 mph. Here is a solid, low funnel just south of 51 at ~4:24:<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT" lang="en-US"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_3kO7H2x-I/AAAAAAAAANQ/Ww8v0ZQrffg/s1600/Funnel_2124Z.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_3kO7H2x-I/AAAAAAAAANQ/Ww8v0ZQrffg/s400/Funnel_2124Z.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475783666992334818" border="0" /></a></p><span style="font-size:100%;">
<br />My first tornado of the day was the large cone that went just NW of Hennessey. I shot the tornado from Cemetery Road (aptly named) a little north of Hwy 51. Here is my location and look angle at tornado initiation:</span><span style="font-size:100%;">
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<br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_3nLMufzHI/AAAAAAAAAOw/fgyXCJPlfdI/s1600/TornadoLoc_Hennessey.png"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 212px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_3nLMufzHI/AAAAAAAAAOw/fgyXCJPlfdI/s400/TornadoLoc_Hennessey.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475786901533215858" border="0" /></a>
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<br />AND here is a sequence of stills, with some actual video hopefully to be added later. Note the historical Hennessey Cemetery in the foreground of many of these shots.
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<br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_3kiHO702I/AAAAAAAAANY/_x2DcyTdpHM/s1600/HennesseyTor2_2138Z.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_3kiHO702I/AAAAAAAAANY/_x2DcyTdpHM/s400/HennesseyTor2_2138Z.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475783996660765538" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:100%;">
<br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_3k04lQ99I/AAAAAAAAANg/8u7ZpTTI_Kc/s1600/HennesseyTor_atTheGate.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_3k04lQ99I/AAAAAAAAANg/8u7ZpTTI_Kc/s400/HennesseyTor_atTheGate.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475784319145408466" border="0" /></a>
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<br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_3lUDLJmrI/AAAAAAAAANw/S2FfH9gN7P0/s1600/HennesseyTorCem4.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 224px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_3lUDLJmrI/AAAAAAAAANw/S2FfH9gN7P0/s400/HennesseyTorCem4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475784854564608690" border="0" /></a>
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<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_3lXXpdGrI/AAAAAAAAAN4/b-Dc9lDAQW0/s1600/HennesseyTorCem5.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 222px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_3lXXpdGrI/AAAAAAAAAN4/b-Dc9lDAQW0/s400/HennesseyTorCem5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475784911600032434" border="0" /></a>
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<br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_3mIQFaHbI/AAAAAAAAAOQ/yyPNymiliCA/s1600/HennesseyTor_End1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 218px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_3mIQFaHbI/AAAAAAAAAOQ/yyPNymiliCA/s400/HennesseyTor_End1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475785751383383474" border="0" /></a>
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<br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_3mL0jQvLI/AAAAAAAAAOY/dNOhCbfw9BY/s1600/HennesseyRope1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 223px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_3mL0jQvLI/AAAAAAAAAOY/dNOhCbfw9BY/s400/HennesseyRope1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475785812711881906" border="0" /></a>
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<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_3mcP5MQVI/AAAAAAAAAOo/NPlnw486n50/s1600/HennesseyRope2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 230px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_3mcP5MQVI/AAAAAAAAAOo/NPlnw486n50/s400/HennesseyRope2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475786094929527122" border="0" /></a>
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<br /><span style="font-size:100%;">Here is helicopter view of the same tornado from an OKC TV network:</span><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT" lang="en-US"><a style="" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRDgGFJDxD8">Helicopter view</a></p>
<br />Apparently, I narrowly avoided a roadblock setup by OHP on Hwy 51 to prevent a horde of chasers from progressing east. Bill got caught by the same roadblock, and ended up losing the storm and having to bail south for the Guthrie cell. Caught up with Randy a little further down the highway- we would cross paths on and off for the rest of the day.
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<br />The supercell conveniently tracked due east along Hwy 51 for the next two hours, dropping tornadoes sporadically. I caught several of these, some of which lasted only a few seconds. Map of Tornadoes 2-4, all west of I-35:<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT" lang="en-US"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_3nagn5VCI/AAAAAAAAAO4/8XweHO-nQi8/s1600/TornadoLov_W35.png"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 187px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_3nagn5VCI/AAAAAAAAAO4/8XweHO-nQi8/s400/TornadoLov_W35.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475787164572275746" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT" lang="en-US"><span style="font-size:100%;">Tornado #2, lasted ~1 min:</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT" lang="en-US"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_3nwif9MNI/AAAAAAAAAPA/c6JLDKfluBE/s1600/E_HennesseyTor1_2208Z.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 153px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_3nwif9MNI/AAAAAAAAAPA/c6JLDKfluBE/s400/E_HennesseyTor1_2208Z.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475787543032967378" border="0" /></a></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT" lang="en-US"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_3n09mESZI/AAAAAAAAAPI/GSF-CtlJ7A4/s1600/E_HennesseyTor2_2208Z.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 206px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_3n09mESZI/AAAAAAAAAPI/GSF-CtlJ7A4/s400/E_HennesseyTor2_2208Z.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475787619025832338" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT" lang="en-US"><span style="font-size:100%;">Tornado #3, lasted only a few seconds:</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT" lang="en-US"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_3oDUCQ8RI/AAAAAAAAAPQ/BSxYhfx7wm8/s1600/TornadoNumber3_2225Z.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 248px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_3oDUCQ8RI/AAAAAAAAAPQ/BSxYhfx7wm8/s400/TornadoNumber3_2225Z.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475787865567850770" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT" lang="en-US">Tornado #4, lasted only a few seconds:
<br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT" lang="en-US"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_3oGypuRUI/AAAAAAAAAPY/u-cuvdi1VrU/s1600/TornadoNummber4_2232Z.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 195px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_3oGypuRUI/AAAAAAAAAPY/u-cuvdi1VrU/s400/TornadoNummber4_2232Z.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475787925326021954" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT" lang="en-US">Continued east on 51 and crossed I-35 towards Stillwater. Map of Tornadoes 5-7:
<br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT" lang="en-US"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_3oVx1KulI/AAAAAAAAAPg/aOWkf7joicE/s1600/TornadoLoc_E35.png"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 206px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_3oVx1KulI/AAAAAAAAAPg/aOWkf7joicE/s400/TornadoLoc_E35.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475788182803626578" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT" lang="en-US"><span style="font-size:100%;">Tornado #5 just east of I-35 was the most photogenic. It was in progress just to my WNW when I first saw it. It persisted for several minutes as a tall, thin cone. but was only obviously in contact with the ground for a small time, from my perspective. Here are a few video caps:</span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT" lang="en-US"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_3ohmaOL-I/AAAAAAAAAPo/znBqzLwEApU/s1600/Tornado5_E35_2304Z.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 217px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_3ohmaOL-I/AAAAAAAAAPo/znBqzLwEApU/s400/Tornado5_E35_2304Z.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475788385896247266" border="0" /></a></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT" lang="en-US"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_3olHNKfrI/AAAAAAAAAPw/KMzWlWb8N3A/s1600/Tornado5_E35_2_2304Z.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 248px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_3olHNKfrI/AAAAAAAAAPw/KMzWlWb8N3A/s400/Tornado5_E35_2_2304Z.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475788446239456946" border="0" /></a></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT" lang="en-US"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_3o0VYK34I/AAAAAAAAAP4/G_R5uWL3Se4/s1600/Tornado5_E35_3_2304Z.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 272px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_3o0VYK34I/AAAAAAAAAP4/G_R5uWL3Se4/s400/Tornado5_E35_3_2304Z.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475788707741753218" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT" lang="en-US">Tornado #6, lasted only a few seconds:
<br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT" lang="en-US"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_3pV1_-VQI/AAAAAAAAAQA/yEo15R0jag4/s1600/tornadoNumber6_2217Z.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 177px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_3pV1_-VQI/AAAAAAAAAQA/yEo15R0jag4/s400/tornadoNumber6_2217Z.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475789283434321154" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT" lang="en-US"><span style="font-size:100%;">Funnel cloud (darker lowering, center) which produced tornado #7, with lightning, a few seconds before the tornado appeared:</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT" lang="en-US"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_3phTofwgI/AAAAAAAAAQQ/1DIHwZwu-aw/s1600/Funnel_2317Z.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 184px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_3phTofwgI/AAAAAAAAAQQ/1DIHwZwu-aw/s400/Funnel_2317Z.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475789480367473154" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT" lang="en-US"><span style="font-size:100%;">Tornado #7, also brief from my vantage point, although topography quickly blocked my view of ground level:</span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT" lang="en-US"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_3peKB0REI/AAAAAAAAAQI/aGJUfqqPMYI/s1600/TornadoNumber7_2218Z.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 290px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_3peKB0REI/AAAAAAAAAQI/aGJUfqqPMYI/s400/TornadoNumber7_2218Z.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475789426249712706" border="0" /></a></p><span style="font-size:100%;">
<br />Continued east on 51 into western Stillwater. OUN NWS has a report of a tornado based on damage just WNW of Stillwater at ~6:35. I was very close to this location, although I was moving at 6:35. At 6:38, I stopped and filmed NW towards a large, solid wall cloud with ground level obscured. OUN has not done a damage survey yet, and they based the time of their report on radar, so it is quite possible this feature contained a rain-wrapped tornado. No way to confirm, but here it is:</span> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT" lang="en-US"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_3qK1H4RPI/AAAAAAAAAQg/8aarZHn7Da0/s1600/BigWall_W_Stillwater_2338Z.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_3qK1H4RPI/AAAAAAAAAQg/8aarZHn7Da0/s400/BigWall_W_Stillwater_2338Z.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475790193732109554" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT" lang="en-US"><span style="font-size:100%;">Here is the OUN NWS preliminary tornado reports. Not sure when surveys will be completed:</span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT" lang="en-US"><a href="http://www.srh.noaa.gov/news/display_cmsstory.php?wfo=oun&storyid=52724&source=0">OUN May 19 Storm reports</a>
<br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT" lang="en-US"><span style="font-size:100%;">Funnel clouds continue through Stillwater and east until sunset, although I witnessed no more touchdowns, and OUN has no other reports logged. Here are a few of the funnels I witnessed, all of which exhibited strong rotation:
<br /></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT" lang="en-US"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_3qlakiUEI/AAAAAAAAAQo/JzE9kh31ZFo/s1600/StillwaterFunnel1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 217px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_3qlakiUEI/AAAAAAAAAQo/JzE9kh31ZFo/s400/StillwaterFunnel1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475790650461016130" border="0" /></a></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT" lang="en-US"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_3qoxOQwfI/AAAAAAAAAQw/LZguivwJEyk/s1600/StillwaterFunnel2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_3qoxOQwfI/AAAAAAAAAQw/LZguivwJEyk/s400/StillwaterFunnel2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475790708081213938" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT" lang="en-US"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_3qt1FJjiI/AAAAAAAAAQ4/lDKzSVlpeM4/s1600/E_StillwaterWall.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 235px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_3qt1FJjiI/AAAAAAAAAQ4/lDKzSVlpeM4/s400/E_StillwaterWall.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475790795016080930" border="0" /></a></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT" lang="en-US"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_3qyn7sa1I/AAAAAAAAARA/FdF_Tw3C8fI/s1600/Hwy99_412_funnel.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_3qyn7sa1I/AAAAAAAAARA/FdF_Tw3C8fI/s400/Hwy99_412_funnel.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475790877386107730" border="0" /></a></p>
<br />I went North on 99 to the intersection of 412 and 99, and continued filming rotating wall clouds with funnels. Finally let the Hennessey supercell go and went south towards the next set of cells. The sun had set, and storms began congealing into a big hybrid mess. Heavy rain made southward progress slow, and it became apparent I was not going to be able to position in time to catch the areas of the cluster with rotation. Turned back SW towards OKC, and drove home.
