Central Oklahoma Tornado Outbreak
El Reno/Piedmont, OK EF5 with Satellite Tornado
Dale, OK EF1 Tornado
24 May 11
SHORT: Intercepted tornadic supercells NW and E of OKC, the first with a violent tornado in progress, the second offering a scenic rope-out.
LONG:
Welcome to a “High Risk” outlook and “Particularly Dangerous Situation” watch scenario that verified, weather-wise, exactly as such for central Oklahoma: in summary, three different violent (EF4+) tornadoes arose beneath three different supercells, with a fourth big tornado rated EF3 in northwestern Oklahoma (NWS Summary). Through both skill and luck, we witnessed what has been rated as the biggest and baddest tornado of the lot; yet we are respectfully mindful of the human toll that it took in spite of absolutely outstanding forecasts and warnings.
This almost classical Southern Plains tornado outbreak was so well-forecast and so thoroughly handled by SPC, local offices, local media and EMs, that I’ll eschew discussing meteorological details, offer a few prototypical 21Z (4 p.m.) mesoanalysis graphics that pretty much speak for themselves…
…and now go straight to “the chase”. And what a “chase” it was, right into the area of maximized parameters you see on those linked mesoanalysis graphics, and at about that time.
Phase 1: Intercepting the Piedmont Supercell
After looking at some data at home, and at Ryan Jewell’s house, Jack Beven and I targeted the area near and just N of I-40 in west-central OK, mindful of the likely fast storm motions of the day and the need not to get too close, to soon, to developing storms. As we headed W on the big slab, the earliest cell of consequence erupted SW of Fairview, not too far from the previous day’s tornadic intercept. Indeed, though we didn’t target the storm due to incompatible relative motion vectors of it and us, it would produce a couple of tornadoes over and near Canton Lake.
Storms were forming closer to each other than I like, causing some interference and precip-ingestion problems. We waited just E of Watonga for the next supercell in a broken band of them, hoping to get a quick look while ultimately targeting the southern storm in the same grouping–the storm that would become the El Reno/Piedmont supercell. A quick jog back W to the fringes of Watonga, as the storm passed, revealed an outflow-dominant heap; so we flipped the vehicle back eastward, heading for Kingfisher and the next decision point.
As we got to Kingfisher, the big deliberation was: wait for the storm E of town on a good E-W road and risk that it would right-move to the morass of stoplights and traffic of Guthrie, or head S on US-81 to Okarche and risk munching some of the forward-flank hail along the way?
The radio station was blaring frantic TV simulcast reports of a “wedge” headed for El Reno. We vacillated for a couple of minutes, and I had my doubts; but Navigator Jack’s front-of-the-map calculations convinced me we could pull it off. We headed S toward Okarche into dreadfully darkening murk, intensifying rain, and ultimately, some hail, while hearing of the same “wedge” crossing I-40. Often such tornado descriptions are exaggerated; but I knew that, on this day, violent, large, and long-track tornadoes certainly could happen. Unknown to us, at the time, the tornado was sideswiping the El Reno Oklahoma Mesonet site with an 18-mb pressure drop and measured gusts to 151 mph–the strongest winds yet clocked by that network of weather stations.
Rounding the SE turn onto OK-3, we vectored an intercept position for any tornado coming NE out of El Reno. Blistering barrages of close CGs hammered the ground all around us, a fusillade so furious that I pulled my radar-delivering I-Phone out of the car jack, and we refrained from touching anything metal. A few hailstones clunked off the roof–none ultimately large enough to do damage, though we did see stones around two inches in diameter bounding off the road. The really huge and destructive hail was no more than a couple of miles to our S and SW; we had left Kingfisher in the nick of time to get around it!
We pulled S off OK-3 at Cimarron Road, about 5 WSW Piedmont, and drove S about a mile to a fine hilltop vantage. CG activity was backing off a lot, and we were (for now) out of precip. I could commence photography in relative safety. It was so stinking dark under that storm that I had to crank the ISO up to 1600 just to hand-hold shots with 1/25-1/60 sec shutter speed at f2-f4! At a time like this, I was so thankful for having invested in a top-end Canon DSLR and the L-series glass on the front. Using lesser equipment and especially with my old slide camera (which usually contained 100 ASA film), successful collection of the following shots would have been impossible.
And so we waited, looking along a lengthy cloud base from W-SW, footed by some dark murk well to our SW. We knew where the tornado was from the constant TV reports–buried in that murk–but couldn’t quite see it yet with our eyeballs. In fact, it was only after I took this 34-mm shot at 1630 CDT, then looked at the viewfinder presentation of it, that I finally could ascertain the outline of the tornado embedded in that murk to our SW (severely enhanced crop of same photo)! It was moving NE (toward us) at 40-50 mph. We had several minutes to hold position before having to decide whether to jog S on our paved, N-S road to get out of its way.
