Brief:
Departed Bob C's in Norman late; around 1pm CT; as Melissa Moon had to put on her face for the chase... it also should be noted that I picked up on the TOR watch late and wasn't concerned about departing at hazy high noon. Thus, Gary Wellman, Melissa Moon, and myself targeted the Duncan, OK region E of Lawton. Arrived to a murky beast'O'cell at Duncan, then headed W out of Comanche on HW53. Massive meso/wall cloud observed over HW53 E of Walters. Stopped apx 2-4 miles E of it and tripoded/shot stills. Followed this beast which phased on/off, then morphed into a massive HP (unless one would consider it HP for it's entire life cycle). Backtracked towards Corum, then headed N on "local road" (???) and followed it back towards Duncan. Went E/SE on HW7 out of Duncan staying ahead of the now more linear looking blob. Flat tire and other random debacles (see below) - called off the chase and headed back to Norman.
Full:
Following dinner in Norman around 1am Friday; finally caught some sleep before being awakened at 8:07am CT by Bob Conzemius's cat Sydney. Informing me the updated SWODY1 was now out, I proceeded to get up and check on it. My previous days target of SPS to Lawton was still holding. No rush; got up, took a shower... and it should be noted that Bob C's cat likes to do his bathroom business while one does their's... alas, that proved to be an awkward start to the day. Following this debacle, Bob proceeded to ask Syndey about SPS... Syd agreed that SPS was a good starting point... alas, looked at data and began my chase log from the day before.
Gary Wellman called me around 11am CT; stating he was heading over to Bob's -- Bobcat had left for OU to work on his precious PhD, so he wouldn't be able to chase until later in the afternoon. Gary arrived; continued looking at data. Called Melissa Moon who was still being a slugabed around this time; but she soon awoke and got her act together. Now around 12:30pm CT, Mel called informing of a TOR watch just to our W/SW. Great, early convection :0( --- Told her not to rush, but that I'd like to depart around 1pm. Melissa and her VW bug arrived around 1:20pm CT and we departed for Duncan. Gary had live Barron WXWorxs radar in the vehicle, alas, I was spoiled with real-time radar the entire trip S on I-44. The SPS cell took off along the boundary; split, and became quite the beast. This must have been the time Roger Hill was observing his tornado prior to it crossing the Red River. TOR warning went up for the cell as it moved NE towards Temple.
At Duncan; Scott Weberpal called inquiring if we were viewing a tornado yet. Nope... alas, bathroom break/top off the gas tank stop ensued, and we headed S towards Comanche and HW53 W. Shot W towards Corum observing the beast of April '04 -- massive meso (morphing into HP mode) with low base just to our W/NW (2-4 miles away). Stopped, tripoded/shot stills for apx 4 minutes before backtracking E on HW53. Let the meso follow us E (this seems to be a theme recently), then shot N on "local road" (??? just E of the Stephens Co. line) where we stopped again to view the low murky beast looming just to our NW. Decided to take an official wind measurement with my propeller beenie hat, measuring inflow of 15-20kts. KFOR drove past with cameras rolling, alas, if one sees video of a tall lanky doofus wearing a Wall of Voodoo "Tour of Virtue - 1983" shirt; coupled with a red/yellow propeller beenie hat... that's me.
Removing the beenie, we headed N on "local road"; and became halted momentarily by two puppies in the road. Continue N then shot E on "local road" (EW 177 RD). Now heading E from Gas City (there was defiantly some major flatulence ongoing there) continued back to HW81 S of Duncan. Headed N and briefly got into precip by driving N then E/SE on HW7 (under a nice low level inflow tail - made for some interesting video). Got well E/SE of the precip and tripoded again. As per the usual theme of 2004, yet another equipment failure befouled me; as my Canon EOS Rebel II 35mm still camera became problematic. Lost an half/entire roll of film.. alas, no more stills for the rest of the chase. Melissa laughed at me here, now being witness to my cell phone breaking in mid-conversation while heading home from the MN chase last Sunday, and now this; both of which are well documented on videotape.
Continued sticking with the storm on HW7; passed Gene and Karen along with Roger and others... once again, perfect timing to work on my Roger Hill impression/laugh while videotaping. The cell phased again, then morphed into a rainy blob. It should be noted that I left a water bottle atop my vehicle E of Velma; which I forgot about (being the scatterbrain I am), and drove off unknowingly. The water bottle proceeded to fly off my van, nearly missing the windshield of a vehicle directly behind me containing Howard Bluestien. Was my face red :0/
More chase-related debacles ensued; stopping at Ratlif City for a bathroom break. I noticed my left-rear tire was near-flat. Inflating it with air, and doing some quick tire-surgery; Gary inserted fix-a-flat while I proceeded to do a temp-fix with "regular flavored" Bubble Yum. It worked for the most part, albeit blowing a bubble or two while stopped. Proceeded E on HW7 where the recently purchased Dr. Pepper exploded all over me while mobile... how annoying! Stopped at another gas station to clean myself up and check on the tire before heading back N on I-35 to Norman.
Grabbed dinner in Norman with Mel, Dan Dawson, and several other OU grads... had a great time meeting/conversing with new people whom I had corresponded with/heard of before... yet never had met. Really makes me want to come down to OU for grad school in a few years.
Summing up... what a humorous and exciting chase! I would comment this could have very well been "the perfect storm" had 700mb winds been a bit stronger. Congratz to those whom observed a tornado with this beast. Many thanks to my chase partners Gary Wellman and Melissa Moon for help with data/navigation/other tomfoolery.
To nowcasters Chris Gullikson, Chris Novy, and Scott Weberpal... your help/opinions were extremely valuable... and thank you for taking the time out of your day to phone a little red minivan containing three wx. weenies (well, at least one, Mel who was dawning the OU WX. Weenie shirt).
Need to get an oil change/fix my flat tire now. Tired, but heading back to Kalamazoo tonight. Stills will be online from 22-23 of April in the coming week.
..Blake..