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<br />Here is the GPS track for the meat of the chase:<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT" lang="en-US"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_3rWm7Z7oI/AAAAAAAAARQ/ycd1C-nKuGA/s1600/GPSLog.png"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 230px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_3rWm7Z7oI/AAAAAAAAARQ/ycd1C-nKuGA/s400/GPSLog.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475791495591751298" border="0" /></a></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT" lang="en-US"><span style="font-size:100%;">Depart Shamrock, TX: 10:15 a.m.
<br />Arrive Austin, TX: 4:45 a.m.
<br />830 miles , 18:30h solo chase
<br />2 day chase total: 1670 miles
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<br /></span></p> <meta equiv="CONTENT-TYPE" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><title></title><meta name="GENERATOR" content="OpenOffice.org 3.0 (Win32)"><style type="text/css"> <!-- @page { margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } --></style>Tony Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02140857385019895603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-927964203547682735.post-87996200151859800382010-05-21T17:03:00.062-05:002010-05-22T13:40:35.140-05:00Chase Report: 18 May, 2010 - Dumas, TX tornadoes/Miami Nights<span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" >Imminent tornado to my immediate northeast, 2 miles east of Dumas, TX
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<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_cHE2iA6JI/AAAAAAAAAII/su7TGWfwFlM/s1600/EastDumasTor1_2338Z.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_cHE2iA6JI/AAAAAAAAAII/su7TGWfwFlM/s400/EastDumasTor1_2338Z.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5473851652031178898" border="0" /></a>
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<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" >NOTE: Long report follows, but it's mostly pics.</span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" >
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<br />Left Austin at sunrise with an initial target area anywhere from Lubbock, TX to Clovis, NM to SE CO/Guymon, OK. Note all times that follow are CDT, p.m.. By the time I got to Lubbock., hi-res precip models and RUC were both showing no precip south of I-40. After a quick check of SPC mesoanalysis params, decided to keep moving north. Got to Dumas, TX around 4:30 p.m. Shortly before then, a cell had fired West of Channing and was moving NE towards Hartley. By 5 p.m., I was on the cell just east of Hartley.
<br /></span><p style="font-style: normal;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Drove South on FM3138. Over the next hour, the storm had ground-hugging wall clouds, and according to KAMA, produced 4 EF0 tornadoes. I was in nearly perfect position for almost all of them, but only captured two definite tornadoes on video, one of which does not correspond directly to any that KAMA logged. From KAMA surveys (italicized sections):</span></p> <p style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">The first tornado touched down 4 miles south southeast of Hartley at 532 pm cdt. The tornado was on the ground for 1 mile with a maximum width of 50 yards. The tornado dissipated at 536 pm cdt. This tornado was rated an EF0. No damage or injuries were reported.</span> </p> <p style="font-style: normal;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">I was looking directly at this area. There was a spectacular, low wall cloud with rapid rotation, but I never saw indication that tornadic circulation was on the ground. Report is 4-5 miles to my west, so evn though I had clear view of the ground, could have missed evidence of a ground circulation. Here is the wall cloud with my position and look angle:
<br /></span></p> <p style="font-style: normal;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_efMY76NgI/AAAAAAAAAIQ/IWsD02xhy-I/s1600/DumasWall_2233Z.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 210px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_efMY76NgI/AAAAAAAAAIQ/IWsD02xhy-I/s400/DumasWall_2233Z.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474018907293103618" border="0" /></a></span></p> <p style="font-style: normal;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_egL37hJ5I/AAAAAAAAAIY/UwTRSqdMrCE/s1600/KAMA_Tor_1_2.png"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 248px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_egL37hJ5I/AAAAAAAAAIY/UwTRSqdMrCE/s400/KAMA_Tor_1_2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474019997944719250" border="0" /></a></span></p><p style="font-style: normal;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Continued south on FM-3138...</span></p> <p style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">The second tornado touched down 8 miles southeast of Hartley at 541 pm cdt. The tornado was on the ground for 1 mile with a maximum width of 100 yards. The tornado dissipated at 544 pm cdt. This tornado was rated an EF0. No damage or injuries were reported.</span> </p> <p style="font-style: normal;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Was also looking directly at this. Stopped at the intersection of FM-3138 and CR-R. One of the CSWR trucks was also scanning from this point. There was a solid wall cloud with a couple of funnels from 5:41-5:43, but no visual evidence of tornado on ground. Report is 2 miles to the west of my location (see previous map).
<br /></span></p><p style="font-style: normal;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_egvdgQQ0I/AAAAAAAAAIg/lC7LrHd0UYY/s1600/DumasWall2_2243Z.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 211px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_egvdgQQ0I/AAAAAAAAAIg/lC7LrHd0UYY/s400/DumasWall2_2243Z.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474020609326334786" border="0" /></a></span></p><p style="font-style: normal;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">I turned to move east on CR-R (a dirt/mud) road to stay ahead of core, and filmed over my shoulder as I drove. There does clearly appear to be a brief tornado on the ground in that clip. Camera work is poor as I had to focus on driving and shooting over my shoulder, and could not look to see what I was filming. Tornado is slightly right of center, embedded in thin curtain of precip. Time is 5:44:
<br /></span></p> <p style="font-style: normal;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_eg9i98yGI/AAAAAAAAAIo/WwDZ4AgIEHU/s1600/DumasTor1_2244Z_3.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 242px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_eg9i98yGI/AAAAAAAAAIo/WwDZ4AgIEHU/s400/DumasTor1_2244Z_3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474020851311233122" border="0" /></a></span></p> <p style="font-style: normal;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Continued east on CR-R...</span></p> <p style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:13pt;">The third tornado touched down 11 miles west of Dumas at 555 pm cdt. The tornado was on the ground for one half mile with a maximum width of 25 yards. The tornado dissipated at 557 pm cdt. This tornado was rated an EF0. No damage or injuries were reported.</span></span> </p> <p style="font-style: normal;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">This is where I stopped and turned briefly north on S County Line Rd. The TIV and support vehicle were<i> </i>also there- I think they had just driven south from under the meso (obligatory photo of TIV):</span></p><p style="font-style: normal;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_ehuQjbrSI/AAAAAAAAAIw/debBppS02uc/s1600/DumasTIV_2257Z.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_ehuQjbrSI/AAAAAAAAAIw/debBppS02uc/s400/DumasTIV_2257Z.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474021688181763362" border="0" /></a></span></p><p style="font-style: normal;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"> Again, strong low-level rotation is apparent, but no ground circ. Location of report is 4 miles to my North at this time, and I was moving from 5:55-5:56, but still filming in that direction. At 6:02</span><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 0);font-size:100%;" >,</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> I did observe a brief tornado under the same circulation. This was in the wrapping rain curtain, and solidified into a darker funnel which connected to cloud base and briefly rotated beneath the wall cloud. Here is a vid cap:
<br /></span></p> <p style="font-style: normal;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_ejQmVqYFI/AAAAAAAAAI4/WFj_TFBxky0/s1600/DumasTor2_2302Z_2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 206px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_ejQmVqYFI/AAAAAAAAAI4/WFj_TFBxky0/s400/DumasTor2_2302Z_2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474023377656766546" border="0" /></a></span></p> <p style="font-style: normal;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">At 6:12, I stopped and filmed a very low barrel lowering which appeared to possibly tornado briefly. Poor contrast and distance prevents confirmation on this one. Here's a cap and map for the time sequence from 5:55-6:12:</span></p> <p style="font-style: normal;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_ekjBKG-AI/AAAAAAAAAJI/c4nUVM4jVZw/s1600/WestDumasTor_2310Z_2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 207px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_ekjBKG-AI/AAAAAAAAAJI/c4nUVM4jVZw/s400/WestDumasTor_2310Z_2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474024793605339138" border="0" /></a></span></p> <p style="font-style: normal;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_el1yaFHeI/AAAAAAAAAJQ/S82nHA5UxD0/s1600/KAMA_Tor_3.png"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 227px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_el1yaFHeI/AAAAAAAAAJQ/S82nHA5UxD0/s400/KAMA_Tor_3.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474026215574937058" border="0" /></a></span></p><p style="font-style: normal;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Continued east on CR-R, then N and NE on Ranch 722 into Dumas...</span></p> <p style="font-style: normal;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">The fourth tornado touched down 2 miles south southwest of Dumas at 628 pm cdt. The tornado was on the ground for 1 mile with a maximum width of 25 yards. The tornado dissipated at 630 pm cdt two miles southeast of Dumas. This tornado was rated an EF0. No damage or injuries were reported.</span>
<br /></span></p><p style="font-style: normal;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">I filmed the low wall cloud, which was just to me E/NE. Looks like another case where tornado was not condensed to the ground. OR I could not see it because of the rain curtains I was in, but I could see what I believe was the lowering at the center of the rotation. Cap and location:
<br /></span></p> <p style="font-style: normal;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_empl4VrYI/AAAAAAAAAJY/lxh11B1eur4/s1600/DumasWall_2327Z.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 221px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_empl4VrYI/AAAAAAAAAJY/lxh11B1eur4/s400/DumasWall_2327Z.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474027105565388162" border="0" /></a></span></p> <p style="font-style: normal;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_enUj9WakI/AAAAAAAAAJg/Sc1-AtKOFcE/s1600/KAMA_Tor_4.png"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 204px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_enUj9WakI/AAAAAAAAAJg/Sc1-AtKOFcE/s400/KAMA_Tor_4.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474027843783912002" border="0" /></a></span></p><p style="font-style: normal;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">
<br /></span></p><p style="font-style: normal;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Drove through Dumas and then east on 152...</span></p> <p style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:13pt;">The fifth tornado touched down 2 miles east of Dumas at 642 pm cdt. The tornado was on the ground for 1 mile with a maximum width of 200 yards. The tornado dissipated at 645 pm cdt. This tornado was rated an EF0. No damage or injuries were reported.</span> </span> </p> <p style="font-style: normal;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">I actually observed two brief tornadoes in rapid succesion along the highway. The first was a weak multivortex with little condensation which crossed 152 less than a mile east of me. The second was a stout funnel which quickly intensified just north of the highway to my immediate NE. It wrapped up quickly and blasted me with westerly winds on the south side of the funnel. The report logs this event as one three minute tornado, but from my vantage point, I believe it was two separate touchdowns along different areas of the mesocyclone. Completely different tornadoes in appearance, location, and duration from my prespective, but it was a hectic sky, and I was having to concentrate on making sure the second tornado did not take an aberrant spin in my direction. Several other chasers got video of this and may can shed some light on the exact sequence. Hopefully, I will be able to edit video and post a clip of this tornado, because the still pic does not do it justice.</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" > </span><span style="font-size:100%;"> Caps of the second tornado and location:
<br /></span></p> <p style="font-style: normal;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_cHE2iA6JI/AAAAAAAAAII/su7TGWfwFlM/s1600/EastDumasTor1_2338Z.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_cHE2iA6JI/AAAAAAAAAII/su7TGWfwFlM/s400/EastDumasTor1_2338Z.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5473851652031178898" border="0" /></a></span></p> <p style="font-style: normal;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_eomBZsYzI/AAAAAAAAAJ4/loIbxS00Yjk/s1600/EastDumasTor2_2338Z.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 237px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_eomBZsYzI/AAAAAAAAAJ4/loIbxS00Yjk/s400/EastDumasTor2_2338Z.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474029243256824626" border="0" /></a></span></p> <p style="font-style: normal;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_esdMB2_xI/AAAAAAAAAKI/dOF7OLtOKn4/s1600/EDumasTornadoes_location.png"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 207px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_esdMB2_xI/AAAAAAAAAKI/dOF7OLtOKn4/s400/EDumasTornadoes_location.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474033489537335058" border="0" /></a>
<br /></span></p><p style="font-style: normal;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Continued east on 152.