At first a multivortex containing a fat, tilted stovepipe, the tornado took on a wider configuration with a fat barrel and adjoining cone being two of the more persistent, larger tornadic vortices involved. Even at that distance, we began to make out wild cloud motions and rapid revolution of vortices around each other. The barrel temporarily vanished at 1632 CDT to reveal a fat stovepipe within an obviously significant, broader tornadic circulation.
Despite all the precip evident to the left (SW through SE) of the tornado cyclone, it maintained enough of a weak-echo moat around its immediate vicinity that our view kept getting better and better. The tornado also was growing larger as it got closer, closing in fast, not moving much right or left. This meant we likely would have to bail S sometime soon. But first, more observation and photography ensued as the tornado’s form fattened into a wide, dust-flinging barrel, then a bonafide wedge. The ambient wall cloud and occlusion-downdraft slot also became more apparent, contrast and visibility continually improving for the time being. We were impressed…very impressed. I told Jack, “Congratulations…your first violent wedge tornado.” Jack has been taking chase vacations to the Great Plains since the mid-1990s, often with the most deplorable luck in weather patterns. This was a new and potent experience for him.
As this grinding behemoth drew closer, I was supremely confident in its violence, while dearly hoping nobody was sheltering above ground inside its path. [I didn't know it at the time, but this monster had killed several folks already around I-40.] The motions in and around the tornado were of a ferocity I’ve seen, in person or on video, only with tornadoes ultimately rated F4 or F5. As the sides of the condensation wedge appeared to froth and oscillate wildly, chunks of scud materialized at ground level in incomprehensible fractions of a second and raced diagonally up the and around the vortex at breakneck speed.
Given its slight rightward translation, I was reasonably confident the tornado would miss our location–but not my much. Any rightward turn, however, and we would be in grave peril with precious little time to spare. At 1635 CDT we turned S and drove a mile. As we pulled back onto Cimarron Road, a well-defined, horizontal accessory vortex formed on the near (NE) side just above ground, coiled around the N side, and rolled vertically up the rim of the tornado. This was a new experience for me, having seen the phenomenon only on videos of violent events such as Red Rock OK (26 April 1991), Golden Gate IL (2 Jun 1990) and Tuscaloosa AL (27 Apr 2011). Had I stayed at the previous location 30 more seconds, I could have photographed that too.
As good luck would have it, the tornado took a temporary NNE jog as we rolled S, maintaining safe distance. As bad luck would have it, torrential rainfall began wrapping around the SE and E sides of the mesocyclone, thoroughly dousing me in a veritable firehose of water after I jumped out and ran into photographic position. Barely able to stand in the roaring inflow, I hoped for just a shot or two before the camera would get too wet. It grew into a very wide, menacing wedge all the while, its collar cloud blasting around the mesocyclone with amazing speed. As the tornado moved to our WNW and NW, I clearly heard its roar–a throaty, primeval rumble somewhere in pitch between the closed-mouthed growl of an angry bear and the muffled booming of continual heavy-artillery fire.
This was one bad, bad, bad mother.
I reeled off one final good shot at 1638 CDT–capturing a satellite tornado that had just emerged from behind (W of) the big one, and was orbiting around its near-SSE side, throwing up a dust plume of its own. The satellite then turned NNE in front of the main event’s E side, and became lost in worsening contrast. The last and only other satellite tornado I saw was on 3 May 1999, near Chickasha.
Within seconds, the big tornado right-turned ENE again and got so wrapped in rain that we barely could see it anymore. It crossed OK-3 just W of Cimarron Road, and as we cautiously crept N back toward OK-3, crossed Cimarron road less than a mile to our N. Needless to say, I was glad it was moving away from us, while glancing overhead and around often for more satellite vortices. Furiously wrapping rain curtains parted just enough to reveal the E edge of the condensation vortex to our near-NNE, rightward of some power flashes. This was my last clean view of any part of the tornado, at 1640 CDT.
Meanwhile, the combination of inner-edge RFD plus southern-rim inflow to the tornado was severe at our location. The forward housing for my outside rear-view mirror launched itself like a rocket off my vehicle and sailed airborne for hundreds of feet out into a field to our NE, as the vehicle shook in the gusts. We were safe (barely), but also, not inclined to go any further N for a minute or two.
Even though the tornado did miss our initial photographic location, it wasn’t by much. I’m still glad we moved…under half a mile from the edge would have been unsafely close for a certifiably violent, still-expanding, precip-wrapping monster with proved tendency for satellite tornadoes and accessory vortices writhing around its rim.
Then hit a horrifying realization-–this tornado was headed generally toward the residence of my friend (and fellow storm observer) Rocky Rascovich, N of Piedmont. I tried to call and nobody answered; fortunately, it turned out they already were in shelter. His wife assured me later that it (barely) missed them and they were OK. It was the sort of tornado–fast-moving, expanding, wrapping in rain–that is the most dangerous and hardest to observe safely.
