2005 Chase Logs

April 10th, 2005:  First, I should have just stayed home and waited for the storms to come to me!

The forecast called for a potential dryline day over west-central Oklahoma.  Early in the afternoon, I departed Norman and headed west, to near Hinton, OK.

After waiting (and waiting), it appeared that today was a "bust."  However, as I was making the trip back to Norman, the radar showed one little "blip" of precipitation beginning to grow in intensity south of Blanchard, OK.

As I got closer, I could see the structure of an organized thunderstorm, so the chase was on!   Near Blanchard, OK - I snapped a few pictures of the base of this storm, which eventually developed a really nice wall cloud and was demonstrating mid level rotation.  Unfortunately, it was now beginning to approach the OKC metro area and daylight was fading rapidly.  There were reports of funnel clouds over the scanners coming in, so I managed to "zig-zag" by county roads to the town of Harrah, OK.

Near Harrah, lightning flashed helped illuminate a lowering and pronounced funnel, which appeared to be organizing.

Thanks to a consumer version of "night vision" on my Sony camcorder, I managed to get a short video capture of the tornado that briefly touched down near the town of Harrah.

This video and photo was featured on the evening news and I was happy to have captured this brief tornado after having almost give up on the entire day.

Unfortunately, there were a few homes damaged east of Oklahoma City, but no injuries... which is always the BEST news to hear.

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April 25, 2005:  I chased near Ardmore, Oklahoma on this day.  The risk for tornadoes wasn't high, but some good storm photos and I would be happy.

West of Ardmore, near Elmore City, I observed a high base storm which really didn't leave me with much hope for seeing much of anything.

However, as these storms moved east and "rooted" in much better moisture (dewpoints in the lower 60s), I witnessed a very quick transformation of these storms from high-based LP cells, to low-based HP cells which eventually went tornado-warned.

Storms rapidly became surface-based with some incredible structure.  Being on the back side of these cells now, I managed to capture some incredible video and pictures of the storm towers and hail shafts which formed within this line of severe storms near Ardmore, OK.

An intense hail shaft can be seen (middle picture) and after driving through that area after the hail had moved off to the east, I measure one inch hail completely covering the ground making it look like an ice storm.  Ground fog was forming causing low visibility as I called off the chase and headed back to Norman.

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May 14, 2005:  This was a case of work / chasing conflict.  I was teaching this day and could not depart the University until 3pm.   Storms initiated farther west than I had hoped, so after driving to far southwest Oklahoma, I finally caught up with a nice cell near Turkey, Texas.  This storm had already produced tornadoes, but by the time I was able to get on the storm, it had become more outflow-dominant.

Having radar data on the road is such a wonderful tool in today's technology.  With GPS navigation and on-screen radar, technology that helps me chase also helps keep me safe!

Finally caught up to the wall cloud just south of Turkey, Texas.   The storm had excellent structure, but as daytime heating began to fade, these storms quickly became outflow-dominant.  Large hail of golfball to baseball size was reported on the northern side of this storm!

The "TIV," or Tornado Intercept Vehicle quick approaches the storm in attempt to capture images from inside a tornado!  Their images and stories continue to be featured on The Discovery Channel.

Using the experimental radar on an approaching storm.   This radar is mounted onto a mobile satellite internet dish and can be stowed when traveling at high speeds.

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June 3rd, 2005:  After chasing the previous day, I stopped in Woodward for an overnight stay then went south to intercept storms near Lawton, OK.

This "gustnado" formed on the leading edge of early morning storms.

Later that afternoon, more storms fired up in central Oklahoma.   Cloud cover limited instability and the severe outbreak that was forecast just did not happen.  Still, an enjoyable mini-vacation was nice on the plains.

The unique beauty of the open plains.

During the late afternoon, more storms developed near Oklahoma City.   None of these storms were severe.   Note the weak (soft) structure of the storm.

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June 4th, 2005:  HIGH RISK !!!

I certainly didn't want to miss this opportunity, as the SPC had forecast a high risk of severe storms and tornadoes for most of Kansas.

I targeted Wichita, Kansas as a starting point, then planned on repositioning upon storm initiation.

Around 3pm, I caught up with this storm north of Wichita.  I was not able to get video at the time of the picture, but although this photo looks suspicious, I do not think that is a tornado, but rather, a small rain shaft.

A large wall cloud forms on the same storm as a tornado warning is issued.

Although rather impressive, I did not observe any sustained rotation as it passed almost directly overhead.

Although I did not observe any tornadoes on this day, these storms produced amazing amounts of rainfall and flash flooding that completely covered bridges and roads throughout Kansas.  

Sometimes, on high risk days, storms just all seem to fire up at once.  When this happens, the risk of tornadoes can decrease significantly.  This day was a perfect example how all the ingredients were in place for a widespread tornado outbreak, but Mother Nature had other intentions.

Later that afternoon, as the dryline approached central Kansas, I managed to capture some beautiful photos of a distant storm to the south.

A Kansas storm races to the Northeast as sunset approaches.

Golf to Tennis-ball size hail falls from a severe storm near the Kansas / Oklahoma border.

A beautiful sunset as storms finally weaken.

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June 12th, 2005:  near Jayton, Texas. 

While forecasters were anticipating severe weather outbreaks the entire weekend of June 10th through the 12th, I decided to remain patient and seek out the best day for tornadoes developing closer to home.

On this day, June 12th, I departed Norman early and headed south to the Vernon, Texas area.  After a quick data stop, it appeared the dryline was still lagging back near Lubbock and I plotted my course for heading west.

Around 3pm, I began to notice towering Cu off to the west that was exploding rapidly.  The chase was on!

I intercepted the first storm near Childress, Texas, but I could tell better things were yet to come.  Even though tornado-warned, I left the northern storm and headed south to meet up with the newly-developing storm west of Jayton, Texas.

With radar indicating rotation, I knew this was the storm to be on.  Almost every storm chaser I know was on this storm.  Storm chasing tour groups were lined up for miles along the roadside.  Some chasers had great photos and video clips to share.  While For me, I managed to get a few good shots and mostly video.  It was the largest tornado my son has witnessed, and he was excited to see something like that up close and personal.

The most intense part of this chase was just how close I was able to get and grab some data for research.  The tornado was within 1/4 mile of me at one point during its early stages.  Intense cloud-to-ground lightning was happening about every two or three seconds. It was incredible, but getting more dangerous as well.  Once the tornado began to mature, it was obvious that safety was a concern and I backed off for a safer view of this, now monster tornado nearly 1/2 mile wide!

All in all, it was a very rewarding chase day and a nice way to end the spring storm season.  Fortunately, this large and violent tornado occurred over open terrain and no injuries or significant property damage occurred.

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June 13th, 2005:  Even though not severe, a few storms passed through the Norman, OK area on the evening of the 13th.  I took some still photos of the storm structure and beautiful mammatus clouds at sunset.

A breathtaking orange glow at sunset occurred just as the storms passed to the east of town.

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August 20th, 2005:  An impressive line of storms was approaching the Norman area just after sunset.  Intense cloud-to-ground lightning was occurring as I captured these photos of the approaching storms...