<br /></span></p><p style="font-style: normal;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Captured another brief tornado about 6 miles east of Dumas around 6:54. This was a solid truncated cone that seemed to occur when a rapidly rotating wall cloud suddenly split into two. I need to extract the whole video sequence- difficult to describe what I saw, and the split effect could have been an illusion. Fellow chasers Marcus Diaz and Tony Laubach also caught this same feature and identified it as a tornado. From my vantage point, it was only fully condensed for a few seconds, but was very near the ground before and after for longer. Here is a sequence of images showing the wall cloud split and tornado. Location is given in the previous map.</span></p><p style="font-style: normal;font-family:arial;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_e75VyEosI/AAAAAAAAAMg/qsTIewa8PNA/s1600/E_Dumas_WallCloud.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 220px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_e75VyEosI/AAAAAAAAAMg/qsTIewa8PNA/s400/E_Dumas_WallCloud.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474050465866228418" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-style: normal;font-family:arial;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_e78LLePdI/AAAAAAAAAMo/YzgEzZQBCsw/s1600/E_Dumas_WallSplit.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 224px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_e78LLePdI/AAAAAAAAAMo/YzgEzZQBCsw/s400/E_Dumas_WallSplit.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474050514559581650" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="font-style: normal;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_eszRTZxqI/AAAAAAAAAKQ/LRLADV9TR1E/s1600/E_Dumas_PossTor2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 189px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_eszRTZxqI/AAAAAAAAAKQ/LRLADV9TR1E/s400/E_Dumas_PossTor2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474033868910216866" border="0" /></a></span></p><p style="font-style: normal;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_es2_rLiLI/AAAAAAAAAKY/Ax4UYe5FyB4/s1600/E_Dumas_PossTor2.1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 223px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_es2_rLiLI/AAAAAAAAAKY/Ax4UYe5FyB4/s400/E_Dumas_PossTor2.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474033932897585330" border="0" /></a></span></p><p style="font-style: normal;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_es54lJrsI/AAAAAAAAAKg/V5Ib4XQ4blo/s1600/E_Dumas_PossTor2.2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 249px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_es54lJrsI/AAAAAAAAAKg/V5Ib4XQ4blo/s400/E_Dumas_PossTor2.2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474033982532857538" border="0" /></a></span></p><p style="font-style: normal;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">I continued east on 152 , and got to Stinnet ~7:50. Here is the KAMA report for the tornado that occurred north of Stinnet. : </span></p><p style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">The sixth tornado touched down 3 miles south southwest of Pringle, or 6 miles northwest of Stinnett at 744 pm cdt. The tornado was on the ground for 6 miles with a maxiumum width of 300 yards. The tornado moved to the north dissipating at 800 pm cdt 3 miles northwest of Pringle. A National Weather Service survey team found significant damage to a farm located on County Road J between County Road 8 and County Road 9. A large portion of the roof was removed from the residence with considerable damage to several small sheds in the vicinity. Numerous trees were stripped with many broken large branches. A pickup behind the residence was flipped upside down with the cab smashed. Several power poles were snapped along County Road J just to the east of the residence with additional damage sustained to a few irragation pivots. A storage bin and large fuel tank were found up to 50 yards to the east northeast of their original locations. This tornado was rated an EF2. One resident was at home at the time but no injuries were reported.</span> </p> <p style="font-style: normal;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">I was in West Stinnet along 152 looking North for this tornado. Could not see for most of it, as wall of precip blocked the view. Further south near my location, wall cloud with white funnels was in progress. After that feature dissipated and some of the precip cleared, the Pringle tornado becomes visible in the distance. My best estimate based on NWS survey places it ~10 miles to my N during this shot. I don't think I am seeing the actual tornado, unless it was huge, probably the parent funnel cloud, though, with low-level cloud junk and topography blocking the ground. Some other chasers were further north looking east, and their pics show a tall, thin cone funnel. Here is what I saw, contrast-enhanced to better show the funnel:</span></p> <p style="font-style: normal;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_euVl_1yCI/AAAAAAAAAKo/zinYVtqLywM/s1600/PringleTor_0059Z.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 211px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_euVl_1yCI/AAAAAAAAAKo/zinYVtqLywM/s400/PringleTor_0059Z.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474035558092490786" border="0" /></a></span></p> <p style="font-style: normal;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_euh9QCqtI/AAAAAAAAAK4/aY5DeBnftEw/s1600/KAMA_Tor_6.png"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 269px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_euh9QCqtI/AAAAAAAAAK4/aY5DeBnftEw/s400/KAMA_Tor_6.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474035770492889810" border="0" /></a></span></p><p style="font-style: normal;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">The remnant Pringle circulation crossed East of 207, after the reported dissipation time- the black wall showed a lot of weird white descending streaks on its periphery:
<br /></span></p><p style="font-style: normal;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_evT6sflwI/AAAAAAAAALA/xtXdZnQXzY0/s1600/PringleHailBurst.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 187px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_evT6sflwI/AAAAAAAAALA/xtXdZnQXzY0/s400/PringleHailBurst.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474036628800378626" border="0" /></a></span></p><p style="font-style: normal;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"> Not sure what phenomenon was occurring, but I suspect hail fog was interacting with the circulation. A short while later, I encountered a huge hail swath along 207, with thick hail fog. A rotating updraft came through and started lifting the fog with weak cyclonic circulation- surface temp was 51, according to Subaru thermometer. The sun is setting peacefully in the right background: </span></p><p style="font-style: normal;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_evW81TrII/AAAAAAAAALI/EklMpTOhpE4/s1600/PringleHailFogSunset.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 159px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_evW81TrII/AAAAAAAAALI/EklMpTOhpE4/s400/PringleHailFogSunset.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474036680913824898" border="0" /></a></span></p> <p style="font-style: normal;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">No east road out of Stinnet, and I was indecisive about what course of action to take next. Talked to David Douglas since I was not getting data, and he helped out with some much needed nowcasting. It was almost dark by then, and new cells had fired North and West of the cell I was on. Eventually, I decided to go down to Pampa and then back to North to pick my cell up again further east.
<br /></span></p><p style="font-style: normal;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">I finally managed to catch the cell again north of Miami, where it was producing a HUGE bowl wall cloud with monster lowering very close to ground. I found a good vantage point a ways away from the storm and shot vid for a while. It may have produced during this phase, but it was over unpopulated areas, and unless another chaser has pics from closer, this is yet another impossible to verify situation. Inflow to the cell was insane- I was 5-10 miles from the wall cloud, and inflow was 40+ mph sustained.</span></p><p style="font-style: normal;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_ew7_JUejI/AAAAAAAAALQ/erO6uKvChJA/s1600/MiamiNight1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 193px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_ew7_JUejI/AAAAAAAAALQ/erO6uKvChJA/s400/MiamiNight1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474038416701422130" border="0" /></a></span></p><p style="font-style: normal;font-family:arial;"><meta equiv="CONTENT-TYPE" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><title></title><meta name="GENERATOR" content="OpenOffice.org 3.0 (Win32)"><style type="text/css"> <!-- @page { margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } --> </style> </p><p style="font-style: normal;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_exjUlptJI/AAAAAAAAALY/PSYA1ZviAp4/s1600/MiamiNight2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 230px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_exjUlptJI/AAAAAAAAALY/PSYA1ZviAp4/s400/MiamiNight2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474039092472296594" border="0" /></a></span></p><p style="font-style: normal;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Thought I could get closer to the wall cloud by following “Quarter Horse Rd", a long and winding gravel/dirt road that eventually comes out near Canadian. This plan worked great at first, giving me several picturesque shots of the cycling wall cloud and ominous, scary hangy-down things.
<br /></span></p><p style="font-style: normal;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_exr5vTDVI/AAAAAAAAALo/oz6KMfDBeDE/s1600/MiamiNight3.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 141px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_exr5vTDVI/AAAAAAAAALo/oz6KMfDBeDE/s400/MiamiNight3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474039239883820370" border="0" /></a></span></p><p style="font-style: normal;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">The next three shots show a persistent little funnel that comes out of the lowering in the picture center. Look just to the left of the middle fencepost.
<br /></span></p><p style="font-style: normal;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_exvN7jeRI/AAAAAAAAALw/GotEz06domE/s1600/MiamiNight4.1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 157px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_exvN7jeRI/AAAAAAAAALw/GotEz06domE/s400/MiamiNight4.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474039296843544850" border="0" /></a></span></p><p style="font-style: normal;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Now darker and superimposed on the left of middle fencepost:
<br /></span></p><p style="font-style: normal;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_exyNBjPHI/AAAAAAAAAL4/MccNEGq3Mew/s1600/MiamiNight4.2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 165px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_exyNBjPHI/AAAAAAAAAL4/MccNEGq3Mew/s400/MiamiNight4.2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474039348139867250" border="0" /></a></span></p><p style="font-style: normal;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">And now right of center fencepost:
<br /></span></p><p style="font-style: normal;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_ex1GazFWI/AAAAAAAAAMA/PCVoIZVBqKk/s1600/MiamiNight4.3.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 184px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_ex1GazFWI/AAAAAAAAAMA/PCVoIZVBqKk/s400/MiamiNight4.3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474039397906322786" border="0" /></a></span></p><p face="arial" style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size:100%;">More ominous looking lowerings as cell approaches Canadian:
<br /></span></p><p style="font-style: normal; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_ex4GFqf3I/AAAAAAAAAMI/l_zqgXsWEAY/s1600/MiamiNight5.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 132px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_ex4GFqf3I/AAAAAAAAAMI/l_zqgXsWEAY/s400/MiamiNight5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474039449357287282" border="0" /></a></span></p><p style="font-style: normal; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">
<br /></span></p><p face="arial" style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_ex7H93B-I/AAAAAAAAAMQ/WHIrC1zGwHs/s1600/MiamiNight6.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 176px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_ex7H93B-I/AAAAAAAAAMQ/WHIrC1zGwHs/s400/MiamiNight6.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474039501401032674" border="0" /></a></span></p><p face="arial" style="font-style: normal;"><meta equiv="CONTENT-TYPE" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><title></title><meta name="GENERATOR" content="OpenOffice.org 3.0 (Win32)"><style type="text/css"> <!-- @page { margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } --> </style> </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Qaurter Horse Rd ended up getting rough, and when I got to the part where the cell had passed over, it got muddy. With my slow progress, the rotating part of the storm began to pull away from me. Finally, I hit a point in the road that was completely washed out. </span></p> <p face="arial" style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_ezGf_bpUI/AAAAAAAAAMY/bIM24W6efVg/s1600/ChaseOver.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_ezGf_bpUI/AAAAAAAAAMY/bIM24W6efVg/s400/ChaseOver.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474040796340266306" border="0" /></a></span></p> <p style="font-style: normal; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">At 11:15 p.m., called the chase and backtracked to Miami, and eventually to Shamrock, TX on I-40 to setup for the next day's chase.</span></p><p style="font-style: normal;font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Here's GPS Track for the meat of the chase:
<br /></span></p><p style="font-style: normal;font-family:times new roman;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_gibQC8UYI/AAAAAAAAAMw/mHb162S9Sr0/s1600/GPS_Track.png"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 207px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_gibQC8UYI/AAAAAAAAAMw/mHb162S9Sr0/s400/GPS_Track.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474163198627959170" border="0" /></a></p> <p face="times new roman" style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size:100%;">
<br /></span></p><p style="font-style: normal; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Depart Austin, TX: 7:15 a.m.