Later news of the deaths near El Reno and Piedmont humbly counteracted any sense of gratification I had that evening at getting the good-contrast, big-wedge shots about which I had dreamed since childhood. This is the ethical paradox and dichotomy of conscience for any storm photographer.
Phase 2: Intercepting the Dale Supercell
Cruising along the mostly empty Kilpatrick Turnpike (around N OKC) we briefly debated whether to go up I-35 and meet the storm at Guthrie; but its deep precip-wrapping and messy radar appearance convinced us to jump SE for newer storms headed out of the Chickasha area. Early reports of tornadoes from those sealed the deal.
Jack and I tried to get S of Norman, but were stopped by a traffic jam on I-35 in town (flipped car unrelated to tornadoes) and couldn’t get to Goldsby readily to observe that event. Had the Goldsby tornado turned slightly more leftward and gone up I-35, it could have plowed through hundreds of stopped vehicles up and down the highway!
Instead we waited a short time near the North Base for what was left of the Newcastle storm (by then, nearly nothing), then backtracked some back roads to I-240/40. Along the way I spoke to Elke; they headed to my neighbor’s underground shelter as the Goldsby event headed for Norman. In northern Norman and along I-240/40, Jack and I encountered occasional marginal-severe hail and falling small debris (insulation, leaves, small twigs) that had been launched by the Goldsby tornado into the supercell’s far-forward flank.
The Goldsby storm also had been slammed by a left-mover, temporarily disrupting its organization, dousing the once-violent tornado before it could grind through some part of Norman. I was glad of this, as it spared a lot of destruction in the town in which I reside!
As the supercell reorganized, we vectored the new mesocyclone to cross W of Shawnee near Dale, in a mostly hilly and forested area. Fortunately I knew of a large, flat, open field just S of the I-40/OK-102 (Dale) exit, from which I had photographed the OKC ice-machine storm of 16 May 2010. We headed there and waited for the reorganizing mesocyclone region from the approaching supercell to come into view.
From the murk, at 1830 CDT, a low-hanging, conical cloud form appeared to our W, hard to see at first beyond the red farmhouse in the last shot (super-enhanced crop). This feature had good temporal continuity with what would emerge more visibly by 1832 (super-enhanced crop)–the Stella-Dale tornado, as a tilted cone beneath a deeply clear-slotted wall cloud. We weren’t totally sure yet by our eyes, even then (given the hazy conditions); but by 1833, it was obvious that a tapered cone tornado with debris fan (super-enhanced) was moving in a general ENE direction to our WNW, very close to I-40.
As the tornado grew closer, its form gradually became sharper and also more sinuous, contorting spectacularly into a long curved tube. I was so mesmerized by the wondrously serpentine evolution of the visible vortex that I didn’t think to slap on the zoom lens until the tornado roped out at 1836 CDT. What was left of the mesocyclone next moved N of us, got undercut by rain and outflow, and vanished into the murk N of I-40.
We cruised E on I-40 to look at two more supercells near Prague and Okemah; but their structure was more amorphous, with little evidence of robust low-level rotation by that time. Along the way back, we noticed mostly minor (Ef0-1) damage alongside I-40 2.5 W of the Dale exit, where the tornado crossed. The wreckage of the big rig, whose trailer got blown to pieces, still was being hitched up to a towing vehicle.
By the time we got back to Norman, we were thankful that my home (and those of others in Norman) was spared, and that we got a high-contrast view of a violent wedge…but also, once again saddened for the casualty toll from yet another deadly tornado day among far too many this year. We met up with the Fogel crew for dinner (they had far worse luck than we with tornado observing on this day), as well as Elke and my kids, swapping stories of a great chase (us), a frustrating one (DF’s crew), and another Norman scare (my family). Aside from a dollop of mental exhaustion, my other impression was: “I’m about ready for the High Plains!”
At Long Last: Birthday Tornadoes
Hickory and Ada OK
21 May 11
Prologue:
This was my birthday. I never have seen a tornado on this date before this year, despite the seemingly ideal time of year for them.
Hold on! Tornado climatology isn’t always how it may seem. For strange cosmic reasons that shall remain a cryptic mystery, that date (green in the graph below) also is an inexplicable and pronounced low-day for tornadoes in the U.S. during this time of year, as shown by Chuck Doswell in one of his research papers published in the Electronic Journal of Severe Storms Meteorology.
Click to open an enlarged version:
The Intercept:
Elke and I headed S towards the northern rim of vigorous return-flow moisture near the Red River, followed by a unique chase team consisting of David Fogel, his cousins Samara and Ellie, and Ellie’s friend Ella, and of course DF’s equine-sized Leonberger dog, Porthos. [Note: This meant I was chasing with Elke, Ella and Ellie...good times!] Ellie and Ella were first-time chasers this day, giving me hope for some “rookie luck” to overcome my “birthday curse”.
