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2008 Chase Accounts |
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March and April, 2008 Chased several days in March and April; however nothing significant was observed. I will leave these days alone. May 1st, 2008 I started today sitting in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. I noticed storms firing to my North in SE Kansas so I immediately shot North and sat in Independence, Kansas. I observed several intense storms with solid updrafts to my NW, but it appeared they were in a "grunge-like" cluster with no real means of getting good solid inflow except for the tail end. I didn't lose hope on the storms, but did re-adjust south when I notice storms firing along I35. I traveled South on 75 and then West on US60 out of Bartlesville. I then traveled South on highway 99 through Pawhuska and observed a very intense storm to my SW, which was the Osage storm. The storm had a healthy updraft with a very well defined inflow tail. I continued south on 99 through Wynona and into Hominy. At this time there was a large tornado being reported in the Vicinity of Pawnee, Skedee, and Blackburn. I waited in Hominy for the cell to get a little closer to I20, then immediately shot West on I20 out of Hominy. I stopped at the intersection of County Road 541 and I20 and observed a large wall cloud with intense rotation to my SW. At 0150 I observed a tornado on the ground just to my SW. This tornado lifted shortly after my arrival but once again dropped and continued moving to the NNE. I observed this cyclical activity for about 15 minutes as the tornado would drop then lift. I counted this at least 4 times. The updraft continued to still appear strong; however, as the storm disappeared into the distance a condensed funnel was no longer present. I did observe a couple of power flashes, and then it was over. I went back East on 20 then North on 99 to catch back up with the storm, but it had decayed very rapidly and lost the majority of its intensity. The structure today was amazing, and the tornadoes were very photogenic. A great first chase of the season. Chase Video can be found: HERE VIDEO
CAPTURES WILL
May 10th, 2008 Today I started in Okmulgee, Oklahoma around 4pm watching Cu build and die under the cap. About this time the dryline began to race east so I went against my better judgment and went south and east into the woods of SE Oklahoma. Towers began to form just North of I40 around McAlester. I took I40 to stay ahead of the storms as they made their way East. With the dew points as high as they were (I was observing 70F at my location), the haze made it difficult to see any storm structure. There were 3 tornado warned storms at the time, and I chose to play the middle storm, which passed through the town of Yanush. I continued on I40 to highway 59 South through Panama, Poteau, Heavener, and stopped at the intersection of 270/59. At this time I placed myself between the middle and southern storm. This location was a fairly decent spot to observe the storm from the East, but obviously not the best. I was confident I had placed myself in a good location in between the two storms; however, with screaming HP beasts in the woods of SE Oklahoma, falling debris and no data I questioned myself. The storm to my North had mild rotation, while the one to the South was still looking fairly decent. I was south of the rotation to my North, and North of the heavy precipitation to my south. I observed a rather weak, wind and rain storm before it passed. Apparently the falling debris was from a large tornado near Yanush which had lifted. This was at one time part of the storm to my North. I'm assuming the storm was strong enough to carry this debris in it's updraft for quite a ways. I made my way back West on OK88 through the National Forest and observed the storms as they flew east from a beautiful lookout over the forest. I continued back towards Tulsa, and passed through both Yanush and the small town of Arpelar. Both of these towns had fairly decent tornado damage. Today proved once again, why I don’t like chasing in SE Oklahoma. I observed some nice structure though the haze, and that was about it. My thoughts go out to the folks effected by todays storms, especially those in Picher, Ok where many people lost their lives. Today was the deadliest tornado day in Oklahoma history since May 3rd, 1999.
PHOTOS WILL
May 13th, 2008 I chased Southwest Oklahoma today. I ran into Amos Magliocco, Bob Fritchie, Scott Eubanks, and Tim Carroll. Turkey towers were observed, with agitated cumulus trying to break the cap. Today was a cap bust and nothing significant was observed.
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