Storm Chase 2011

Tire Debris, Stray Dogs and Iowa Libraries

Dayna Vettese — Tue, 31 May 2011 18:08:25 +0000

Well ... we should be home by now but that's not the case. At around 1:30am last night we came across a pulled over big rig but little did we know why he was pulled over. Turned out one of his tires exploded all over the interstate and no flares or pylons were put in the road to indicate it. We tried to avoid the pieces but there was too much and we managed to get a flat tire. So in the middle of the night, pitch black, big rigs screaming down the interstate, a squall line with rain and lightning headed our way, we frantically tried to change the tire. Thank goodness we brought emergency car kits (I recommend you ALWAYS have one). We had reflective pylons and flashlights. While the men changed the tire to the spare (which unfortunately was just a donut and not an actual tire), we made sure cars and trucks moved over a lane so as not o endanger us. The flashlights were useful in signalling the vehicles to move over and they did. We were about half hour outside of Des Moines so I guess it could have been worse. We managed to get the tire on before any rain or lightning got to us.

Our only option was to make our way slowly to Des Moines (can't go too fast on a spare tire), spend the night and wait til morning for a tire place to be open. We got in the car and slowly started heading for Des Moines when we're forced to slam on our brakes AGAIN. Two stray dogs were making there way down the interstate lanes. We avoided them, thank goodness. Ok so continuing our trek again. We finally get to Des Moines and spend the night. This morning we head to Walmart but they don't have the size we need. At least there were a few more close by tire places and we managed to get to a Sears Auto. The tire was not repairable so we had to buy a new one.

Awaiting repairs we're currently sitting in a library in Des Moines. As soon as everything is done we'll be heading home. We probably won't make it in until early Wednesday morning if we're lucky. What did we learn? If you see a big rig pulled over be aware of tire debris! Also, ALWAYS have an emergency kit in your car!

Eleventh Chase Day and Trek Home

Dayna Vettese — Tue, 31 May 2011 15:00:00 +0000

Today was our last chase day and we decided to go for it. We chased around central Nebraska and to say it was windy would be an understatement! We knew today would be a tricky day. Based on model data and hodographs the cells would go up, begin rotating then quickly form into a squall line. Sure enough that's what happened. Not to mention the road network in central Nebraska is AWFUL. We ventured a little further north where a cell had just passed and came across baseball to softball size hail on the road - as well as a few smashed cars. We couldn't follow the storms north because they kept crossing the road at the same point thus we would have to drive through *falling* baseball to softball size hail - no thanks!

As the storms began to form into a squall line they looked so dramatic and made for some great video and photography. It was getting late and time for us to go. We said goodbye to our chase friends and began the trek back to Toronto. But not before nature had a treat in store: just as we were continuing down the road we managed to see a brief landspout tornado form off the edge of the squall line! And now we continue home ...

Tenth Chase Day: Decapitated Updraft

Dayna Vettese — Mon, 30 May 2011 03:00:00 +0000

We made the looong trip to Nebraska. All hope felt lost and then we saw it: building towers! We got on the most impressive storm and it was really looking good. Great structure, strong updraft ... and then it happened ... The cap built back in a literally detached the updraft from the base! And it fizzled out ... So sad. This all occurred near Raymond, Nebraska.

We drove to Columbus, Nebraska and spent the night. Our chase is slowly coming to a close ...

Ninth Chase Day: Driving in Circles

Dayna Vettese — Sun, 29 May 2011 04:49:18 +0000

Another frustrating chase day. Started off in Woodward, Oklahoma and decided to head to Colorado to catch some upslope induced supercells. We get part of the way there and decide that the weather isn't shaping up properly so we abandon that target and head for the secondary target along the Oklahoma-Kansas border. We travel through and notice a little cell going up near Kingfisher. We decide to head south a little to see what it does. Well ... It died. The cell got choked off by the capping mixing back in and died. So we decided to head north of Wichita to spend the night.

In the end we drove 890 km (550 miles) to get from Woodward, Oklahoma to north of Wichita, Kansas which on a direct route would have been 430 km (270 miles). Ahhh the life of a storm chaser.

Tomorrow we have two targets and will soon be looking at the newer model runs. We're interested in central Kansas or eastern Nebraska. We'll make the decision in the morning.

Here's hoping we get a few more storms before we start heading home to Canada.