Our target area was southern OK an north TX just E of the dryline, and we settled for the middle: The Red River, heading to GVT to fuel up and await nearby development near the northern nose of the most robust return-flow moisture. On the way down, messy supercells were evident in central TX, well S and Sw of the Metroplex and out of the target area; while a discrete storm rapidly intensified just SW of FTW. A convergence zone was evident in reflectivity imagery extending N from the FTW storm past ADM. This was our hot zone for hot action.
Not wanting to intercept a storm through the Metroplex if we could help it, we held firm at GVT awaiting closer development. That move paid off; as the FTW storm quickly (and rather inexplicably, given the strong buoyancy) perished.
After fueling and getting some technical difficulties fixed with DF’s onboard electronics, we waited a few miles N of town near I-35, admiring wildflowers and convective towers–yes, newly developed moist updrafts to our near WSW and more distant N. The northern towers, even through haze rendered by smoke from Yucatan crop-burning, looked healthier and began glaciating, as viewed across the verdant North Texas savanna. We had a storm to target, brother.
As we pulled onto the I-35 slab and headed N, strong reflectivity echoes started to appear NW of ADM. Those developed quickly into a strong echo, already resembling a supercell by the time we exited the slab and headed E on OK-53. Intense towers rolled up into the back side of the storm with fantastic buoyant force, as seen looking NE from W of Gene Autry.
Zigzagging E and N toward Sulphur, we met the first hilltop base view just in time to view a funnel suspended from an older, occluded mesocyclone to our NW (and W of town). By the time I could pull over safely, the rotation already weakened, the funnel more ragged and not as low, the clear slot cutting well around the cloud-base mesocyclone area.
Focus shifted to a newer area of cloud-base rotation to the E. The storm already was tornado-warned and had been for some time. That appeared justified. This supercell was moving into a very moist, low-LCL air mass with big (and growing) 0-1 km hodographs. This already was the most promising storm I had seen on a birthday, despite some unquestionable jackassery that ensued while viewing the newer mesocyclone area. None of the scuddy, rotating lowerings to our NNE (just E of Sulphur) could tighten up much, and the storm was getting away.
We needed to reposition, despite the lack of great vantages in that hilly and intermittently forested part of the state. Haze clearly was a problem too, and I knew we needed to be close to get better contrast. Before that area of storm-scale rotation could cycle back up, we headed through town. Our bright-eyed, twentysomething supercellular newbies from New Jersey, Ellie and Ella, got serenaded by the stereophonic wail of the Sulphur sirens, offering them an ominously palpable reminder of the menacing side of springtime in Oklahoma.
About halfway E on OK-7 to OK-1, the organization improved, all right. Obligingly, the storm that had been behaving itself during our relocation grew a very broad, extensive updraft base–all of which was rotating, and rather rapidly. Within the tumultuous gyre, every lowering was spinning in its own right, the whole system a seething, cloud-base cauldron of eddies and whirls that defied ready classification. We stopped 3 SSW of Hickory (and 1 W of the OK-1 intersection) to watch its merry-go-round of distinct funnels, shallow and bowl-shaped lowerings, and at least one brief tornado.
Some vortices were more than two miles apart, others adjacent. Where is the cutoff between a broad, multiple-vortex, weakly tornadic circulation, and a multiple-funnel (or multiple-tornado) area of storm-scale rotation? This thoroughly fascinating process unfolding to our NW through N blurred the lines between any such distinctions on the spectrum of atmospheric vortices. Sometimes, it’s just not as simple as categorically declaring tornado or not!
Two of the longer-lasting, lowest-extending condensation funnels (middle and left here, looking NW) initially developed apart at 1924 CDT, within the same mesocyclone. The eastern (right) funnel retrograded almost magnetically toward the western one, intertwining with it as in a seductive love dance. The combined condensation vortex then became more laminar, less scuddy, more wavy, and produced a brief, faint puff of dust beneath (deep crop-n-zoom/enhancement), in an area of very wet ground.
By 1926, the brief tornado was gone, the area of cloud-base rotation (at left in this shot) that had hosted the small, blended tornado vortex weakened. Did you notice anything to the slightly more distant right (NNW) in the last photo? Lo and behold, another area of rotation took shape to its NNE, itself offering a ragged, conical funnel that extended more than halfway down by 1927 CDT. If this was a tornado (couldn’t determine via enhancement or independent eyewitnesses), it was separate from the other, a circulation within a circulation within a circulation. These were far from the only funnels in the storm-scale gyre in just a 10-minute span. What a gloriously complicated mess!
The broader mesocyclone soon began tightening, and we needed to get E and N again to close in for more unambiguous tornado potential. In the process, we crossed a spot of infamy–the very railroad crossing where an agonizingly slow-moving train halted John Hart and I after we saw the distant Hickory tornado of 11 May 1992. That train 19 years ago seemed to go on forever, as the supercell got away, wrapped rain around its SW hook, and produced a multivortex F4 tornado just out of sight. Today, the tracks were clear and such agony didn’t befall us. The same road we couldn’t take way back then was open for business–right here, right now.
