Verne Carlson
EF5
Caught a tornado near Burbank. OK today. It hung out for about 5 minutes. First of the season for me!
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2011-04-14 REPORTS: OK/TX/KS
- Thread starter Verne Carlson
- Start date
Caught a tornado near Burbank. OK today. It hung out for about 5 minutes. First of the season for me!
Michael Ratliff
EF1
Ray Walker,Keeton Storts and I caught a violent wedge sw of Stonewall OK . Tornado was rain wrapped for many miles as we caught up to it ! Not fun as it showed up abut 100 yards to our NW . Will post video tomorrow ,,,,,, Hard chase day.
Jeremy Jones
Got another late start on today, Started my chase near Shawnee, and hopped onto those set of storms. Stayed on the Northern target out of those storms until the southern most cell took over. After going down numerous gravel/dirt roads, and being forced to turn back on most of them due to flooding, and dead ends, ended up on US 56 and was treated to a beauty of LP Sup, with a huge inflow tail! Stayed with that storm until it fell apart North of Okemah, Oklahoma. Below is a shot of the LP Sup, which brought a huge smile to my face, after an exhausting chase in the Jungles, of Eastern Ok!
Mikey Gribble
EF5
That is a video grab of the tornado north of Stroud, Oklahoma. We got on that storm and stayed with it until east of Tulsa and then called it a day. I am surprised at how sloppy and clustered storms were today over central and northeast Oklahoma coming off the dryline. Every time this storm would start to look like it was going to get its act together some convection would come in from the south and merge with it. It is hard to be upset with a tornado, but I was really hoping for a better storm today. Not bad though. Good stat padder day.
Doug Drace
EF1
A very successful chase day in SC/SE OK!!! My chase partner Kavin and myself headed to Stratford to setup and ended up back in Davis at initiation. Hail 2+ inches in dia on the north side of Davis, a really nice wallcloud with numerous funnels, then got on the Tornado Warned storm near Pontotac which had a huge beautifully sculpted wallcloud. Finally dropped down to the storm that developed near Ardmore and moved east through Madill and Tishamingo, which is where we bagged this intense Huge Meso that spawned a nasty Multi-Vortex Tornado on HWY 22, 2-3 mi SE of Tishamingo!!! Ended up within a city block of this incredible tornado, and found the only treeless whole in the landscape to roll video on it. WHAT A DAY!!!
Video Clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlyUqo8G3V8
Full Length Video Tishamingo Multi-Vortex:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzUhVp14pMg&feature=channel_video_title
Cone/Stovepipe Tornado 2 miles NNE of the Tishamingo Multi-Vortex
Wallcloud/Funnel south of Coleman, OK
***On a sobering note, this is the same Tornadic Supercell that went on to produce the Killer Tushka Tornado in Atoka County...
Video Clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlyUqo8G3V8
Full Length Video Tishamingo Multi-Vortex:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzUhVp14pMg&feature=channel_video_title
Cone/Stovepipe Tornado 2 miles NNE of the Tishamingo Multi-Vortex
Wallcloud/Funnel south of Coleman, OK
***On a sobering note, this is the same Tornadic Supercell that went on to produce the Killer Tushka Tornado in Atoka County...
Last edited by a moderator:
Ben Holcomb
EF5
David Drummond and I caught a short-lived tornado near Stroud, OK this afternoon.
Watch video >
I finally saw a tornado and will sleep in my own bed tonight - a first for me!
Here is my recap http://www.benholcomb.com/Chase-Accounts/20110414
Watch video >
I finally saw a tornado and will sleep in my own bed tonight - a first for me!
Here is my recap http://www.benholcomb.com/Chase-Accounts/20110414
Last edited by a moderator:
ScottKoenig
EF0
Was on the cell near Burbank, OK that formed a Tornado for 5 minutes or so. Can't complain but was hoping for some more discrete Supercells in northern OK.
Video screen grab, I will try and post the video in the morning.
Video screen grab, I will try and post the video in the morning.
James Clarke
EF0
I observed the Tushka, Oklahoma tornado while it was doing lots of damage in the center of town . It hit about 730pm.Damage extends to east of Atoka along and north of Hwy 3.
Stayed overnight and slept in my SUV to document the damage. Tushka/Atoka Tornado Damage photos on flickr. More photos will be added.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/61799597@N04/
Stayed overnight and slept in my SUV to document the damage. Tushka/Atoka Tornado Damage photos on flickr. More photos will be added.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/61799597@N04/
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Tim Segraves
EF0
I caught a brief funnel in Cowley County, KS. Here is a screen grab from the dash cam. Things were definitely disorganized in SE KS. I'll have a more proper write-up later this weekend.
