SPC Event Log

Photos from the Chase

Videos from the Chase

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Chase Partners:	Gerard Jebaily
Location:	Western North Texas
Miles Travelled:	620
Total Time:	14 Hours

 

11:30am (1620 UTC)

My chase partner, Gerard Jebaily, and I left Norman and headed west on OK-9 and SW on I-44.  We passed several chasers on the interstate including a mobile Doppler rdar.  We exited in Lawton on US-62 and headed west for the border.  Next, we dropped south on US-83 towards Childress.  On the way, we met up with Tim Wiegman, one of my classmates that I had just graduated with from OU.  We communicated via ham radio, and he told us that fellow recent graduates and classmates Gabe Garfield and Jeff Snyder were just ahead of us.  So, we all decided to chase together and made an hour long stop in Childress.

 

While in Childress, we gassed up the cars, ate lunch, chatted, etc.  Also, we took advantage of some wi-fi at the area hotels to look at some data.  Some storms began firing north of us but were quickly being drawn into the MCS ongoing in western Oklahoma.  There were also some new cells developing right on the triple point east of Lubbock.  However, with the non-existent cap, these storms were clustering quickly.  There was a pretty good distance of separation between the southern storms and the MCS to the north.  Also, shear was much more favorable just south of Childress.  After analyzing the situation, we decided that as peak-heating passed and the mid-levels began to cool.  This would cause the storms to coalesce into one or two dominant cells, which would then develop into supercells.  So, we headed south out of Childress to begin the intercept.

 

NOAA Wx Radio coverage was very spotty, and there were no SKYWARN frequencies that we could find.  After arriving in Paducah, we found that the southern cluster of storms had indeed formed three distinct supercells with the northern-most and southern-most having Tornado Warnings.  We quickly headed south out of town.  At this point, we had a decision to make.  We had to decide whether to chase the southern-most storm (Storm-B) or the northern storm (Storm-A).  Observational experience and meteorological knowledge plainly said to go for the southern storm, which I had a very good feeling about.  Often the outflow from the southern storms seeds the inflow of the northern storms cutting off it's supply of unstable air cuasing the north storm to turn into an HP and rain itself out.  Indeed, this would happen to us.  However, we thought the storms might separate more and Storm-A was moving into an area of more favorable shear to sustain itself or for new long-lived cells to develop.  Not wanting to completely cut off our north option in case something did happen, we turned west on some county roads and drove right at Storm-A.

 

5:56pm (2256 UTC)

Things now began to get very tricky.  We were working against the clock and the storm.  We needed to get west and then drop south wihtout getting caught in the hail core, which contained baseball- to softball-size hail.  We did get caught in a little bit of pea-size hail (5.4 MB).   We continued to make our way south and west.  As we moved south of the precip core, we also began to get a great view of the wall cloud.  This was one of the best looking wall clouds I had ever seen (3.1 MB).   It had very sculted sides and great vertical motion.  Eventually, we worked our way to US-82 east of Dickens, TX.  Here we had perfect position to stop and view the storm.  The roation was very broad and loosely organized (2.3 MB).   As the rear-flank downdraft approached, we had a great view.

 

7:31pm (0031 UTC)

The wall cloud was partially on top of us, so we decided to pick up and move east for a mile or two on US-82, so we could reestablish our view.  No sooner did we get moving did Gerard yell that there was a funnel developing right behind us.  We stepped on the gas to get out of the way and about 2.5 miles down the road, we pulled over on a hill to get a look.  As soon as we got the cameras set up, a very weak tornado touched down (Tornado-1A) about 200 yards across the road from where we had been (2.5 MB).   We watched the storm dissipate.  Now, we head a decision to make.  The southern storm (Storm-B), which had really developed nicely and was dropping some very large tornadoes, was only about 40 miles south of us and within reach.  However, there was one question.  Could we make it south fast enough to miss the hail core (again)?  We decided to try it.  So, we stopped for a quick gas refuel in Guthrie and headed south on US-82 toward Aspermont.

 

7:53pm (0053 UTC)

We made it south out of Aspermont and missed the hail core.  We continued south towards Hamlin and turned west on TX-92.  Mass chaser convergence in this area.  Of course, being the best and only storm within 400 miles, I expected no less.  I even saw two of the DOWs including the Rapid-Scan DOW.  We also passed the Tornado Attack Vehicle.  Storm-B had a well-defined wall cloud but a lot of precipitation was penetrating around through the hook where the clear slow should have been (3.5 MB).   We pulled over and watched the storm until the CG lightning strikes and hail started to fall.  We also met up with Blake Naftel and Tony Laubach who I had chased with on May 29, 2004. 

 

8:22pm (0122 UTC)

We repositioned SW of Hamlin to observe the storm as it passed.  We really had a good view of the SW flank of the storm as it passed and dropped hail on Hamlin.  We could also clearly see the precip wrapping around the meso and move through (4.1 MB).   Combined with the setting sun, it made a very pretty sight.  As the RFD passed us, a small and weak gustnado formed about 100 yards down the road from us, which was pretty cool.  We kept hoping that Storm-B was just cycling, but it was false hope.  We continued to watch the storm until the sun went completely past the horizon.  Then, we headed west out of Hamlin on TX-92.  We punched through the now very weak precip core and encountered no hail.  We decided to call off the chase at this point since the storm was dissipating.

 

We talked to Gabe Garfield on the phone (after losing him somehwere along the way), and we decided to stop at a Pizza Hut in Stamford, TX.  Once we arrived there, we were greeted by fellow OU grads Aaron & Jimmie Kennedy, Ben Baronowski, Chad Ringley, and a slew of others.  After we arrived, about 20 more pulled in, so we had an OU family reunion.  After eating, we headed out on the long road back to Norman with Jim Southard joining the convoy.  The simplex radio traffic between our cars was highly amusing and made for great entertainment on the long drive back.  It also helped to keep us all awake, too.

 

2:30am (0730 UTC)

We arrived back in Norman.

 

 

SUMMARY:

Well, what was initially a very hyped weekend did not live up to that hype.  Yes, there were storms that produced, but the widespread severe weather that was anticipated for Friday (June 10) and Sunday (June 12) never really materialized.  This weekend just fit into the frustrating season fo 2005.  There were several lucky chasers tht went with Storm-B and caught several large tornadoes. This was only my fourth chase of the year.  Yes, I was a little disappointed and frustrated at myself for picking the wrong storm when I should have known better.  I just need to have confidence and quit second-guessing myself so much.  It is extremely frustrating to know that the "tornado machine" was so close, yet so far away... Even still, I got to meet up with some classmates that I had been wanting to chase with.  I did see one weak tornado, so really the chase was great.  Great times, great sights, great people.  Not much more you can ask for on a successful storm chase. Total tornado count for the day:  1

 

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