<br />Arrive Shamrock, TX: 1:00 a.m.
<br />840 miles , 17:45 h, solo chase</span></p><p style="font-style: normal; font-family: times new roman;">
<br /></p><p style="font-style: normal; font-family: times new roman;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S_gibQC8UYI/AAAAAAAAAMw/mHb162S9Sr0/s1600/GPS_Track.png">
<br /></a></p> <p style="font-family: times new roman;"></p> <p style="font-family: times new roman;"></p><style type="text/css"> <!-- @page { margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } --></style>Tony Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02140857385019895603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-927964203547682735.post-10213484783162938762010-05-15T12:23:00.030-05:002010-05-16T06:10:46.972-05:00Chase Report: 10 May, 2010, Part 2 - Pharoah/Henryetta, OK tornadoesTornado SW of Pharoah OK, ~ 7 pm CDT, looking SW:
<br /><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S-8ifpgSK4I/AAAAAAAAAFo/loV2P1bsJYY/s1600/bryantTor3.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 210px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S-8ifpgSK4I/AAAAAAAAAFo/loV2P1bsJYY/s400/bryantTor3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471629999390993282" border="0" /></a></p>
<br />Part 2: <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT">Storms had fired SW of OK City and quickly gone severe. As I quickly made my way South down 81 and then SE on 3 towards OKC, a problematic issue soon became apparent. These storms were tracking into a major population center right at rush hour. Rather than try to drive into the city, I decided my best bet was to go around the north side and pick cells up as they moved east out of town. </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT">Tornado warnings began sounding fast and furious, and I intercepted my first tor-warned cell for the day at Hwy 3 and the turnpike ~ 5 N of Yukon. Thought it was going to drop a tornado right in front of me based on the amazing low level rising motion and rotation, but it was a bit disorganized. I continued on the turnpike around the N side of OKC, and then went NE on the turnpike to try to keep up with the tornado-warned cell. Caught a few glimpses of a nice funnel through the trees, but AFAIK, this cell did not produce north of the city (it did produce west of OKC near Yukon, before I got to it):
<br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S-8iDnR6HMI/AAAAAAAAAFQ/Qt9JAYjQ-5s/s1600/NorthTurnpike_2223Z.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 189px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S-8iDnR6HMI/AAAAAAAAAFQ/Qt9JAYjQ-5s/s400/NorthTurnpike_2223Z.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471629517757488322" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT">The problem with Turnpike chasing is that there are not many exits. The cell that produced the funnel cloud continued moving NE of the turnpike away from me, while the cells south of OKC went crazy, dropping damaging tornadoes, including two EF4's. I cut south on 177 and drove down to Shawnee on I-40. As I approached, an EF3 was in progress, although I did not know it at the time. I knew I did not want to core punch it, so I delayed just a bit. That storm got ahead of me, although I observed some insane motion behind the hook N of Shawnee along I-40. Time-lapse sequence appears to show a horiontal roll propagating westward on I-40, with some vertical funnels. Hopefully, I will be able to add a video clip of that soon.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT">I lost data at this time, so was going off warning info from the NWS and tracking the cell south of 40. Reports from Vortex2 and other chasers were of a large tornado in progress with this cell- that tornado ended up getting and EF3 rating, Talked to fellow Austin chaser David Douglas as I went east on 40, and thanks to his help, figured I had a chance to catch the cell south of 40. I thought I was going to have to get off of 40 and drop south at some point. However, from damage surveys, it appears the large EF3 dissipated, and a new tornado developed S of Okemah. I am certain that this new tornado is the one I witnessed. It was to my SW when I first saw it, and I immediately pulled over and began filming. Time is ~7:00 pm CDT. View is SW, looking out the side passenger's window of my car: </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S-8iZ9IqeFI/AAAAAAAAAFY/J77tAAMQZQo/s1600/bryantTor1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 211px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S-8iZ9IqeFI/AAAAAAAAAFY/J77tAAMQZQo/s400/bryantTor1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471629901581416530" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S-8ic16GoXI/AAAAAAAAAFg/BE3huW_5TrE/s1600/bryantTor2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 210px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S-8ic16GoXI/AAAAAAAAAFg/BE3huW_5TrE/s400/bryantTor2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471629951180906866" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S-8ifpgSK4I/AAAAAAAAAFo/loV2P1bsJYY/s1600/bryantTor3.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 210px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S-8ifpgSK4I/AAAAAAAAAFo/loV2P1bsJYY/s400/bryantTor3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471629999390993282" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT">Here is the damage survey from Tulsa NWS for this tornado, which was rated EF1:</p> <div style="text-align: left;"> <pre style="">ANOTHER TORNADO DEVELOPED ABOUT 6.5 MILES SOUTH OF OKEMAH AT ABOUT 645 PM.
<br />THE TORNADO MOVED NORTHEAST AND DISSIPATED ABOUT 2.75 MILES NORTH-NORTHWEST
<br />OF PHAROAH AT ABOUT 710 PM. TREES WERE SNAPPED...POWER POLES WERE DOWNED...
<br />HOMES WERE DAMAGED AND SEVERAL OUTBUILDINGS WERE DESTROYED WITHIN THE 14 MILE
<br />LONG PATH THAT WAS A MAXIMUM OF 1000 YARDS WIDE. BASED ON THIS DAMAGE...THE
<br />TORNADO WAS RATED EF-1 ON THE ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE WITH PEAK WINDS NEAR
<br />105 MPH.
<br /></pre></div><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT">The wall cloud had what appeared to be a stovepipe tornado on the ground sporadically. My position relative to the storm resulted in relatively low-contrast video again, with a curtain of white precip wrapping quickly around the tornado. </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT">After the tornado disappeared in precip, I continued east on 40, since I was not sure of its motion. It was indeed coming in my direction, and crossed the interstate about 4 W of where I had been sitting shortly after I moved. Below is my GPS location and the appx. tornado track based on Tulsa survey, located here:
<br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S-8jZVboIjI/AAAAAAAAAFw/SLFV1s6vsIU/s1600/PharoahGps.png"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 195px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S-8jZVboIjI/AAAAAAAAAFw/SLFV1s6vsIU/s400/PharoahGps.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471630990435164722" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"><a href="http://www.srh.noaa.gov/news/display_cmsstory.php?wfo=tsa&storyid=52278&source=0">http://www.srh.noaa.gov/news/display_cmsstory.php?wfo=tsa&storyid=52278&source=0</a></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT">As I approached Henryetta, evidence of a new, low wall cloud appeared south of town. Reviewing the video, and combined with Tulsa NWS Survey, and pictures from other chasers who were further south, it appears this wall cloud had occasional funnels and was causing tornadic damage at the ground. This is similar to the appearance of the downtown Nashville EF3 in its formative stages. </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT">Here is a sequence of images taken from ~7:10-7:17 CDT, initially looking SE over Henryetta, then East as the wall cloud crosses 40, then N as the wall cloud continues NE with funnels. First, my GPS track through Henryetta with the appx tornado track pre Tulsa NWS in red:</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S-9Y8gaeAzI/AAAAAAAAAIA/tv3IoRbn8L0/s1600/henryettaGps.png"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 253px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S-9Y8gaeAzI/AAAAAAAAAIA/tv3IoRbn8L0/s400/henryettaGps.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471689868794790706" border="0" /></a></p>
<br />Approaching Henryetta on I-40, wall cloud on South side of city:
<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S-9TxZm8CEI/AAAAAAAAAG4/8ZY-5zze6RU/s1600/HenryettaBolt.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 196px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S-9TxZm8CEI/AAAAAAAAAG4/8ZY-5zze6RU/s400/HenryettaBolt.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471684180431341634" border="0" /></a>
<br />
<br />Power flash under low wall cloud over Henryetta- tornadic winds at surface with no condensation funnel:
<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S-9T2Q0sckI/AAAAAAAAAHA/1HCwHJfFmy4/s1600/HenryettaFlash.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 199px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S-9T2Q0sckI/AAAAAAAAAHA/1HCwHJfFmy4/s400/HenryettaFlash.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471684263972467266" border="0" /></a>
<br />
<br />Wall cloud over Henryetta with thin funnel right of center:
<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S-9UA9w3acI/AAAAAAAAAHQ/8TAouwt77TM/s1600/HenryettaFunnel1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 234px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S-9UA9w3acI/AAAAAAAAAHQ/8TAouwt77TM/s400/HenryettaFunnel1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471684447834696130" border="0" /></a>
<br />
<br />Tornadic circulation approaches I-40 just E of Henryetta:
<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S-9T9HGdLfI/AAAAAAAAAHI/_i1k99C1qGs/s1600/HenryettaWall_I40.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 226px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S-9T9HGdLfI/AAAAAAAAAHI/_i1k99C1qGs/s400/HenryettaWall_I40.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471684381621693938" border="0" /></a>
<br />
<br />Tornadic circulation with glow from power flash near center and thin funnel right of center approaching I-40:
<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S-9UECY9CDI/AAAAAAAAAHY/H_6S5Sm5q88/s1600/HenryettaFunnel2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S-9UECY9CDI/AAAAAAAAAHY/H_6S5Sm5q88/s400/HenryettaFunnel2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471684500616185906" border="0" /></a>
<br />
<br />Funnel cloud with thin tornado N of I-40 and E of Henryetta:
<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S-9Ua3qPwJI/AAAAAAAAAHg/6jTZHtGnWIQ/s1600/henryettaTor.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 242px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S-9Ua3qPwJI/AAAAAAAAAHg/6jTZHtGnWIQ/s400/henryettaTor.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471684892872917138" border="0" /></a>
<br />
<br />Twin funnels close to ground N of I-40 East of Henryetta:
<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S-9UiVRnAVI/AAAAAAAAAHw/2lx1qBmE2BM/s1600/E_HenryettaDoubleFunnels.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 238px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S-9UiVRnAVI/AAAAAAAAAHw/2lx1qBmE2BM/s400/E_HenryettaDoubleFunnels.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471685021081731410" border="0" /></a>
<br />
<br />Low funnel NE of Henryetta:
<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S-9UeSrTGWI/AAAAAAAAAHo/LRSJxL9iF9I/s1600/E_HenryettaFunnel.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 306px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S-9UeSrTGWI/AAAAAAAAAHo/LRSJxL9iF9I/s400/E_HenryettaFunnel.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471684951664695650" border="0" /></a>
<br />
<br />Low funnel NE of Henryetta:
<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S-9UlfgGMAI/AAAAAAAAAH4/ioGl4u7HJHU/s1600/E_HenryettaFunnel2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 274px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S-9UlfgGMAI/AAAAAAAAAH4/ioGl4u7HJHU/s400/E_HenryettaFunnel2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471685075366457346" border="0" /></a>
<br />
<br />
<br />Tulsa surveyed a continuous damage track from south of Henryetta over the turnpike and then I-40, crossing just east of my location. Here is the official survey, tornado rated EF2: <pre style="text-align: left;">A STRONG <a href="http://forecast.weather.gov/glossary.php?word=TORNADO" onclick="return popup(this, 'notes')">TORNADO</a> DEVELOPED AT ABOUT 704 PM ABOUT 3 MILES SOUTH- SOUTHWEST OF THE
<br />HENRYETTA AIRPORT...MOVED NORTHEAST...AND DISSIPATED AT ABOUT 721 PM ABOUT 2 MILES
<br />NORTHEAST OF DEWAR. THE <a href="http://forecast.weather.gov/glossary.php?word=TORNADO" onclick="return popup(this, 'notes')">TORNADO</a> DESTROYED A BOAT DOCK AND A MOBILE HOME ON HENRYETTA
<br />LAKE...DAMAGED SEVERAL OTHER HOMES AND MOBILE HOMES...PRODUCED MAJOR TREE DAMAGE...