Brandon Sullivan
EF5
Robert Rohloff
EF3
Headed west from Tulsa as the storms started to fire. Caught one tornado west of Hwy 99 and just north of Stroud video grab of it. It was only on the ground for a few seconds in a field.
James Langford
EF4
Chased SE OK today along 75 from out of Dallas. Caught the Atoka supercell just as it hit town, and observed the large destructive tornado from about 2 miles south of town. Approaching town on 75, we made the decision to turn around due to the tree damage in the road and a blown over semi. Learned later about the severe damage in Tushka, and now wish we had continued into town and offered assistance.
Zachary Biggs
EF0
Headed north out of Allen Texas on 75 with James Langford and Justin Terveen at around 5:30pm. We targeted a large supercell about to pass north of Durant Oklahoma and made it just in time to see an extremely low contrast multi-vortex tornado cross 75 south of Atoka Oklahoma. I didn't get any pictures of it, and am unsure of how the video will turn out. After passing through the south side of the damage path we flipped around and shot lightning from cells further west near I 35. We than headed back into Texas where we witnessed an incredible lightning display in northern Collin County on the back side of the squall line.
Despite being a last minute quick run into Oklahoma it was the most successful chase I have ever had.
Despite being a last minute quick run into Oklahoma it was the most successful chase I have ever had.
cstrunk
EF3
I got a late start this evening after work. I headed northwest and eventually ran into the damage path in Tushka, OK from the tornado that went through there. The town smelled strongly of freshly mowed grass. I saw the overturned semis and downed powerlines/trees. Not a good feeling to drive into a town after it was hit by a tornado. I turned around and headed back home since I had no gear to help, it had already been about an hour since they were hit, and another tornado warning was issued for the area. Didn't want to get in the way. Sad to hear about the fatalities. Thoughts and prayers for them tonight.
That was the first time I've encountered such a situation. I will definitely try to bring emergency gear with me in the future.
That was the first time I've encountered such a situation. I will definitely try to bring emergency gear with me in the future.
Jeff Snyder
EF5
Ugh, another underwhelming chase E of I35 for me, yet again. I left the NWC with Jana Houser and Corey Potvin in my vehicle (with Robin, Dan, and a few others in another) in the early afternoon, with an overall goal to get E of the dryline by ~45 miles along a nice N/S road. We figured this would get us downstream enough to give us enough time to select the best looking storm to chase. So, we opted to set an initial staging point in Seminole along I40. We noticed first initiation down in the Arbuckles, with other storms initiating almost the entire length of the dryline from the Red River northward. Forecast soundings from the morning runs didn't show much in the way of a cap, and the 12z NSSL 4 km WRF and noonish HRRR runs indicated a "string of pearls" arc of supercells along the DL. We thought we were playing this best by patiently waiting to see which storms would persist out of the half-dozen or more storms that developed along and just ahead of the DL. There was a relatively persistent signal of messy, widespread convection N of BVO, and there was a relatively consistent signal for more discrete supercells along and S of I40, so we opted to find a location that would maximize the time that a storm could spend in good chase terrain (an area that extends less to the E as one gets farther S from I40). We did think hard about heading into southern Oklahoma, but I was very concerned that storms would rather quickly end up E of US 69, in areas that are extremely difficult to chase. As such, we figured we'd optimize our opportunity to chase a supercell in easier road networks and terrain if we stuck closer to I40.
The base of a storm developing just S of I40 NW of Seminole looked pretty good, though it was interfered with by a left-split that moved up from the first Davis supercell; we took some ~0.5-0.75" hail in at the I40/Rt 99 intersection from this left-mover. Our initial cell developed some decent low-level structure, with a decent-looking wall cloud, but we refocused southwest when another storm developed to the our initial storm's immediate southwest. Considering the proximity of the storms, we figured that we'd opt for the storm that had the least obstructed inflow, and there was a pretty good gap between the supercell down near Sulphur and the developing and maturing storm E of Shawnee along I40. The storm, for most of its life, looked rather strung out, though it did look pretty nice twice -- once southeast of Prague (when we were moving east towards Okemah) and once as it neared Castle (W of Okemah). We kept up with the storm as it moved ENE, eventually getting through Okemah and following it N and E on Rt 56 towards Okmulgee. The storm gave us some quarters (just a rough estimate -- we were driving and didn't want to stop), but it soon fell apart as it got NE of Okemah. Ugh.