We turned NNE on OK-1 and drove almost under the rim of a (by now) very strongly rotating and more classical mesocyclone, stopping at a spot 1.5 SE Hickory when a broad cone funnel appeared about a mile to our NE. At 1934 CDT, a brief filament of whirling condensation rocketed up from the ground beneath the cone as I was exiting the vehicle, and before I could shoot…tornado! The condensation cone soon drew lower. Sinuous, partly translucent vortex filaments materialized beneath and coiled about one another, vaporous marionettes twirled by their tornadic puppet master. By 1927, the cone retreated to a smooth cloud-base bowl, and no vortices or debris could be seen beneath.
The mesocyclone began retreating NE, so we had to zigzag E and N to maintain view as it reorganized, retreated NNE somewhat, cut a deep clear slot, and intensified again. Heading E on unmarked road “E1700″ 5 E of Hickory (a variably surfaced path of gravel, dirt and crumbling, antique pavement), we were very fortunate to find another high, relatively unobstructed vantage to our NNW and N.
Just in time, too…the mesocyclone cut a deep clear slot and began twirling funnels beneath with fervor (deeply enhanced crop). For a brief interlude, the spinning cloud mass dipped its southwestern margins into golden beams of sunshine, fluidly swirling together the concepts of atmospheric violence and beauty.
The circulation seemed to plant itself on the earth, chunks of scud forming right down to the ground, ripping across the surface at tornadic speeds, interspersed with intermittent but unmistakable suction vortices–one after another, none lasting more than a few seconds, but collectively, too many to count. This was a very low, humid, multiple-vortex carousel. Sometimes two vortices could be seen interacting while scud and/or suction spots whizzed through other areas of the magnificent maelstrom.
[Some described this tornadic stage as a "wedge", but the condensation was too ragged, sparse and ephemeral to call it that. Still, if viewed with any blockage by trees or terrain, I can see how such a mistaken description could be made.]
The last evidence of a tornado was at 1953; thereafter the cloud base rotated much more weakly and rose in height. By now, we knew of the larger, newer and stronger supercell W of Ada, but the clearest path to it up US-377 still was blocked by our weakening (yet still potentially hail-bearing) storm.
After letting that supercell pass across the highway, we had a smooth trip to Ada, barely in time to see a conical lowering below the horizon (turned out to be the end stage of its last tornado at 2035 CDT) while still driving. By the time we found a place to stop, a small and ragged funnel remained. No matter, we could marvel at the spectacular storm structure spreading across the western sky. As this storm moved NW of Ada and began weakening, assorted precip shafts cascaded from the cloud base near low-hanging scud chunks, likely yielding any remaining “funnel” or “tornado” reports.
The short but happy drive back to Norman led to a delicious dinner, steak and shrimp for the menfolk, whatever the ladies wanted, kibbles for Porthos out in their vehicle, all in a festive celebration of a fantastic storm-observing day (and for me, the clinching win on the restaurant TVs that sent the Mavericks to the NBA finals). Birthday tornadoes that didn’t hurt anybody, great storm structure, Mavs clinch a playoff series…a great, great day indeed!
Spring 2009′s Fantastic Grand Finale
17 Jun 9
Northeast KS and South-central Nebraska
SHORT: Outstanding. Two chase days in one. Intercepted stack-o-plates tornadic supercell between Belleville-Seneca KS but missed Marysville tornado(es). Long drive W and N for several tornadoes and spectacular supercell from Buffalo County NE to near York, including 17-minute dusty tornado near Aurora. Let tornado get close enough to hear then backed off. Aurora and GRI got very lucky w/timing of occlusion cycles.
LONG:
Looking at morning data and maps from our lodging in CNK, the forecast scenario looked so clear to me on this day, it almost was frightening in its own right. Play a diurnally cooking frontal zone across south-central Nebraska, with strong heating and frontal lift likely to breach the cap and fire at least a supercell or two before sunset in an environment of very impressive moisture and large low level hodographs. It seemed simple enough: Leisurely wander up toward that nearby target area — say, to HSI, eat a good lunch, and and wait for additional clues and/or storm initiation. And so we did. Then a lyin’, cheatin’, seductive storm intercepted us, temporarily stole our hearts, and almost kept us from our true date with the true love of supercellular splendor.
This really was two fine storm intercept days in one, the first beginning before noon!
Early Elevated Supercell in North Kansas
We left our rooms around 1100 CDT, headed N toward Belleville, intending to grab some fuel and proceed to HSI. DF, Ross and the big dogs were going to get some grub, then meet us somewhere along the way. As we headed N on US-81, still in the forenoon hour, big towers appeared to our NW! They were not far away, and W of Belleville. No problem, mon! We could get a drive-by look at some early, elevated storms around noon, be under their shade to keep the car cool, and if lucky, maybe see some hail.