<br />A DESTROYED OUTBUILDINGS. THE PATH LENGTH WAS ABOUT 10 MILES AND WAS UP TO 1250 YARDS
<br />WIDE. THE <a href="http://forecast.weather.gov/glossary.php?word=TORNADO" onclick="return popup(this, 'notes')">TORNADO</a> WAS RATED EF-2 ON THE ENHANCED <a href="http://forecast.weather.gov/glossary.php?word=FUJITA%20SCALE" onclick="return popup(this, 'notes')">FUJITA SCALE</a> WITH PEAK WINDS NEAR
<br />115 MPH.</pre><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"> Continued east to Checotah, where another “large” tornado was being reported. This was from a new wall cloud which formed E of the Henryetta tornado. I had a view of the wall cloud in my video, but I had fallen slightly behind again, and could not get to the area of interest in time. Shortly after that, I had to double back about 5 miles to a gas station when the needle hit E. That was the nail in the coffin for daytime activity. </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT">At about 9 pm CDT, I was in Warner, OK at I-40, and decided to attempt to catch one last cell. This cell was tornado-warned about 40 to my south. I went east along I-40, dropped south at Sallisaw, and caught the cell near Heavener, OK. It lost its tornado warning about the time I was getting close, but still had lots of lightning, so I was able to observe briefly. I cut east and followed the still-severe cell into Arkansas, but finally stopped in Bates, AR. The cell was not showing much rotation any more, and was getting further away.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT">Stayed at the “Crane” motel in Heavener- Cash only.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT">Depart Norman, OK: 12:30 p.m.
<br />Arrive Heavener, AR: 12:45 a.m.
<br />500 miles, solo chase
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<br /></p> Tony Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02140857385019895603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-927964203547682735.post-79380335549370883752010-05-15T11:44:00.009-05:002010-05-15T12:22:57.163-05:00Chase Report: 10 May, 2010, Part 1 - Wakita, OK tower from a distance<meta equiv="CONTENT-TYPE" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><title></title><meta name="GENERATOR" content="OpenOffice.org 3.0 (Win32)"><style type="text/css"> <!-- @page { margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } --> </style> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT">Part 1:</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT">Drove up Sunday, May 9, from AUS – 390 miles. Met up with Randy Denzer, David Douglas, Aaron Dooley, and a few others. Stayed at the lovely Comfort Inn in Norman- this place was like the Taj Mahal compared to some of the places I stayed the rest of the week.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT">High Risk issued by SPC for much of OK on initial Day 1 outlook. Two areas looked good- to begin with, far NW OK (Woodward/Enid), where initial convection was progged to go, and then Central, OK for late afternoon, early evening. </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT">Lollygagged out of Norman west to Watonga with Dooley, Erik Burns and his girl, Craig Curlee, and Seth (last name here). Two towers went up to our NW. We stopped and watched, but refused to be “suckered” north on the early show. The more we watched, the better the NE cell looked, until it had huge anvil, amazing radar hook, and chaser-confirmed reports of tubes on ground, while we looked at dying Cu. Here is the Wakita cell looking North from Watonga at ~2:45. It is roughly 70 miles away:</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S-7WweWZkpI/AAAAAAAAAFI/5_iHCFE1sNQ/s1600/WakitaTower.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 147px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S-7WweWZkpI/AAAAAAAAAFI/5_iHCFE1sNQ/s400/WakitaTower.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471546725570810514" border="0" /></a> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT">Meanwhile, I remembered that I needed a new battery shortly after leaving power inverter running after turning engine off. Aaron jump started my car by holding grungy clamps onto his battery posts. It worked! Raced into Watonga , got new battery installed, and resumed the chase. </p>
<br />During my powerlessness, storms closer to us had fired and quickly gone severe, then tornado-warned. I was too far south to catch it, especially with insane 45-55 mph storm motion. Kept foolishly trying to gain ground while other chasers turned and headed back south towards OKC- always remember if you are going at right angles to a storm, you have to average 1.5x its speed to keep up with it (1.414 technically, but round up to account for your underestimation of storm speed).
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<br />After a short period without data, I finally got an update and saw why everyone was turning south- the late show had begun... <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT">
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<br /></p> Tony Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02140857385019895603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-927964203547682735.post-88300880675349966562010-05-04T12:34:00.032-05:002010-05-21T17:02:10.301-05:00Chase Report: 1 May, 2010 - East Arkansas Supercell- The long chaseProbable tornado, just NE of De Witt, AR from Hwy 1 looking ENE, ~ 9 p.m. CDT:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S-D1mUXhfrI/AAAAAAAAADg/awEMyhn5BHo/s1600/StCharles_2100CDT.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 216px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S-D1mUXhfrI/AAAAAAAAADg/awEMyhn5BHo/s400/StCharles_2100CDT.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467639986278989490" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />May 1 was a High Risk day for much of AR. Left Malvern, AR pre-noon and leisurely worked my way down to Fordyce, AR, where I picked up more supplies. From there, went down to Camden, where I found <a href="http://www.tornadoxtreme.com/">Tabor </a>ave:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S-BukPVUcwI/AAAAAAAAADQ/jbi7125QOWM/s1600/TaborAve.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S-BukPVUcwI/AAAAAAAAADQ/jbi7125QOWM/s400/TaborAve.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467491516498080514" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Spent the rest of the aternoon waiting on initiation. When towers first started going up, realized with a panic that my AllisonHouse feed was not actually working, and that I was relying on NWS servers for radar. They have been completely unreliable lately, largely because of the sheer demand of the thousands of new chasers.<br /><br />Posted my problem to Stormtrack, and almost right away, got the fix (Many Thanks to ST'er Toni Scholz!!). Was able to get my data going just in time to get the radar update of numerous mature supercells in progress just to my S. Picked the closest cell and intercepted, somewhere west of Thornton. Couldn't see much for terrain, but it didn't look that good visually.<br /><br />Charged back east to pick up a cell coming up from El Dorado. Caught that cell west of Star City, where I punched the hook area and had some white knuckle wind-shift moments. The circulation reformed SE of where I was (I think), and almost immediately, I was in catchup mode.<br /><br />Followed storm from Gould to Gillette as complete darkness fell. Saw a couple of ominous funnels east of Gould. From there to De Witt to St. Charles to Marvell to Marianna to Brickeys to Hughes to West Memphis, occasionally catching the updraft region again. Each time, there were wall clouds, funnels, and one likely tornado NE of De Witt, AR. Here are a few of the better shots:<br /><br />East of Gould, AR looking N/NE ~8:20 p.m. CDT<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S-D2Bfrg2_I/AAAAAAAAADo/XnI-AhvMdbo/s1600/EastGould_2015CDT.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S-D2Bfrg2_I/AAAAAAAAADo/XnI-AhvMdbo/s400/EastGould_2015CDT.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467640453172091890" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S-D2zMAPZlI/AAAAAAAAAD4/11Ur-Ec3H44/s1600/EastGould2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 204px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S-D2zMAPZlI/AAAAAAAAAD4/11Ur-Ec3H44/s400/EastGould2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467641306883778130" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />Likely tornado between De Witt and St. Charles, AR ~9:00 CDT<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S-D4VSn--yI/AAAAAAAAAEg/D7coQgKh_rE/s1600/StCharles_2100CDT.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 216px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S-D4VSn--yI/AAAAAAAAAEg/D7coQgKh_rE/s400/StCharles_2100CDT.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467642992288267042" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S-D4Ywb3KHI/AAAAAAAAAEo/TUFWS1fA56g/s1600/StCharles_crop.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 210px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S-D4Ywb3KHI/AAAAAAAAAEo/TUFWS1fA56g/s400/StCharles_crop.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467643051830093938" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />Wall Cloud/funnel/lightning near Marianna, AR ~9:40 CDT<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S-D3LoYYKpI/AAAAAAAAAEA/AY5f5P3-eyw/s1600/Marianna_wall.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 198px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S-D3LoYYKpI/AAAAAAAAAEA/AY5f5P3-eyw/s400/Marianna_wall.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467641726818069138" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S-D3foJWFcI/AAAAAAAAAEY/P1GLF-J8d7M/s1600/Marianna_funnel.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 207px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S-D3foJWFcI/AAAAAAAAAEY/P1GLF-J8d7M/s400/Marianna_funnel.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467642070352401858" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S-D3cvRKauI/AAAAAAAAAEQ/djeHJzjKZT8/s1600/Marianna_wall_1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 208px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S-D3cvRKauI/AAAAAAAAAEQ/djeHJzjKZT8/s400/Marianna_wall_1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467642020724632290" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S-D3ZRCcI3I/AAAAAAAAAEI/tyBBglIveBc/s1600/Marianna_boltFunnel.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 243px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S-D3ZRCcI3I/AAAAAAAAAEI/tyBBglIveBc/s400/Marianna_boltFunnel.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467641961070207858" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />West Memphis, AR ~ 10:30 CDT, along I-40 looking East:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S-BuBTSasOI/AAAAAAAAADI/ZPgfKz29r6M/s1600/WMemWall2.png"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 255px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S-BuBTSasOI/AAAAAAAAADI/ZPgfKz29r6M/s400/WMemWall2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467490916264227042" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S-Bt4-N8x5I/AAAAAAAAADA/r51FsO-LcYA/s1600/WMemWalll1.png"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S-Bt4-N8x5I/AAAAAAAAADA/r51FsO-LcYA/s400/WMemWalll1.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467490773169391506" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />Continued around Memphis to 40 NE, where I was several miles behind the cell. I got close, but was running out of gas. Fastest gas stop ever off the interstate, added ~ 4 gallons, ~ 90 seconds from exit ramp to entrance ramp. Got off I-40 at Brownsville to make one last desperate shot at catching the updraft. Storm still had T-warnings. Got blocked by sheriff's patrol and floodwaters in Alamo, TN. Drove south to Bells, TN and stopped at the Rama Inn. I was on this supercell from 7:45 - 12:15, 4.5 hours, and ~255 miles. The cell was moving NE at 45+ mph, so there was little time to stop and take pictures, get gas, etc. Here is the GPS log from that portion of the chase:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S-Bz3tJ0ZjI/AAAAAAAAADY/LnoBNpPL8WA/s1600/StarCitySupercellTrack.png"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 239px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S-Bz3tJ0ZjI/AAAAAAAAADY/LnoBNpPL8WA/s400/StarCitySupercellTrack.