2007 Storm Chasing

January 4th, 2007.  Seattle, WA.

The Puget Sound Convergence Zone, (PSCZ), produced an intense thunderstorm over the north metro area of Seattle.  Nickel-sized hail was reported with this storm, along with cloud-to-ground lightning and strong winds.  Typical of the Pacific Northwest, this storm was a low-topped thunderstorm.  I have included a radar image of the storm near Seattle.

  

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February 20th, 2007.  Orting, WA

The day started off with low clouds and fog, but skies quickly cleared as a cold front approached western Washington during the afternoon.  Shortly after noon, towering cumulus clouds could be observed growing into mature thunderstorms, and while at work, I heard a radio report of strong thunderstorms being observed over the cities of Olympia and Tacoma.   From my vehicle, I caught the first hint of what would soon be a very exciting thunderstorm event near my home.  As the storm approached, I observed a rain-free base and as I got closer, a very small funnel cloud formed!  This storm was only a few miles north of Mt. Rainier, WA.   The first photo below, shows what appears to be a hail shaft and not a funnel cloud.  Shortly after this feature dissipated, a funnel cloud developed as shown in photo #2.  Photo #3 shows the storm as it continued moving east, and photo #4 is a final shot from a different location which offers a wide-angle view of the storm.

 

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April 21st, 2007 - Texas Panhandle tornado outbreak!

On my first chase in nearly two years on the Plains, I struck gold!  I had been watching this storm system develop as pressure falls really began over the Gulf of Alaska and off the coast of Washington.  On the morning of the 21st, I departed Norman in route to Amarillo, TX.  From there, I decided the best place would probably be where surface winds were backing more out of a southeasterly direction, to I moved north to near the town of Dumas, Texas.  Bingo - tornadoes everywhere! 

                                                                                                                                                 

May 5th, 2007 - Western Oklahoma tornado outbreak!

2007 will certainly be a storm season to remember!  Seemingly day after day, there are tornadoes all throughout the Great Plains.  Sadly though, many of these tornadoes have struck towns and cities, causing extensive damage to property and loss of life!   It's exciting to chase, there's no denying that, but it's also an emotional roller coaster to see these things out over open country, then the next thing, houses are destroyed and excitement quickly turns to horror.

On the 5th of May, 2007, the small town of Sweetwater, Oklahoma was struck by a large tornado.  Sweetwater is a very small town near the Oklahoma / Texas Panhandle border.  Many structures were damaged or destroyed, with several injuries also reported.

This first picture was taken in the Texas panhandle, as storm clouds began to build.  All the conditions came together rather quickly, to produce a series of violent tornadoes that I have posted below:

In the photo below, the first true funnel of the day forms, near the town of Texola, OK.

In the photo below, same tornado, now growing larger and becoming a multi-vortex tornado.  It's always amazing to see how some residents simply pay no attention to the weather (note the pickup truck).  What's frustrating to me is these are usually the people who cry, "we had no warning," when they suffer property damage or loss of life.  That's why I am such an advocate for every household to have a NOAA weather radio with an alert feature to warn of approaching severe storms and tornadoes!

Powerful image in the photo below, as we are just a few yards from a satellite vortex (note the power flash as electric lines are snapped!)  Chasing this close requires a significant amount of skill and years of experience and is not recommended for those just starting as a spotter or chaser!

Another CLOSE UP look at the vortices within the tornado as power lines arc.

This photo is a video capture of a house being torn apart by the violent winds of the tornado!  One can't help but feel a pit in your stomach when damage to structures suddenly happens.

Blurred video, but this is more of the house above, as it is being torn apart directly in front of my chase vehicle, less than 1/4 mile away!  Estimated winds in excess of 150 mph!

More amazing photos of the tornado as it tears through a series of homes and tears apart the Sweetwater school, just south of the town of Sweetwater.

More damage being done to the Sweetwater school area and a small neighborhood in that area!

Simply an incredible sight, as the Sweetwater school takes a DIRECT HIT from the tornado!  Note the debris cloud and left side of the school totally destroyed!  I snapped these photos and video as we were, maybe, 100 yards away from the tornado!

Many homes were totally destroyed in a small group of homes just south of Sweetwater and near the Sweetwater school.  Unfortunately, several injuries were reported out of this area.  Very sad.

Here are a few photos of the damage as it was occurring in the Sweetwater, OK area...

More photos of the tornado, as it just continues to tear up everything in it's path (now approaching the town of Sweetwater, OK!)

Large tornado tearing through the town of Sweetwater, OK.

Note the damage on the West (left) side of the photo - west side of the town of Sweetwater!

Intense tornado now continues north of Sweetwater, still doing damage to rural farm houses!  Trying to stay within 1/8 of a mile of the tornado, out of the RFD!

More damage to a farm house north of Sweetwater, OK.

Debris flying through the air, directly in front of us.  Had to stop for a moment - maybe a little TOO close!

Finally, after almost 30 minutes of a long-tracked, violent tornado, the RFD begins to cut off the parent tornado.  As this tornado begins to weaken though, the wall cloud intensifies to the east and another large tornado forms within minutes!

New, intense tornado now forms east of parent tornado.  This tornado formed west of Cheyenne/Roll, OK and tracked north towards Dempsey/Arnett, OK.  As night fell, it became more difficult to get good photos and video of the storm.

                                                                                                                    

May 23rd, 2007 - Texas Panhandle

Departed Oklahoma City around noon, heading west on I-40, towards the town of Shamrock, TX.  Soon after arriving in Shamrock, storms quickly began to fire along a retreating boundary (warm front) in the northeast Texas panhandle, near Borger, Stinnett, Perryton, Canadian and Lipscomb.

I left Shamrock and headed north on US Hwy 83, towards Canadian, TX.  But before arriving in Canadian, I noticed the storm I was approaching was rapidly becoming severe, so I took US 60 west for a while, then navigated through some county/state roads to intercept the first wall cloud and eventual tornado northeast of Stinnett, near the intersection of Texas highways 51 and 207.

These tornadoes were very weak, very short-lived, and very difficult to photograph due to all the rain associated with the storms (HP supercells).

                                                                                                                    

June 9th, 2007 - Star Spangled Salute Air Show

Thought I'd throw in a few photos (non-chase related) from the 2007 Star Spangled Salute Air Show, held recently here in Oklahoma City, at Tinker Air Force Base.

 

 

More coming soon...