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I departed the Ogallala,
NE Super 8 rather late this morning after poring over gobs of data. All the
data ultimately sold me on the surface low expected to track into far southwest
NE by the afternoon, so I motored south and east.
While near Wallace around 1930 CDT, I was surprised to see a compact area of TCu already popping well to my southwest near the surface low (this development was in far northwest KS)! Within 30 minutes, the TCu escalated into this Cb shown here. Do I dare give chase so early in the afternoon or exercise some patience for additional convective development? 1409 CDT |
| I waited north of
Wellfleet for some time keeping one eye on this Cb while also watching
for any signs of new convection to my northeast. Within 15 minutes,
my impatience got the best of me and I headed south on HWY 83 to 23 east as this
Cb underwent rapid intensification. This panoramic stitch (looking S-W)
shows a healthy front flank updraft on the north end of the storm indicative of a storm split. Video grab |
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While driving southeast
of Curtis, the right mover became TOR warned and I found myself struggling to
find a decent area to pull over and view the full base of the storm. I
finally found a hill with enough prominence and stopped
to watch as this storm's base lowered substantially while developing an
impressive rotating wall cloud shown here (looking WSW). 1518 CDT |
| This supercell was now
moving almost due east at this time and I needed to dive south on some dirt
roads to maintain a good view of the RFB. Here I'm on some dirt road southeast
of Stockville as this supercell's next rotating wall cloud is about to
become fully engulfed by an RFD. Also, take note of the developing
inflow bands. 1531 CDT |
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The wall cloud was eventually severed by the RFD leaving
this amorphous blob
that exhibited occasional horizontal shear vortices. A suspicious lowering (shown here) then emerged southwest
of the previous wall cloud and given its location relative to the RFD, I assumed this was anticyclonic and not worth
my attention.
Unfortunately my GPS log is nonexistent for the first part of this chase, but I'm somewhere southeast of Stockville during this time. Video grab |
| I later pulled over
to get a better read on the compact lowering just to my west
(located just south of the RFD apex). My assumption earlier that this was anticyclonic was
quickly shattered after only a few seconds of witnessing obvious cyclonic rotation at cloud base. In this photo debris is
being kicked up below the wall cloud, but from what I saw this was just along an RFD surge and was not rotating. 1548 CDT |
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Meanwhile, this storm's
next wall and tail cloud were rapidly taking shape to my NNW. 1548 CDT |
| Poor navigation decisions
led me to a narrow dirt road filled with several
ruts courtesy of heavy rains from recent days. Needless to
say, I lost progress with this supercell and eventually found myself in
its southwest quadrant contending with severe RFD wind gusts easily hitting
80 mph (one gust blew both antennae off my roof as I slowed to avoid being
blown into the ditch). This was one of the last views I had of this
particular occluding meso and wall cloud before I was swallowed by the
RFD while driving north to Lexington. 1555 CDT |
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Now on I-80 east of
Lexington and trying to make up for some serious lost time. Outside of
some small hail around 1" in diameter, the backside of this supercell was
treating me rather well so I continued east with the goal of beating the
hook echo over the Interstate. Looking at this radar view (GPS location overlaid), this was shaping up to
be one heck of a squeeze play.
About 10 minutes later, I observed this small funnel cloud about a 1/2 mile to my south. This may have been a tornado earlier, but I haven't dug into the Storm Data entries to confirm this. Regardless, I needed to build some much needed distance from this rotating core and any antecedent mesos. Video grab 1701 CDT |
| Before reaching the
Kearney exit, I noticed a narrow precip cascade wrapping around the southeast
side of a new meso just to my WSW. The lowering here could very well be tornadic at this time. Video grab 1705 CDT |
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I exited I-80 and
proceeded north into Kearney as the DOW fervently scanned from the overpass.
Maybe it was the added tension of hearing the sirens and knowing the town
was about to suffer a direct impact, but I completely screwed up recording
most of this segment. I thought my camcorder was recording when in fact it
was on pause (just like I had done on May 23rd near Dighton, KS)! Most of my video only shows the floor of the rental car while
in Kearney, but I eventually realized my error and managed some video of
the impending supercell while racing ENE on HWY 30.