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467497348478559794" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Shortly thereafter (check times), another cell with rotation moved towards the hotel from the SW. I took the vid camera and intercepted it at the top of the hill the hotel sits on. Lots of nice CG's, and then scary white-out as precip hit and lights of town disappeared (not because of power outage, as I thought at the time, but because precip was so dense). After core passed, followed cell east out of Alamo. Caught gnarly low funnel with storm exhibiting nice low-level rotation, ~2:20 a.m. CDT:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S-D61Tvkf-I/AAAAAAAAAFA/iu3ndf-cSKo/s1600/EastAlamoFunnel2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 211px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S-D61Tvkf-I/AAAAAAAAAFA/iu3ndf-cSKo/s400/EastAlamoFunnel2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467645741367590882" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Continued towards Humboldt, TN, but was finally thwarted by closed/flooded roads. White knuckle desperation attempt to find open road failed. And I was probably fortunate not to drive into one of the numerous lakes of water that had formed from all the flooding.<br /><br />Managed to find a back way back to the hotel that was not completely washed out. Definitely one of the tenser post-dark chases I have experienced.<br /><br /><br />Depart Malvern, AR: 10:30 p.m.<br />Arrive Bells, TN: 12:45 a.m.<br />Depart Bells, TN: 1:45 a.m.<br />Arrive Bells, TN: a.m.<br />580 miles, solo chase<br /><br />Return trip on 5/2<br />Depart Bells, TN: 10:30 a.m..<br />Arrive Austin, TX: 10:15 p.m.<br />765 miles<br />3 day total – 2015 miles, solo chaseTony Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02140857385019895603noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-927964203547682735.post-7311376083392417442010-05-04T12:20:00.012-05:002010-06-01T08:14:42.896-05:00Chase Report: 23 Apr, 2010 - Travelin' manToday was mainly a day to get east and get ready for 4/24. I did catch one severe cell just north of Pine Bluff, AR. It didn't do much, and was not photogenic at all:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/TAQE0qCudfI/AAAAAAAAARY/8Sc3mSMtJzk/s1600/DOC_severe.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/TAQE0qCudfI/AAAAAAAAARY/8Sc3mSMtJzk/s400/DOC_severe.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477508349474797042" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Caught a more decent severe cell in Helena Arkansas right at dark, but it was also non-photogenic. Crossed the MS River at Helena (note gaudy Casino on MS side of the river):<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/TAQE6GaaaNI/AAAAAAAAARg/7PUluwh2Eag/s1600/WelcomeToMS.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/TAQE6GaaaNI/AAAAAAAAARg/7PUluwh2Eag/s400/WelcomeToMS.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477508442989684946" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Looking SSW over the river and into AR from the Helena bridge:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/TAQE9nikmEI/AAAAAAAAARo/_Szqt-OEqVg/s1600/MSRiver.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 128px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/TAQE9nikmEI/AAAAAAAAARo/_Szqt-OEqVg/s400/MSRiver.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477508503421884482" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/TAQFAuqddAI/AAAAAAAAARw/k4cIek52yxU/s1600/GPSTrack.png"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 210px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/TAQFAuqddAI/AAAAAAAAARw/k4cIek52yxU/s400/GPSTrack.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477508556873626626" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Stopped for the night in Clarksdale, MS.<br /><br />Depart Watonga, OK : 9:30 a.m.<br />Arrive Clarksdale, MS: 9:30 p.m.<br />840 miles, 12:00h<br />Solo ChaseTony Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02140857385019895603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-927964203547682735.post-55686508213548988522010-05-04T12:12:00.024-05:002010-06-01T08:10:20.271-05:00Chase Report: 22 Apr, 2010 - Stuck in the MiddleSight risk day. Two main hotspots that I posted in my forecast the day before: <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="LEFT"> <span style="font-style: italic;">Finally got a chance to look at models again, mostly 12Z WRF. Still like it. Looks like the best low-level directional shear is going to be North of 40, near/east of the surface low. Best CAPE in NW TX/Childress... Har</span><i>d to nail down a target, but I like a relatively narrow swath from Childress N/NW to SW KS. Plan to leave early towards Childress, and assess from there. Will have to commit early to make OK Panhandle/SW KS target. </i> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;" align="LEFT">Indeed, I made it to Childress with plenty of time to spare. Decided to head north, which would give me the option to double back south if northern storms fizzled. Came upon my first storm near Hooker, OK, which produced a beautiful, low wall cloud. The wall cloud persisted for a long time (?), producing wispy funnels. Looked like a tornado was imminent several times, but never saw evidence of ground-level circulation. First three images are south of Hooker, time ~2035Z. Position and look angle:</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;" align="LEFT"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/TAQJtExP-7I/AAAAAAAAATQ/gLZCf-TOaw8/s1600/GPSHooker.png"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 250px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/TAQJtExP-7I/AAAAAAAAATQ/gLZCf-TOaw8/s400/GPSHooker.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477513716768439218" border="0" /></a></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;" align="LEFT"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/TAQHWBWZC4I/AAAAAAAAASI/75ymnjNF-UQ/s1600/HookerWall1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 205px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/TAQHWBWZC4I/AAAAAAAAASI/75ymnjNF-UQ/s400/HookerWall1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477511121690233730" border="0" /></a></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;" align="LEFT">
<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/TAQHdmf6hnI/AAAAAAAAASY/uH9aPdEp--U/s1600/HookerWall3.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 195px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/TAQHdmf6hnI/AAAAAAAAASY/uH9aPdEp--U/s400/HookerWall3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477511251921372786" border="0" /></a></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;" align="LEFT"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/TAQHaMEbO-I/AAAAAAAAASQ/9XE5cXuAj48/s1600/HookerWall2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 203px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/TAQHaMEbO-I/AAAAAAAAASQ/9XE5cXuAj48/s400/HookerWall2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477511193287146466" border="0" /></a></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;" align="LEFT">Wall cloud with thin funnel N of Hooker:
<br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;" align="LEFT"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/TAQHglRkWJI/AAAAAAAAASg/vQUcan3QQSM/s1600/HookerWall_NE.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/TAQHglRkWJI/AAAAAAAAASg/vQUcan3QQSM/s400/HookerWall_NE.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477511303132371090" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;" align="LEFT">As the Hooker cell moved north and weakened, I met up with fellow Austinite Randy Denzer, and we decided to head south to pick off a series of three training supercells in the North TX Panhandle. Randy had to make a stop to do a streaming bit with TWC? It was the last I would see of him all day. He went on to catch 4 tubes in SW KS.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;" align="LEFT">I caught the training supercells and positioned myself just East, watching the updraft regions translate past me. Had perfect position, and observed a few wall clouds and lowerings. The storms began to interact, although they remained discrete. Data feed was slow and completely down at some points during the next two hours. Occasionally, wall clouds would form, and produce funnels, some of which got very close to the ground. Inflow into the storms was insane, reminiscent of May 22, 2008 in Kansas. Not quite that strong, but certainly stout enough to support tornado development.
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<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/TAQHkXcxOUI/AAAAAAAAASo/qNQYBl09oT8/s1600/TrainingCellsWall1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 222px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/TAQHkXcxOUI/AAAAAAAAASo/qNQYBl09oT8/s400/TrainingCellsWall1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477511368140732738" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;" align="LEFT"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/TAQIAlRUz7I/AAAAAAAAAS4/9uOGU5BrLfA/s1600/LateCellsWall1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 199px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/TAQIAlRUz7I/AAAAAAAAAS4/9uOGU5BrLfA/s400/LateCellsWall1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477511852887166898" border="0" /></a></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;" align="LEFT"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/TAQILPGiVQI/AAAAAAAAATA/iAy-VufILLk/s1600/TrainingCellsWall2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/TAQILPGiVQI/AAAAAAAAATA/iAy-VufILLk/s400/TrainingCellsWall2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477512035914896642" border="0" /></a></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;" align="LEFT">Not sure why the cells I was on failed to produce tornadoes. Further south, where CAPE was higher and inflow was warmer, tornadoes were numerous. Further north, where shear was higher and low-level flow was backed more, tornadoes occurred. I would guess the low-level winds just weren't sufficiently backed, and sfc. temp a little on the cool side (upper 60's-low 70's) may have resulted in lower CAPE values.
<br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;" align="LEFT">The scenario actually played out just like my forecast. In the field, though, I elected to alter my chase strategy and play between my two target areas. I would say "lesson learned", but not convinced I made a bad decision. The one thing I should have done a little better was stop and look at Mesoscale analysis params before dropping south. I am guessing that a close look at the models would have indicated unfavorable surface winds in my area. Not sure, though. I should really study this case a little more.
<br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;" align="LEFT">Finally called it a night and stopped in Watonga, OK, to prepare for the next two days. Here are a few shots/vid from Austin chasers who caught tornadoes this day:</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;" align="LEFT"><a href="http://www.tornadoxtreme.com/IMG_3579.jpg">Bill Tabor pic of awesome Goodnight, TX tornado</a>
<br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;" align="LEFT"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNfvEoJ_Hgc">Randy Denzer video of Kansas tornadoes</a></p>
<br />Depart Austin: 6:20 a.m.
<br />Arrive Watonga, OK: 9:00 p.m.