At our vantage a couple miles W of Belleville, two updrafts initially appeared, and also appeared very elevated, with the typically rippled, undulating character of warm-advection clouds, inflow obviously off the surface. But the left one (quickly lowered toward a laminar feature developing beneath and became dominant. On one hand I was somewhat excited to witness the curious spectacle of what could become an elevated supercell; they’re typically very hard to see unimpeded by intervening low clouds and precip common to such regimes. On the other, I already was starting to get concerned that this strengthening storm could last long enough to become surface based, that it would be in a good shear and buoyancy environment if it did, and that under such a scenario, I would have to make a critical decision (influencing the chase fate of four chasers and two pooches) between this “sucker storm” right in our laps and the actual forecast area farther NW for late afternoon.
Such serious contemplations got interrupted momentarily by the diesel-roaring, slow-moving fanfare of a wide load caravan crawling E down US-36. What on Earth was the wide load, anyway? If anyone can identify specifically enough this curious, round little stone structure and its former function, I’ve got a Dublin Dr Pepper for you.
[Edit: It's a 120-year old stone smokehouse, being moved from its place of construction to the county historical museum. See the comment below. I owe Elke a Dublin, not that she'll consume it. 
]
A few hours later we would see the truck and structure later parked at an abandoned fuel station E of Belleville, while racing back W.
Meanwhile, the laminar band’s top rose and conjoined to the lowering midlevel cloud base, which itself flared into a banded formation. The process looked like building a supercell structure piece by piece, out of an erector set made of play-doh. Elke said, “it sure was fun watching that storm assemble itself.” It was still laminar, still smooth and fuzzy and a tad rubbery in form, but visually and on radar, a bonafide, elevated supercell. As it improved, potentially moving into very well heated and moist air, it also started moving east — away from our late-afternoon target zone!
Figuring we got an early start, and a couple hours’ diversion wouldn’t throw us off track, we headed E of Belleville to watch the storm for awhile. It evolved rather quickly from a pretty but obviously not surface-based storm…
Oh Crap…Not-So-Elevated Supercell Anymore!
..into something not quite so obviously elevated with a rapidly evolving, low-hanging wall cloud rooted in the destabilizing boundary layer, as seen in wide angle from N of Morrowville (and as seen with and by DF). Great. This storm was taking us ever farther off on its diversion, and we were letting it.
The previously pictured mesocyclone died to our NW, and the storm appeared to grow rather high based and disorganized. We began to let it go at Morrowville shortly after 1330 CDT, in plenty of time to get back into our original target area. As the storm got off to our ENE and E, however, and almost out of clear sight, it “jumped flanks” eastward, a new and lower base developed with a wall cloud (distant zoom view looking E), it turned farther rightward and quickly organized into an obviously surface-based supercell on radar. Rats! Decision time…and a tornado warning helped to seal the decision. Maybe we did have time to get back in front of it briefly for another look.
We headed E toward Marysville, hearing of tornado reports just NNW and N of town. By the time we entered the W side of town, about 10 minutes after he last report, an old, back-thrown occlusion was evident off to our N, while the storm jumped flanks again and was spreading a precip-filled RFD from the new mesocyclone across the countryside to our NE. By the time we got ahead of the storm again, W of Seneca, it was very beautifully chambered and lit — but sucking cold air. We measured temps in the low 70s and upper 60s in the inflow, where they had been in the mid 80s before. A fine line could be seen in reflectivity imagery, arching NW from another, newer supercell well to our SE that was headed toward the STJ area. That outflow boundary still was spreading SW and W, while our storm had crossed it and was getting elevated again, this time for good. [I strongly believe the storm briefly became surface based and produced the short-lived tornado(es) as it interacted with the boundary N of Marysville). Time to go!
Westward Recovery to Nebraska and...Tornadoes!
The first chase day-within-a-day now over, the Belleville-Marysville-Seneca storm's (lack of) future now assured, we felt we barely would be able to recover W along US-36, then N from Althol KS into south-central NEb with a couple hours of daylight to spare. Much of any time we made up by driving a little too fast on those wide-open roads was offset by a ticket we all got from a courteous and professional state trooper for 10-over just N of the NEb line, which we absolutely deserved and later paid without protest; in the net, we got to the target area about when we should have, just $69 poorer. There is a lesson in that. As the towers blossomed higher and broader, the anvil backsheared farther, the northwestern sky grew darker, the radar presentation grew more supercellular and we drew closer, I thought, "This storm better be worth that price of admission."
We already had seen one occasionally spectacular, sometimes maddening storm over 150 miles away. This one would become, without question, one of my handful of most favorite storms ever observed.