Eight Chase Day: NSSL/SPC/OU Building, BBQ-Bust and Luxury

Dayna Vettese — Sat, 28 May 2011 04:57:15 +0000

That's frustrating! So we knew there were some issues today and if storms did go up they would be supercells with the possibility of tornadoes. We had time in the morning and a friend of ours was kind enough to arrange a tour of NOAA's National Weather Service / Storm Prediction Center / National Severe Storms Laboratories / Oklahoma University building on the OU campus. Can I saw ... WOW! This is a meteorologists / atmospheric scientists dreams! The building houses some of the most brilliant atmospheric scientists and meteorologists in the world and combines the meteorology students into that. To learn in an environment like that would be a dream. It was a stunning building with an observatory room on the top with a 360 view of Norman, Oklahoma and Oklahoma City. This building was under a tornado warning earlier this week with the tornado outbreak and people were evacuated into the storm shelters. The students work directly with some of the most brilliant meteorology minds in the world. What a fantastic learning environment.

After the tour we went to this random BBQ place and it was delicious! We hung out there for a few hours until we realized that's it ... no storms today. We've headed to Woodward, Oklahoma and are finishing our trip west tomorrow. We've been thinking possibly Colorado but will reassess in the morning with newer model data. Either way we've come far enough west to not have to travel too far. So the only hotel available in Woodward was the Hampton Inn. Now Woodward is a small, unassuming town but this hotel is fantastic! Probably the most gorgeous hotels you can stay in while on the Plains. Let's say one of the last nights here we'll be spending in luxury. So I'm going to get some sleep because we have to be up earlier. I'll upload pictures as well.

Damage and Amazing Stories

Dayna Vettese — Fri, 27 May 2011 04:57:29 +0000

As I mentioned earlier, we surveyed the Binger-El Reno-Peidmont-Guthrie tornado path. We stopped to speak to a fellow chaser, Rocky, and his son and wife who experienced the wedge tornado. His son told us an incredible story about how he had to run around the ranch letting the horses out, getting the vehicles places, getting supplies into the storm shelter, making sure his mother was okay and the entire time there was cloudto-ground lightning all around and a wedge tornado headed his way. They got into the storm shelter and were in there for about 10 minutes until the tornado passed. While in there they had to kill Black Widow spiders so they didn't get bitten. The tornado passed very close to their house but their house was spared. Other houses in the neighbourhood weren't as lucky. The damage was unbelievable.

I've added photos to the Photography section of damage. Tomorrow looks like another chase day around Oklahoma so we'll be sticking in this area. We'll also have a chance to visit the Storm Prediction Center and the National Severe Storms Labratory before we chase. This should be really cool to see.

Another Down Day and More Damage

Dayna Vettese — Thu, 26 May 2011 19:36:00 +0000

So today is another down day for us. We just had some lunch and will be heading out shortly to look at some more damage from the Binger-El Reno-Piedmont-Guthrie tornado. We're then going to a fellow chaser's house which was just missed by this tornado and will be interviewing his wife who was there during the whole thing. She rode out the worst of it in their storm shelter.

More information on the outbreak (specifically in Oklahoma) can be found here: The Tornado Outbreak of May 24, 2011.

It looks like Friday - Sunday will be more chase days around Oklahoma again. We will be chasing Friday and Saturday and maybe Sunday then head back to Canada from there. So we have a few more opportunities to see more storms and possibly tornadoes before the trip is through. We also hope to have it to the SPC and NSSL building to check it out and maybe get a few shirts.

We're going to head out not to check out the damage. I'll try to post more pictures later.

No Chase, Damage Survey and More Devastation

Dayna Vettese — Thu, 26 May 2011 04:30:14 +0000

Today we took as a down day. There was tornadoes reported all over but were far from our position so we decided to stay put. Instead we decided to survey the damage path of the Chickasha to Moore, Oklahoma tornado. The damage was devastating. We could not believe our eyes. We saw damage at the bottom of the interstate and climbed a hill to take a look. When we got to the top of the hill we couldn't believe was we were seeing. Damage path as far as the eye can see, ground scouring by the tornado, houses destroyed ... It was terrible. We drove through the estimated 30 mile path of the tornado and at each turn the damage and devastation was just as jaw dropping as the first thing we saw. There were mangled cars, destroyed houses, giant propane tanks tossed. We even came across a barbed wire that had been put through a tree by the tornado ... The ground scouring was incredible to see. At one point the tornado went completely over some vegetation and farm fields are you could make out the scouring and the rotation. I will try to edit and upload those pictures tomorrow.