<br />710 miles, 14:40h
<br />Solo Chase
<br /><meta equiv="CONTENT-TYPE" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><title></title><meta name="GENERATOR" content="OpenOffice.org 3.0 (Win32)"><style type="text/css"> <!-- @page { margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } --></style><meta equiv="CONTENT-TYPE" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><title></title><meta name="GENERATOR" content="OpenOffice.org 3.0 (Win32)"><style type="text/css"> <!-- @page { margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } --></style><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;" align="LEFT">
<br /></p> Tony Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02140857385019895603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-927964203547682735.post-29669140546472317752010-04-26T21:30:00.004-05:002010-04-26T21:35:15.408-05:0021 Apr, 2010: Oil tanker fire from 30,000 feetLeft St. Petersburg, FL on Southwest Wednesday afternoon. We flew over the gulf to Houston, and along the way, I snapped these pics of the oil tanker fire with my cellphone. We flew almost directly over it, although at the time, I had no idea what had happened. I just new it was a large fire.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S9ZNCgh9J8I/AAAAAAAAAC4/fQRd3SJCq2I/s1600/04-21-10_1954.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S9ZNCgh9J8I/AAAAAAAAAC4/fQRd3SJCq2I/s400/04-21-10_1954.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464639903348107202" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S9ZM9cV2q5I/AAAAAAAAACw/LEOW5pPVDSQ/s1600/04-21-10_1953.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S9ZM9cV2q5I/AAAAAAAAACw/LEOW5pPVDSQ/s400/04-21-10_1953.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464639816324262802" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Arrived at Austin about 11 p.m. Prepared quickly for a multi-day chase and tried to get some sleep.Tony Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02140857385019895603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-927964203547682735.post-69641777221504716732010-04-08T20:44:00.022-05:002010-04-09T13:24:16.691-05:00Chase Report: 6 Apr, 2010, Part 2 - Mulhall, OK wall cloud and funnel<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S76Qu13ioFI/AAAAAAAAAA4/6c9m-D3eMl8/s1600/TonyOKWall.png"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 600px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S76Qu13ioFI/AAAAAAAAAA4/6c9m-D3eMl8/s400/TonyOKWall.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5457958932828037202" border="0" /></a><br />Depart Hiawatha, KS: 11:00 a.m.<br />Arrive Austin, TX: 4:30 a.m.<br />930 miles, Solo chase<br />3 day total - 2030 miles<br /><br />I caught up with Austin chaser Randy Denzer and his partner Cynthia at Perry, OK about 9:00. Reed Timmer was there, too, with the newly designed Dominator. Looks much better than last year's version, from what I saw. I fueled up, and Randy and I hit I-35 south towards Austin.<br /><br />As soon as we hit 35, we began seeing rapid lightning flashes to our SW. We pulled off and found a good viewing location right off the interstate, near Mulhall, OK.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S79svFvbHnI/AAAAAAAAACo/OULsLnQSd5g/s1600/MulhallFOV.png"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 600px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S79svFvbHnI/AAAAAAAAACo/OULsLnQSd5g/s400/MulhallFOV.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458200829647068786" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Our vantage point was relatively elevated, so we had a clear view for a good ways to the SW. There was one cell just to our SW, with a nice tower and RFB putting out continuous lightning. Soon after that, more cells fired to the SSW of the initial cell- a line was forming and backbuilding.<br /><br />The initial cell was almost stationary, and soon exhibited a nice wall cloud. The tower was almost directly overhead, and would glow from within with the frequent lightning flashes. To the North and East of the tower, the sky was clear and starry. It was truly an incredible sight. At one point, a stout barrel of a wall cloud/funnel cloud formed and began to build toward the ground. The sequence of pictures here begins about 9:30 CDT and spans about 20 minutes. And next time, must remember to turn wipers on intermittent setting...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S79sVsWS8QI/AAAAAAAAACg/fl-pJTn8EEs/s1600/TonyOKWall.png"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 800px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S79sVsWS8QI/AAAAAAAAACg/fl-pJTn8EEs/s400/TonyOKWall.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458200393334059266" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S79pDQxPH_I/AAAAAAAAAB4/wbaZMoUEMiY/s1600/PerryWall1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 800px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S79pDQxPH_I/AAAAAAAAAB4/wbaZMoUEMiY/s400/PerryWall1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458196778158333938" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S79pHY0XLxI/AAAAAAAAACA/XXvBWTJTwLU/s1600/PerryWall2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 800px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S79pHY0XLxI/AAAAAAAAACA/XXvBWTJTwLU/s400/PerryWall2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458196849038405394" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S79pKa71IFI/AAAAAAAAACI/nsCN7uOqxdg/s1600/PerryFunnel1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 800px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S79pKa71IFI/AAAAAAAAACI/nsCN7uOqxdg/s400/PerryFunnel1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458196901146206290" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S79pNvAJc8I/AAAAAAAAACQ/LlUHNOGSOk8/s1600/PerryFunnel2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 800px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S79pNvAJc8I/AAAAAAAAACQ/LlUHNOGSOk8/s400/PerryFunnel2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458196958072632258" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Shortly thereafter, we began to feel cool outflow, and the cell translated to our NE. The entire line began slowly moving E, so we took off down I-35 to stay ahead of it. Here is the backside of the initial cell:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S79pQkF6d_I/AAAAAAAAACY/ra563b7GYvA/s1600/PerryBackside.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 800px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S79pQkF6d_I/AAAAAAAAACY/ra563b7GYvA/s400/PerryBackside.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458197006683633650" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Stopped once North of OKC to try to observed an area of enhanced shear indicated on GR3. Soon, we were engulfed in blinding rain, and took off south again to try to get back ahead of the line. Emerged from the core south of OKC, and continued southward, stopping once at a scenic overlook to observe the approaching line. Randy almost had a utility truck tip over onto his van, also. That was bascially the end of the excitement for the evening. The initiall cell near Mulhall was one of the more beautiful nighttime cells I have ever encountered. The low-light video captures from the Sony can't even remotely capture what we saw that first 20 minutes after the cell initiated.<br /><br />We arrived back in Austin about 4:30 a.m., tired and exhausted, but rejuvenated thanks to that last storm.Tony Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02140857385019895603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-927964203547682735.post-74795606170147853232010-04-08T20:36:00.021-05:002010-04-09T01:07:05.402-05:00Chase Report: 6 Apr, 2010, Part 1 - East Kansas Severe Multicell<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S76RCMcwRjI/AAAAAAAAABA/CUUa6hXaGQY/s1600/ShelfLowering2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 600px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S76RCMcwRjI/AAAAAAAAABA/CUUa6hXaGQY/s400/ShelfLowering2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5457959265307215410" border="0" /></a><br />Depart Hiawatha, KS: 11:00 a.m.<br />Arrive Austin, TX: 4:30 a.m.<br />930 miles, Solo chase<br />3 day total - 2030 miles<br /><br />Woke up after a nice night's sleep (for a change) in Hiawatha, KS, and drove down to Topeka to eat lunch and plan my strategy for the day. Like on Monday, there were two potential plays. The first would be near the warm front, similar location to Monday, but a little further East and North. The second was eastern KS, down the dryline through Central OK. Parameters were a little better for tornadoes on the warm front, but I opted to drive south and chase in Eastern KS, largely because it was closer to home, and I would be able to chase southward as the day progressed.<br /><br />The KS target was the first to light up. Unfortunately, mode was instantly multicellular in the form of a long SSW-NNE oriented line. I got to it quickly, as I was only a couple of coutnies away at initiation. Cells were racing NE at 40-50+ mph throught the line, but the line itself was not making much progress eastward. As such, I was able to drive up to it and catch cells as they translated NE.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S76RMvi5VGI/AAAAAAAAABI/JY9nDR4-_zo/s1600/FirstCell.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 600px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S76RMvi5VGI/AAAAAAAAABI/JY9nDR4-_zo/s400/FirstCell.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5457959446526907490" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />They were mostly small hail and wind producers. At times, they were quite stunning, with huge dark rainsahafts, green-white hailshafts, and shelf clouds being the order of the day. There was an occasional shelf-cloud lowering which would catch my attention, and <span style="font-style: italic;">maybe </span>one bonafide wall cloud in an updraft region, but I could not keep up with it for long enough to confirm. Various pics of shelf clouds, rain/hail curtains, and mammatus from the daytime storms:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S76Rv_9PFOI/AAAAAAAAABw/AKzrPxs4s6c/s1600/mammatus.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 800px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S76Rv_9PFOI/AAAAAAAAABw/AKzrPxs4s6c/s400/mammatus.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5457960052227773666" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S76RpV1fP8I/AAAAAAAAABg/QhZ8fs1CBp8/s1600/ShelfLowering1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 800px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S76RpV1fP8I/AAAAAAAAABg/QhZ8fs1CBp8/s400/ShelfLowering1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5457959937841774530" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S76RlibDwsI/AAAAAAAAABY/yqk1SFT6N9k/s1600/RainHailShaft.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 800px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S76RlibDwsI/AAAAAAAAABY/yqk1SFT6N9k/s400/RainHailShaft.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5457959872501105346" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S76RiO1oB6I/AAAAAAAAABQ/GWvKLpzTzA0/s1600/RainCurtains.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 800px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sv0tIR1-PMg/S76RiO1oB6I/AAAAAAAAABQ/GWvKLpzTzA0/s400/RainCurtains.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5457959815704217506" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Around 6:30, I gave up and decided to head home. Was on the Kansas turnpike at that time, so I still had many hours to drive. Little did I know that I was in for an after-dark surprise on the trip home...Tony Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02140857385019895603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-927964203547682735.post-50804789707220184042010-04-07T22:01:00.026-05:002010-04-08T20:34:59.522-05:00Chase Report: 5 Apr, 2010 - Funnel cloud near Fortescue, MO<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/5Apr2010/Funnel_3.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/5Apr2010/Funnel_3.jpg" alt="" border="0" width="600" /></a>
<br />
<br /><meta equiv="CONTENT-TYPE" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><title></title><meta name="GENERATOR" content="OpenOffice.org 3.0 (Win32)"><style type="text/css"> <!-- @page { margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } --> </style> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="left">Depart Perry, OK: 9:30 a.m.
<br />Arrive Hiawatha, KS: 11:30 p.m.
<br />630 miles
<br />Solo chase, day 2
<br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="left">After a fitful three hours of train-horn riddled sleep, woke up and headed North from Perry, OK. There were two potential plays. The warm front/Triple point scenario target was SW IA. The dryline play was Central/S KS. I went up to Wichita and waited for a whle trying to decide which area to take. I did not like the prospects of a blue-sky bust for the DL target, so I went the safe route and headed towards KC and the warm front.
<br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="left">Took 44 up to KC, and then went north to St. Joseph's, MO. There were agitated Cu streets going in NE KS/NW MO going much of the afternoon. Saw and briefly filmed a nice horseshoe vortex up somewhere near St. Josephs. As the day waned on, the Cu could not break the cap. Things looked pretty bad, so a little after 7, I headed south to get in position for Tuesday. </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="left">About this time, fellow Austin chaser Bill Tabor called and told me about a radar fine line showing up on Topeka, KS moving N in NE KS. I had lost data earlier, so was unaware this had kicked off (thanks, Bill!). I turned west, and about 15 minutes later, started seeing towering Cu and Cb tops in NE KS. This view is looking West across the MO river from I-29 parallel with the KS/NE border, 7:35 CST:
<br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="left"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/5Apr2010/towers.png"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 800px; height: 455px;" src="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/5Apr2010/towers.png" alt="" border="0" /></a></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="left">Headed in that direction, and ended up crossing the MO river on 159 at Rulo, NE. By now, the fine line had exploded into an E-W oriented series of 3 supercells (initially 2, but the western cell split, I believe). I got on the leading cell near Falls City and followed it east as it went towards the MO river North of 159.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="left">It was about 8:30, after dark, when lightning illuminated a solid wall cloud to the north of Hwy 159. Terrain made it difficult to see what was going on, but it appeared to have a lowering. I filmed briefly, then repositioned further E to get a better view.