While we approached from the SSE (from Franklin and Minden) the storm launched its early towers skyward with astounding force, backshearing an anvil and pumping tower after tower thereunder, thereafter. It also took a very short time to attain classical, hook-shaped supercellular appearance in reflectivity, though the low level shear was slower to tighten and organize as we approached. This was good, because right as we first got within view of the base a few miles WSW of Gibbon, there was a small cone tornado already in progress! We hurried legally to get into better position E of the eastward-moving business end of the tornadic supercell, and the first tornado (distant and hazy view) died before we could stop for a photo. Sorry!
As we still drove ENE along US-30 from Gibbon to Shelton, aiming to turn N before reaching Wood River, another tornado appeared beneath a broadening wall cloud. This time I did stop briefly to document it (wide angle and 70 mm zoom), but we still were jockeying for position and a few too many miles away. A couple other storm observers I know were closer, and independently confirmed both of these early tornadoes. At several points during the storm's tornadic phases, I tried to phone in reports to the HSI NWS office, but got busy signals every time. Fortunately, several NWS employees who were chasing on their own time also witnessed the storm, along with plenty of local spotters and non-meteorologist chasers with Spotter Network connections who also were more than eager to share their video and photos online so that it all could be well-documented from almost any conceivable angle and distance.
We were hoping for more tornadic action as we tucked ourselves snug into the immediate inflow region, much closer to the main updraft area; but it took awhile for the storm to reorganize to that extent.
Numerous Cycles, Occlusions and a "Landspout"
From several vantages W and E of Wood River we watched wall clouds come and go, a few rotating briefly between several occlusions, one or two exhibiting lower-hanging, moderately rotating chunks of cloud material, but none seriously threatening tornadogenesis. [The darker puff of material that appears "below" the lowering in the last shot actually was a thick, non-rotating plume of falling precip behind the wall cloud, wrapping right to left through the back side of the mesocyclone.] Although the storm stopped producing tornadoes (for the time being anyway) as soon as we got right into potentially fantastic viewing angles, the variation in occlusion and circulatory regeneration processes was absolutely fascinating, fun and at times beautiful.
Looking WNW, here’s one new, small wall cloud developing as soon as the old one wraps in rain. In this wide-angle view, looking WNW across a verdant Nebraska corn field, the small wall cloud and RFD clear-slot cut through the supercell’s main updraft base, while an old occluded region is cast way back behind and to the NW. A few minutes later, when photographed at 55 mm focal length, the new wall cloud began to get a ragged, bifurcated look, while the old meso occlusion sported a flared, bell-shaped base and a pronounced lowering, as if attempting one last burst of supercellular glory before its demise!
We scooted ENE on US-30 then S on US-34 a few miles, avoiding the stoplights and slow local traffic of GRI, and hoping that any reinvigoration of tornado potential from these mesocyclone cycles would not happen until after the storm passed over town. As we were talking to a local spotter, who was there for the infamous 1980 tornado, we saw a faint dust tube under the base of the flanking line — a non-mesocyclone tornado (a.k.a. landspout). DF and Ross filmed it while I ran back to the car for a different lens than the wide-angle that was affixed to the camera. By the time I got the lens on and got back to my viewing spot, it almost was gone, but still can be seen faintly (super-enhanced crop-n-zoom), as the storm’s rear-flank gust front pushed the bottom of the translucent dust tube toward the left (S). This was a short-lived, inconsequential gnat-fart of a tornado, but it did happen — 2012-2015 CDT, estimated 5-6 miles WSW of Grand Island. Meanwhile, here’s how the supercell appeared at wide angle, as we looked NW in fading daylight, with the newer wall cloud and occlusion area to the right (E) and the older one to the left and more distant (W). The storm clearly was getting better organized, each new meso looking a little larger and more robust than the one before…
A Grand (Island) Transformation — The Phillips and Aurora Tornadoes
Good fortune kindly graced Grand Island and Aurora on this evening. That “magic hour” when inflow still is surface based, but the cooling surface temps lower the LCL, and the low level jet begins to develop and enlarge hodographs, was upon us. The storm politely waited until exiting GRI to respond to its improving proximity environment in an amazing way, then obligingly shut down its resultant ravages right before it reached Aurora.
Knowing that the best photographic contrast for low-light conditions would be to silhouette the base, we decided to get due E of the strengthening mesocyclone — by exiting I-80 at state road 2, then marching E on US-34 in step with (and just ahead of) the supercell. The strategy was deliberate, and for once, worked like a charm!
As we cruised E on 34 near Phillips, with Elke now driving, I turned to look out the window, saw a broad but strongly rotating funnel cloud behind us, and hollered for her to stop fast. I got out and shot this wide-angle of the broad, conical protuberance beneath outstanding storm structure. We were too close to get the entire storm in either of our wide-angle lenses, but the view looking WSW wasn’t bad either!
