My target was Wichita, but I got a late start. Storm looked incredible moving north on I-35 torward the Kansas border. Took the last free exit in Kansas (exit 4), and moved east to 77, then north. After that, I saw pretty much what everyone else did: several photogenic tornadoes, which I captured on video and took stills of. My pics don't look much different than what's been posted, so I won't bother taking up space. The chase day was incredible, and was worth 10x what it cost in gas.
Did notice a whole horde of locals clogging the roads, including several with the wives and kids in tow (saw whole families standing outside in the lightning). I quickly tired of this, so I hunted down a desolate county road, where I was not bothered until just before I decided to head back home. As I was getting into my car, this truck drove up with four adults crammed into the cab.
The driver said, "A friend of mine told me there were some tornadoes out here, and I told him he was full of shit. But we thought we'd come out and see." He had just missed a very nice 1-2 minute rope. :wink: They were drinking Keystone, by the way, and made no attempt to hide it.
I wonder how many of the bad reports chasers get from law enforcement and EMs actually are initiated by locals?
Yes, I DID notice that Oklahoma has had practically nothing this year. First we have 9+ months with no tornadoes (longest in recorded OK history), and then this tornado-handicapped spring. Makes it rough on the budget to travel to Kansas week after week. Maybe next year the SPC can move the good stuff back down south where it belongs.