<br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="left">At ~8:40, I found a nice spot to observe along Hwy 159, about 2 miles east of the Missouri River between Rulo, NE and Fortescue, MO.
<br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="left"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/5Apr2010/Funnel_FOV_2.png"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 600px;" src="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/5Apr2010/Funnel_FOV_2.png" alt="" border="0" /></a></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="left"> I got a nice clear view of the wall cloud feature, and noted a definite funnel cloud at around 8:40. Here is a sequence of three shots, spanning ~ 90 seconds. They are video stills taken using the low-light mode of my Sony:</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="left"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/5Apr2010/Funnel_1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 800px; height: 404px;" src="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/5Apr2010/Funnel_1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="left"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/5Apr2010/Funnel_2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 800px; height: 342px;" src="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/5Apr2010/Funnel_2.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="left">
<br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="left"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/5Apr2010/Funnel_3.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 800px; height: 343px;" src="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/5Apr2010/Funnel_3.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="left"> Tried to phone in report, but could not connect to the 800 number (was having numerous problems with phone at the time). I called Austin chaser Randy Denzer to possibly have him relay a report for me, but by then funnel cloud had dissipated. The wall cloud persisted and continued moving east. Chaser Bart Comstock lodged a SN report of the wall cloud at 8:41. Phone went completely dead about this time. The charger had bitten the dust, and it took me a while to locate my backup charger and get the phone going again. Computer also died and had to be rebooted. The usual techno-gadget nonsense that always occurs at the worst possible time.
<br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="left"> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="left">I turned west towards the western two cells, which both had nice, supercellular appearance on radar (thanks to two KC chasers who were watching the Falls City cell with me for letting me look at their radar). By the time I got to Hiawatha, KS and turned west on 36 to intercept, the cells were weakening. Called it a night and stayed at the Hiawatha Inn (much nicer than the <a href="http://twistedtexas.blogspot.com/2010/04/chase-report-4-apr-2010-getting-there.html">previous night's stay</a> in the Budget Inn in Perry).</p> <meta equiv="CONTENT-TYPE" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><title></title><meta name="GENERATOR" content="OpenOffice.org 3.0 (Win32)"><style type="text/css"> <!-- @page { margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } --></style>Tony Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02140857385019895603noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-927964203547682735.post-53138993479499926882010-04-07T21:34:00.003-05:002010-04-07T21:47:28.785-05:00Chase Report: 4 Apr, 2010 - Getting there is half the fun?Depart Austin, TX: 4:30 p.m.<br />Arrive Perry, OK: 11:30 p.m.<br />470 miles<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/5Apr2010/Apr4_gps.png"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 272px; height: 352px;" src="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/5Apr2010/Apr4_gps.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Left Austin Sun, Apr 4 at ~4:30 for a multi-day Central plains chase. A series of cells fired up after dark North of OKC. I actually caught the southernmost of these. Saw some nice anvil crawlers, but as I approached it, the cell died.<br /><br />Arrived Perry, OK ~11:30, where I stayed at the “Budget Inn” for $35. Among the amenities provided by this fine establishment- glass shower doors hanging off the tracks, which caused water to spray everywhere when attempting to shower. I desperately needed sleep, and had to be up early the following morning to forecast and hit the road.<br /><br />Apparently, I did not notice the train tracks located relatively close to the motel. About every half hour, a train would pass by, laying on its horn the whole time ( I guess car-train accidents are a big problem in Perry, OK at 4 a.m.). Needless to say, I did not sleep well. Fortunately, a lukewarm shower woke me up in the morning, and I headed North.Tony Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02140857385019895603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-927964203547682735.post-26436559502161884552010-01-22T09:28:00.019-06:002010-01-24T01:14:57.210-06:00Huntsville, AL tornado- Jan 21, 2010At around 5:30 CST on January 21, an EF2 tornado touched down in the historic Five Points district of Huntsville, AL. I was watching the cell that produced the tornado on GRLevel 3 as it approached Huntsville from the SW. It appeared to weaken while over Decatur, but ramped up again quickly once it entered Madison county.<br /><br />I was able to track the tornado and snap a few pics with two web-cams set up at the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSSTC">NSSTC</a>, located in Huntsville by the UAH campus. One of the cameras sits on the roof of the building, and the other is positioned in a third floor office facing east. On this day, I was operating the cameras remotely from my home office in Austin, Texas. This makes these my first tornado catch of 2010, from over 900 miles away! Here is a map showing Camera location and approximate tornado track:<br /><br /><a href="http://s298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/21Jan2010/?action=view¤t=Map.png" target="_blank"><img src="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/21Jan2010/Map.png" border="0" alt="Map Overview" width=600></a><br /><br /><br /><br />The lighter images are from the rooftop camera, which had focusing problems due to rainwater on the camera lens. The darker images are from the 3rd floor camera. The timestamps on the dark images are 2 hours and 10 minutes ahead. The view is initially to the S/SE, and then rotates to E and E/NE as the tornado touches down in the distance.<br /><br />One of my former classmates from UAH, Dr. Tim Coleman, is now a meteorologist at ABC's Birmingham affiliate (33/40). He created a time-lapse sequence of the images and posted it on their weather blog here:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.alabamawx.com/?p=26221">Time-Lapse sequence</a><br /><br />Here are a few of my favorite shots:<br /><br /><br />Bulbous wall cloud forms. View is SE, time 5:17 CST:<br /><a href="http://s298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/21Jan2010/?action=view&current=im4.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/21Jan2010/im4.jpg" border="0" alt="Rooftop view of wall cloud" width=700 /></a><br /><br /><br />Funnel forms and begins to descend. View is E. Time 5:27 CST:<br /><a href="http://s298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/21Jan2010/?action=view&current=im25.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/21Jan2010/im25.jpg" border="0" alt="Funnel taking shape" width=700/></a><br /><br /><br />5:28 CST. Funnel approaching ground. View is E:<br /><a href="http://s298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/21Jan2010/?action=view&current=im28.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/21Jan2010/im28.jpg" border="0" alt="Funnel approaching ground" width=700/></a><br /><br /><br />Rooftop view of tornado approaching the ground at 5:29 CST. Note the low-topped nature of the storm. View is ENE:<br /><a href="http://s298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/21Jan2010/?action=view&current=im30.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/21Jan2010/im30.jpg" border="0" alt="Rooftop view of tornado" width=700/></a><br /><br /><br />5:29 CST. Tornado likely in contact with the ground. UAH Campus in Foreground:<br /><a href="http://s298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/21Jan2010/?action=view&current=im31.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/21Jan2010/im31.jpg" border="0" alt="Tornado" width=700/></a><br /><br /><br />5:30 CST. Tornado continues:<br /><a href="http://s298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/21Jan2010/?action=view&current=im33.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/21Jan2010/im33.jpg" border="0" alt="Tornado" width=700/></a><br /><br /><br />5:31 CST. Tornado continues:<br /><a href="http://s298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/21Jan2010/?action=view&current=im36.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/21Jan2010/im36.jpg" border="0" alt="Tornado" width=700/></a><br /><br /><br />This storm was interesting in a number of ways. It formed in a relatively low dewpoint environment (56, I think). The storm was tail-end Charlie at the time. The rooftop shot above shows the low-topped nature of the storm pretty well. The best directional shear was in Eastern Tennessee and Kentucky. The SPC Meso-analysis was showing mostly linear shear by 5 p.m. in North AL. The storm occurred outside the Tornado watch (which may have already been discontinued at that time), and the Severe box, which extended only into Southern Tennessee. <br /><br />Here is the NWS Summary and Storm Survey of the event:<br /><a href="http://www.srh.noaa.gov/hun/?n=january2010_severewx">http://www.srh.noaa.gov/hun/?n=january2010_severewx</a><br /><br />And here is a bunch of pics of the tornado from various locations, including some of my shots:<br /><a href="http://www.srh.noaa.gov/hun/?n=january2010_severewx-media2#nsstc">http://www.srh.noaa.gov/hun/?n=january2010_severewx-media2#nsstc</a>Tony Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02140857385019895603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-927964203547682735.post-10380436272218537832009-05-19T00:51:00.009-05:002009-05-19T07:19:33.483-05:00Chase Report: 29 Apr, 2009, Part 2: Things that go Bump in the Night<b>Guthrie, TX</b><br />After an exciting day of missing tornadoes, we had basically given up and were heading home from Matador. I notice as the sun is going down that the ugly mess to our south has organized into an interesting looking Hybrid. We get south of the mess near Guthrie, and watch as it produces monster, bowl-shaped wall cloud with some funnels just to our NW. I call wall cloud in to NWS at 9:17 as it goes over city of Guthrie. Bill Tabor is up there, too (didn't know it at the time) and calls in wall cloud- TOR warn issued based on spotter funnel reports and radar rotation.<br /><br />Two areas of rotation translate east through Guthrie just north of 82 and we move after them. I think the attached pics are from the second rotation (and possibly a third for the last couple). At just before 9:30, we spot a possible tornado coincident with rotational velocity signature on radar. Here is our GPS position:<br /><br /><img src="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/29Apr2009/EastGuthrieTor2.jpg" border="0" alt="Fix broken link, T"><br /><br />First decent view of possible tube, 9:30 CDT:<br /><br /><img src="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/29Apr2009/20090429212831_2_reduced.jpg" alt="Fix broken link, T"><br /><br />A few minutes later, initial feature center frame, second large lowering close to ground at right of frame:<br /><br /><img src="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/29Apr2009/20090429213532_3_reduced.jpg" alt="Fix broken link, T"><br /><br /><br />Zoom in, but low level scud blocking ground view...<br /><br /><img src="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/29Apr2009/20090429213532_5_reduced.jpg" alt="Fix broken link, T"><br /><br />Low-light mode finally really brings it out:<br /><br /><img src="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/29Apr2009/20090429213532_6_reduced.jpg" alt="Fix broken link, T"><br /><br /><br />Fat funnel continues...<br /><br /><img src="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/29Apr2009/20090429213532_12_reduced.jpg" alt="Fix broken link, T"><br /><br /><br />I am about 99% sure it is a tornado on the ground for at least some of this sequence of images. The sequence of pics covers 10 minutes, so it was persistent, and co-located with rotation on radar for the duration. Actually, it continued on, but visually, became difficult to discern. At the time of the last couple of pics, I thought it had disappeared, and I pulled us off of it to go get the next (third?) circulation coming from Guthrie.<br /><br />This one had been catching our attention from time to time, and when we turned around (position shown in first Delormes image, 9:44 CDT), this is what we saw:<br /><br /><img src="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/29Apr2009/20090429213532_15_reduced.jpg" alt="Fix broken link, T"><br /><br /><br />9:49 CDT, funnel under wall cloud near the ground:<br /><br /><img src="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm253/HesterMofet/29Apr2009/20090429213532_22_reduced.jpg" alt="Fix broken link, T"><br /><br /><br />It Never got its act together like the first, but may have tornadoed briefly. Funnel got a little bigger and seemed to be scraping the ground a couple of times. As with a lot of night-time footage, without a damage survey, it is really impossible to be certain of things in this case.<br /><br />TonyCTony Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02140857385019895603noreply@blogger.com0