Intermittent dust whirls began to appear under the funnel as it tapered and lowered…tornado! The condensation tube coiled itself into a striking scorpion-stinger appearance, shown here in a zoom and also as part of a wide-angle structural view via Elke’s 17 mm lens. The tornadic meso was moving east toward us, and we weren’t far from it. This non-trivial challenge precluded setting up a tripod in the declining light, and I didn’t want the added noise and grain of high-ISO given such high dynamic range across the field of view. So instead I braced myself well and practiced blur-bracketing, i.e., shoot rapid-fire like hell, and trust that at least one photo within any given magazine-clip of attempts will be steady and sharp. Fortunately it worked when it counted. Most of my images of this and the next tornado were shot at anywhere from 1/20 to 1/6 of a second, hand-held!
The Phillips vortex lasted 5-6 minutes, but only a couple of minutes as a recognizable tornado. Suspecting another would follow, we zoomed east to allow the storm room to move and recycle, which didn’t take long. As we cruised farther E (sound familiar?), another funnel formed, a separate and distinct event from the one before, and I hollered, “Stop…another one!” We pulled off the road and watched the new tornado raise its own dust plume, while a peculiar column of rising dirt jetted up from a plowed field just to its south. Annoyed by the parked car with headlights blasting into my viewfinder and messing with the exposure settings, I ran across the street to shoot as the southern dust plume dispersed and the tornado kept plowing eastward toward our position. [If the dude who was running that car sees this BLOG, here's a belated and hearty thanks for turning off those lights after I hollered at you.]
With escape options N, E and S at our crossroads between Phillips and Aurora, and vigilance for satellite vortices, I felt comfortable letting the expanding tornado get within 1/2-3/4 mile, close enough to hear the whooshing sounds as it churned through that field. It was the first time since 28 March 2007 (Hedley-McLean TX) I had been close enough to hear a tornado, and the most audible one since the 16 May 1991 Haysville KS event.
Hoofin’ It toward a Tornado
Nigh time to bail east again, we headed about the equivalent of a city block past the railroad crossing 1 mile W of Aurora to put some distance between us and the oncoming tornado, and to prevent being barred from escape by a train (just in case). Unfortunately, that also put the elevated light standards of the railroad crossing smack-dab across my view of the tornado. Already out of the car, I asked Elke to back it up to the E edge of the tracks. I then took off in an all-out sprint up the road, across the tracks and straight toward the tornado that was moving toward me. Somehow this felt neither dangerous nor frightening, but quite natural and whole and good. Of course, it helped that the escape machine arrived 40 feet behind me as I set up to shoot another photographic magazine-clip, which now yields one of my all-time favorites among my rather limited tornado portfolio. Even while bracing and shooting, I thought of how that scene reminded me of the content and composition of those old-time tornado pictures that graced the inner plates of Flora’s Tornadoes of the United States and Battan’s Nature of Violent Storms — the silhouetted vortex spinning over the road, looming ominously, trees and/or low buildings on one side or another to add texture to the foreground. I grew up on photos like those in the monochrome books of yore, and now I was privileged enough to be in position to capture one.
I’ll always remember the sound of that scene too — there was none but a light breeze, just outside the mesocyclonic surface flow. The road was devoid of traffic for a few amazing minutes. Aurora police blocked traffic coming westward from town (behind me), and the chaser caravans hadn’t arrived yet. I almost could have heard a pin drop, and certainly a train coming, even though the tornado was at peak size and only a little over a mile away.
Winding Down a Fine Storm Day
We headed through town promptly so as to not be caught there when the tornado arrived. I’ve often heard sirens blaring in towns while storm observing, but very seldom with a bonafide, obvious, mature and robust tornado bearing down. That made the experience finally frightening — not for me personally, but on behalf of the townsfolk, who were well-warned but whose lives appeared soon to be altered for all time. Fortunately it never hit Aurora. The vortex turned left (N) and crossed the highway before it dissipated in the twilight, sparing the town (the lights in the last photo), 18 minutes after genesis. Subsequently, the supercell appeared to become more cut off from boundary layer inflow, though it kept some spectacular structure (wide angle, and even wider angle) for a short while after dark, as it approached York.
At some point during our eastward trek ahead of the Phillips-Aurora tornadoes, I saw DF (who already had an injured back) hanging out his vehicle’s passenger window to shoot video, and hoped all the subsequently inevitable pain would be worth it! Ross was overjoyed as well, and I was thrilled for them both. They had gone through a great deal of trouble, effort, expense and literal pain to be there, and deserved the majesty of the tornadic supercell experience that unfolded.
It was a long way and a long day from that strange, truck-pulled edifice back at Belleville. Two gorgeous supercells, several tornadoes and an Applebee’s steak dinner later, we went to sleep very content with the best chase day in a long time, and a storm intercept season made very good after all. Even a stormless bust the next day in northern Iowa couldn’t dampen the satisfaction of hard-earned accomplishment, sprinkled in no small measure with good fortune of having the right vacation timing to experience a magical June of both supercells and tornadoes on the Great Plains.
Until next season…