Tomorrow will be another down day for us. It looks like Friday - Sunday will be more severe weather in this area so we're going to get a bit more rest before the chase starts again. We'll be starting the journey home most likely on Sunday. I uploaded the Ada, Oklahoma tornado video to the video section and am in the process of doing the same with the Okeene, Oklahoma tornado we saw.

Seventh Chase Day - High Risk, Damage and Devastation

Dayna Vettese — Wed, 25 May 2011 04:50:14 +0000

Today was interesting and frustrating. The cells went up early and fast today and all at once. Every cell was a supercell and a monster with hail and rotation. We followed a cell near Fairview, Oklahoma. Unfortunately from our vantage point it was so hazy that we couldn't see much. We tried to cut through the core but didn't want to risk the hail. Dave and Scott did push through and managed to get a rope tornado on the cell. What we didn't know is that this cell had just produced a massive wedge tornado. We managed not to see a tornado today but the devastation is awful.

The town of Peidmont is almost completely destroyed. There's been unconfirmed reports of people killed on the I-40. Tomorrow we aren't chasing and will take it slow and easy. We're going to try and see some of the damage caused by today's tornadoes. We saw some off the interstate earlier and just devastating. Unfortunately we all knew today was going to be a dangerous and deadly tornado day. Here is an interesting image of the El Reno, Oklahoma mesonet. A mesonet is a type of weather station and it records different atmospheric attributes. Here is a crop of the measured pressure and wind speed. I've outlined the spike/drop where the pressure drops off and the wind peaks as the tornado goes by:

I intended on editing some more video and photos but today was a really long day. We've been chasing for a week straight with no down days which means going to bed at around 1:00am every night and up by 8:00am and driving all day long - rinse and repeat. Hopefully I'll be able to get to some tomorrow.

Sixth Chase Day - Tiny Tornado, RFD and Kingfisher

Dayna Vettese — Tue, 24 May 2011 06:03:38 +0000

Today was an interesting chase day. We spent the night in Norman, Oklahoma. It looked like storms would be northwest of Oklahoma City so we headed off towards Seiling, Oklahoma. We re-evaluated and managed to travel in circles. We got on one cell east of Fairview, Oklahoma. We were pulled off on the side of the road watching. WE couldn't get out of our vehicles because the lightning danger was fairly large with cloud-to-ground lightning almost constant. Then we saw it: a thin, rope tornado whose condensation funnel didn't reach the ground but we could see the debris on the ground. It was in the field for a few minutes besides dissipating. We continued on this cell for a bit but it began to die to we headed for another storm which was starting to look fantastic. We followed it for a bit and it looked like it was starting to collapse but then the low level jet kicked in and it started ramping up again. We had to head east in a hurry to make it to the town of Kingfisher so we could book it south to get out of the way of the circulation. In the mean time the RFD (rear-flank downdraft) was so strong it blew our antenna off the roof. The whole sell had become an HP (high-precipitation) mess so we could not see if it had a tornado in it or not. The velocity radar returns indicated rotation so we weren't taking any chances.

We managed to get to the town of Kingfisher and head south out of the path of the storm. We headed a little south, pulled off and waited for the storm to pass. After it passed we headed back into the town which for the most part was fine, just some minor street flooding. After heading through the town we were treated to a beautiful lightning storm. After taking pictures and video of the lightning we headed for some dinner and turned in for the night.

Tomorrow looks like it has incredible potential for tornadoes. NWS SPC has issued a High Risk for severe storms and 30% hatched for strong tornadoes in the area we're currently in. Here is the strong wording about May 24th from the NWS SPC:

   ..CENTRAL AND SRN PLAINS...
   A REGIONAL OUTBREAK OF SEVERE STORMS -- INCLUDING THE POTENTIAL FOR
   VERY LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS...AND SEVERAL LARGE/STRONG
   TORNADOES IS EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING AS THE POWERFUL
   UPPER JET EMERGES INTO THE PLAINS DRIVING SURFACE CYCLOGENESIS.

Convective Weather Outlook risk map for May 24th.Tornado Potential Outlook for May 24th.

Needless to say, tomorrow will be interesting. I think we're all a little tired as well. This is our sixth straight day of chasing with no down day. However, we're grateful that we've had the chance to chase these many days. We've been keeping updated on the situation in Joplin, MO which is awful. The death toll is rising as well. So unfortunate.

Ok, time to go to sleep. We've been going non-stop all day so time to tuck in.