There were some Tornado Warnings for Norman and the southern portions
of the OKC Metro the day before. The storm system causing the severe
weather wasn't going anywhere fast, so it looked like we would have a
few days of constant chase potential. The dryline had retreated back
west into western Oklahoma and Texas from May 4. There was a great
deal of instability, and it looked like a great day for some chase
action.
This turned out to be a pretty good day. Although, it was also very interesting for reasons other than the weather.
Chase Partners:
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Aaron Kennedy, Thomas Norman V, Dusty Maddox,
Kyle Mozley, Nathan White
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| Location: |
W Oklahoma
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Miles Traveled:
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461
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Total Time:
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12 Hours
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During the morning, some overnight convection pushed off the dryline
into western and central Oklahoma. This resulted in a nonexistent cap
and weak instability. There, we all agreed to head toward
Throckmorton, TX.
At 12:15pm, we left Norman and headed for
Throckmorton, TX. About 3:00pm, a Tornado Watch was issued covering
most of Oklahoma and north Texas. We stopped in Seymour, TX, for gas,
some data, and lunch at Sonic. We decided to backtrack and headed
north on US-283, camping out for a bit to watch the sky. We noticed
some cumulus towers trying to build, but they weren't having much
look. We decided to continue north to Altus, OK, and stop along the
way in Vernon, TX, to make some phone calls for a nowcast.
And here is where the day turned bonkers. We were
driving north towards Altus doing the 65 mph speed limit. Two cars in
front of us are doing under 50. Naturally, we tried to pass them, and
of course, they immediately sped up as we attempted to pass forcing us
to speed up in order to safely complete the pass. Then, we see this
little black car in the distance growing bigger. Well, we are already
committed to the pass, so we floor the gas to complete it. All of a
sudden the little black car turns on its lights. Yup, the car was
Oklahoma High Patrol. We get pulled over. I'm thinking, "Great, there
goes my car insurance." The officer walked up to my window and told me
I was okay to go on. I was amazed. He said he knew I was speeding
too, but he clocked Dusty, not me. We pulled away leaving our partners
behind. We never saw them again on the chase, even though we were in
the same general area. They would later see the tornado that we
didn't.
About 6:15pm, we headed west out of Altus to view
a storm that was developing to our north (Storm-A). We checked the map
and decided that we needed a direct route north immediately if we
wanted to intercept the cell. We backtracked and took County Road
N2030 northbound. We needed a road that would bypass Altus and the
traffic lights. This was a rough, dirt road, and we continued to watch
Storm-A build just to our north. The road was tough on my car, and
Aaron wouldn't give me a straight answer as to how far the highway
was.
Eventually, we turned came up on US-283, then turned north onto
OK-6. We had a good view since was due north of us. It continued to
get better organized and cycled through a couple of wall clouds. The
contrast provided for incredible photos and video. Storm-A was a
lop-topped LP, and never really anviled, but it did produce some nice
views. We also closely watched a new cell developing southwest of us
(Storm-B).
Storm-A continued to build and we had a great angle for video (2.7 MB). We soon
got in a perfect position on OK-55 in Sentinel, OK. As we left town,
Aaron and Thomas were watching the storm to our north. Suddenly, a
green truck coming off a dirt road ran a stop sign pulled out in front
of us; they were too busy watching the storm and not watching the road.
I swerved at the last second and missed getting broadsided by a bout 6
inches.
The wall cloud and rotation appeared to be
collapsing in Storm-A. At the same time, Storm-B was catching up with
us to our SW. I figured Storm-A was going to be doomed after getting
its inflow seeded from Storm-B. Storm-A actually wound up being just
far enough away to avoid any influence. Aaron and I debated on how to
proceed. He said we should continue NE following Storm-A. I thought
we should drop south and watch Storm-B. I figured both cells would
merge and form a line on top of us. Finally, Aaron quit arguing and we
dropped south on US-183 to watch Storm-B.
We saw a very interesting orange sky as the set
behind the precip core of Storm-B. It was very windy and very cold.
At 8:05pm, a spotter reported a tornado on the ground just south of
Cordell, OK, which was about 10 miles north of us. Storm-A had dropped
a brief tornado. We were way out of position and had no way to get
back to Storm-A. However, Dusty, Kyle, and Nathan did stay with
Storm-A and saw the tornado.
With the loss of daylight, we called it a day and
started the long drive back to Norman. We stopped in Anadarko for
dinner and ice cream at Braum's. We arrived back at OU at 12:30am and
hit the hay. It looked like the next day would be pretty active, too.
SUMMARY:
|
INCREDIBLE DAY! Saw the DOWs for the first time, almost got a ticket,
almost got in a bad wreck, met a bunch of other chasers, and made a
costly mistake on storm choice. I don't feel too bad. At least 80% of
the chasers out there did the same thing I did. Misery loves company,
I guess. Anyway, it was by the best chase I've had so far. I have
always dreamed about seeing a storm with the contrast like Storm-A
possessed. That's what I want to see. The beauty of Mother Nature.
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