I did manage to snap a few photos while driving through the south side of town including this one showing a couple motorists taking shelter in a car wash ahead of the impending tornado. 1721 CDT |
| As tempting as it was to pull
over and get better photos and video of this fantastic structure, I wanted to get much
farther ahead to allow for a longer stop and viewing time. 1729 CDT |
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Much farther ahead
now and simply awestruck by this supercell's structure! The broad
tornadic circulation is hidden within the murky lowered mass/wall cloud
visible at the lower left. 1734 CDT |
| Finally pulled over and able
to take a wealth of photos and video! I'm about four miles west
of Gibbon at this time looking due west at the rain-wrapped meso core with a very
low wall cloud. Judging by the looks, the tornado may have still been
in progress at this time. 1736 CDT |
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One mile west of Shelton,
I stopped to monitor this new wall cloud exhibiting moderate to strong
rotation. I can't ever recall seeing such a vivid and clear cut wall
cloud on a storm's front flank as this one. It wasn't much later after this
photo that I lost interest in this supercell given far too much precip obscuring the previously
vivid structure. On radar this storm now resembled a giant kidney bean. Never a fan of kidney beans, I expanded my radar with the hopes of finding cleaner storms farther southwest. As luck would have it, a classic supercell would be entering north central KS--about 1 hour away and easily within reach. 1753 CDT |
| The drive south for cleaner supercells was no
simple chore--strong headwinds made the seemingly easy drive incredibly slow and the pathetic MPG rates from
my rental car provided little comfort. Having stopped in Red Cloud for fuel, I continued south for the northern-most supercell before
aborting this in favor of a more promising storm farther southwest. After punching east on HWY 24 into Glen Elder and battling excessive ponding on the road, I continued east with the hopes of getting a wider view of this supercell. I stopped about five miles ESE of Glen Elder and within ten minutes or so this phenomenal, flared updraft column slowly emerged from the evening haze. 2036 CDT |
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Four years earlier this same day, I was
chasing a phenomenal tornadic supercell not far from this location. From a structure
standpoint, it was quickly obvious this supercell would surpass the one from 2004.
As this video grab shows there were several vivid CGs, but I failed to capture any with the DSLR. 2042 CDT |
| As if the structure wasn't enough, by 2043 CDT this elephant trunk tornado developed while snaking around the core of the meso. |  |
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Only partial condensation with the tornado
at this time, but a distinct debris cloud is visible. 2045 CDT |
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| Even though the supercell was still several miles away, a comprehensive view of this sheared barrel updraft, tornado and inflow could only be accomplished by taking panoramic sequences. Here's one of several I managed to pull off. |
| Wide angle view still showing a debris cloud. 2043 CDT |
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Looking southwest as this jaw-dropping
updraft column nears my location. 2048 CDT |
| Although a wet RFD curtain
began enveloping the circulation just before crossing HWY 24, a subsequent power flash moments later
confirmed the tornado. This video grab is deceptive in that it looks like a monstrous wedge is underway,
but the photo displayed here reveals a more compact area of interest. Regardless, the NWS-GID storm
survey indicates this tornado would later grow to a mile wide. 2050 CDT |
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Simply amazing! I was in
no hurry to pack up and drive, but I just wished I had an even wider wide angle lens, say 12mm or so, to do
this storm full justice. As this supercell drew closer, I was able to look up directly along the
edge of this spiral column (1,
2) to the lower bound of the anvil. That experience alone remains one
of my favorite from all the chases I've ever been on. I wasn't able to enjoy this view much longer as
a barrage of CGs within close range forced me in the car. 2050 CDT |
| Wedge tornado and an incredible mothership silhouetted by a CG! I was pressing
east on HWY 24 at this point while videoing out the window trying in vain to capture some of the monster CGs. Although the tornado
was previously rain wrapped, the wet RFD eased just long enough for me and a few others to catch a view of this now bona fide wedge.
Storm data lists this tornado as having been 1.2 miles wide before diminishing in size just southwest of Jewell.
My goal was to blast north on SR 14 to Jewell and then catch a paved east road, but the daunting westward jog on 14 turned out to be too much as there was no way I could beat the tornado to the town. I'm glad I didn't continue because this large tornado did serious damage (EF3) a short while later in the city. Video grab |
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| Expecting damage in Jewell, I had to find an alternate paved route to keep ahead of this storm. Unfortunately, the only available roads cost me precious time while throwing me out of position. Eventually I was able to get back within reasonable range and video the additional structure shown below. The overall girth of the updraft seemed to have diminished greatly by this time, but this didn't hinder its ability to produce additional tornadoes. By the time I was ready to stop and set up the tripod for some delayed exposures, low clouds filled in effectively obscuring much of the lower bounds of the supercell! A bit frustrated, I called the chase over and continued on to Concordia as I was in desperate need of a meal and motel--my last meal was a late breakfast at the motel in Ogallala! This supercell continued northeast into Nebraska producing at least one more significant tornado. |
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| This day ended up being one of my favorite chases since I started chasing in '99. I don't think I'll ever come close to surpassing the textbook structure of today's latter supercell as the odds are just too improbable, but that won't lessen my desire any to chase other events simply because every storm is unique! |
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All photos © Copyright 2008 Matt Ziebell
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