Nothing else around (within reach, at least) was looking any better, so we opted to try to take a shot at the first storm we set our sites on when it developed near Shawnee; this storm was now N of Okmulgee. We ended up taking some zig-zag option, eventually catching up with it near Wagoner. By this time, it was getting dark, but we did see a nice wall cloud / low-level meso (barrel-shaped) with a centrally-located "nipple" or bowl shape. In fact, as it was just NW of Wagoner, it looked almost imminently tornadic. Alas, we hit US 69, which essentially marked the end of our chase -- the chase terrain rapidly worsens E of there, and it was getting dark anyway. The storm's low-level structure weakened, and we called it a day N of Wagoner.
I have to say, I expected a different outcome today. Considering the wind profiles and instability (with the very steep mid-level lapse rates), I really was expected a day with multiple strong tornadoes from multiple supercells in eastern Oklahoma. The fact that the NAM and RUC were forecasting very little CINH was a concern for me, and perhaps one of the problems was just too many storms, which resulted in endless storm interactions. Td depressions weren't that bad, moisture depth was pretty good, and the outflow I experienced wasn't terribly cold (it was cool, but not cold). Some of the storms had atypical reflectivity structures, which tells me that the shear profiles may have been a little off, even though SRH was pretty high in most of the area.
Sure, just when I get a setup with decent moisture (magnitude and depth, considering the time of year), strong wind shear, good veering profile, steep mid-level lapse-rates, and no issues with strong capping, I still come up without any tornadic video or pictures. I did see some decent low-level structure (e.g. wall clouds, beaver tails, etc.) a couple of times, but it was largely underwhelming (particularly considering expectations).
The base of a storm developing just S of I40 NW of Seminole looked pretty good, though it was interfered with by a left-split that moved up from the first Davis supercell; we took some ~0.5-0.75" hail in at the I40/Rt 99 intersection from this left-mover. Our initial cell developed some decent low-level structure, with a decent-looking wall cloud, but we refocused southwest when another storm developed to the our initial storm's immediate southwest. Considering the proximity of the storms, we figured that we'd opt for the storm that had the least obstructed inflow, and there was a pretty good gap between the supercell down near Sulphur and the developing and maturing storm E of Shawnee along I40. The storm, for most of its life, looked rather strung out, though it did look pretty nice twice -- once southeast of Prague (when we were moving east towards Okemah) and once as it neared Castle (W of Okemah). We kept up with the storm as it moved ENE, eventually getting through Okemah and following it N and E on Rt 56 towards Okmulgee. The storm gave us some quarters (just a rough estimate -- we were driving and didn't want to stop), but it soon fell apart as it got NE of Okemah. Ugh.
Nothing else around (within reach, at least) was looking any better, so we opted to try to take a shot at the first storm we set our sites on when it developed near Shawnee; this storm was now N of Okmulgee. We ended up taking some zig-zag option, eventually catching up with it near Wagoner. By this time, it was getting dark, but we did see a nice wall cloud / low-level meso (barrel-shaped) with a centrally-located "nipple" or bowl shape. In fact, as it was just NW of Wagoner, it looked almost imminently tornadic. Alas, we hit US 69, which essentially marked the end of our chase -- the chase terrain rapidly worsens E of there, and it was getting dark anyway. The storm's low-level structure weakened, and we called it a day N of Wagoner.
I have to say, I expected a different outcome today. Considering the wind profiles and instability (with the very steep mid-level lapse rates), I really was expected a day with multiple strong tornadoes from multiple supercells in eastern Oklahoma. The fact that the NAM and RUC were forecasting very little CINH was a concern for me, and perhaps one of the problems was just too many storms, which resulted in endless storm interactions. Td depressions weren't that bad, moisture depth was pretty good, and the outflow I experienced wasn't terribly cold (it was cool, but not cold). Some of the storms had atypical reflectivity structures, which tells me that the shear profiles may have been a little off, even though SRH was pretty high in most of the area.
Sure, just when I get a setup with decent moisture (magnitude and depth, considering the time of year), strong wind shear, good veering profile, steep mid-level lapse-rates, and no issues with strong capping, I still come up without any tornadic video or pictures. I did see some decent low-level structure (e.g. wall clouds, beaver tails, etc.) a couple of times, but it was largely underwhelming (particularly considering expectations).
