2013-05-31 REPORTS: OK/KS

[Bill Hark]

I have finally completed a very extensive storm chase report on the May 31, 2013 El Reno tornado with images, video, maps, gps log with radar, and archived weather data. For those who get bored with long chase logs, scroll down to see the images. A very exciting, scary and tragic day. http://www.harkphoto.com/05312013.html Bill Hark

 

[Simon Brewer]

"Mega-Wedge": image below taken from I-40 southeast side of El Reno looking southwest at tornado at it's maximum size

Juston Drake and I spent a portion of the afternoon 31 May 2013 sitting in Okarche, OK watching the instability and shear steadily increase with each passing moment. The following day we calculated the effective-layer EHI's in Canadian County to possibly be 18-23, which is in the "ridiculous/unheard of" range. Documented line of towers/storms develop and watched a possible rain-wrapped tornado develop Southwest of Calumet. South of Calumet at the intersection of Calumet Road and I-40 we documented a large rain-wrapped multivortex tornado develop and rapidly move southeast (El Reno tornado). We stayed on I-40 and watched the torando transition to a "mega-wedge" similar to the Hallam NE tornado of May 22 2004. We were intercepted by a weak tornado circulation at the intersection of the RFD gustfront and primary inflow band on I-40 as we repositioned east near intersection of I-40 and Banner Rd. We, also, encountered 2 large traffic jams in West OKC and opted to document the storm and another large tornado, rather than sit in traffic, at the OKC airport parking garage. Tragic day with passing of several fellow chasers and many other victims due to the tornadoes and flooding.

Links to Stormgasm.com and blog below:

http://stormgasm.com/5-31-13/5-31-13.htm

http://stormgasmcom.wordpress.com/

 

[cdcollura]

Good day all,

I already have a detailed report on here ... Below is the link to my video account on this day (May 31)...

 

[Dan Robinson]

I have completed my final chase log page for the El Reno tornado. This account collects all of the information about the event I've compiled over the past month, including:

- Chase account
- GPS track
- Event time analysis spreadsheet
- Dashcam footage
- Camera footage
- Still images
- Video frame grabs (many new added)
- Resource links

The page is located here:

http://stormhighway.com/may312013.shtml

 

[Bobby Prentice]

"Here is probably the *LAST* version of the El Reno map study, since I am running out of space and color variations. It adds 15 more chasers and corrects for Skip Talbot’s track. Feel free to use this map in any way that is helpful to you or others. It was never intended to include everyone or provide complete routes but just show an example of the spread of chasers, range of their driving, and decisions made. Likewise for the many time-line stamps received, including much additional information that was beyond the scope of this display (a few times were left in to show when someone started or stopped, as an example). Special thanks for detailed replies from Jim Bishop, Simon Brewer, Bill Hark and Dan Robinson. I am sure that your good work and that of others, received here, will appear in future scholarly studies and maybe, someday, a book about -- El Reno 2013.
--
David Hoadley

[Broken External Image]:https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/q71/s720x720/1291_10200943175255539_1290497209_n.jpg

 

[Scott Nicholson]

I finally got to the GoPro video taken while chasing the El Reno tornado. The compacted video is a series of short clips (sped up slightly) of the 2.6 mile wide EF5 El Reno tornado from my GoPro video camera mounted on the side window. A brief second tornado is included in this video...with a series of power flashes illuminating the condensation funnel on the ground. Enjoy!
Watch video >

 

[Nick Nolte]

My chase log for the El Reno day is finally up on my blog. I took a different approach with this write up. Rather than write it as a methodical chase log like I usually do. It's written more as a first person story or experience as the day unfolded. I felt that style was better suited for this event. Anyway, here's the link to the post: http://www.nicknoltewx.com/blog/2013/07/15/may-31-2013-the-el-reno-ef-5/

 

[Bobby Prentice]

I finally got around to posting my video of the May 31, 2013 El Reno, Oklahoma EF-5 tornado.

 

[William Reid]

My video of the beginning stage of the El Reno OK tornado is online:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdPpgCKlcdg&feature=youtu.be

And, my chase account is here:

http://stormbruiser.com/chase/2013/05/31/may-31-2013-el-reno-ok-tornado/

William Reid
Westlake Village, CA

 

[Danny Neal]

Final edit

The morning of the 31st of May, 2013 was spent like any other chase day morning. We had barely slept the night before and when we did sleep it was a light snooze in uncomfortable quarters. Chalk it up as being uncomfortable or having nervous energy or a little combination of both. Ben Holcomb graciously allowed us to bunk in his apartment free of charge so we plopped our belongings down and claimed corners of the place. Any time we visit the Oklahoma City area we stay at Hotel Holcomb and enjoy the company of many of our friends. By nine thirty in the morning Alec, Ben, Adam, Jari, and I were up and about. The potential was pretty substantial for a high impact event effecting the Oklahoma City metro area near rush hour. A couple of other chasers showed up at Ben’s place and we took off for lunch at Mama Veca’s Mexican Restaurant in Norman. Fantastic meal at a reasonable price. I made sure to load up on food because there is never a guarantee when the next meal will be! I noticed while we were eating lunch that the local media was already hammering home the severe weather threat and I even caught a certain CNN interview. This was going to be the last day of the chase trip and probably my last day out on the plains in 2013.
After lunch, we fueled up next to the restaurant and headed back across 35 to Ben’s place. Much like May 20th, I had a very nervous feeling. Almost like a bad omen or the feeling of worry. Driving into the Oklahoma City metro on the 20th, I developed a bad vibe and felt pretty nervous. I had never felt that way before a chase. My inner voice was almost telling me not to chase and to leave the area, but I ignored it and witnessed an EF-5 tornado slamming into Moore from under a mile away. Eleven days later I had the same feeling in the same area. It was a weird sensation comparable to the feeling a child gets when he or she does something wrong that they know their parents will find out about. Reflecting on those feelings has led me to believe that I felt that way due to the fact that I consider the Oklahoma City area a second home. I love that city and love the area. I have hundreds of friends and acquaintances in and around the metro area and I was consciously worried for their homes and families.

Forecast:

Upon arriving to Ben’s apartment, the seven of us sat around and monitored data. It physically felt like a bad storm day. Highs at noon were already in the middle 80′s with dew points approaching 75. The thermodynamic parameters for the day were impressive. 4,500-5,500 J/KG of SBCAPE, a tough but breakable cap to hold off convection just long enough, good lapse rates, and a favorably timed wave ejecting out into the area just after peak heating. Kinematically speaking, there was still a little bit left to be desired. Winds were slightly veered through the afternoon ahead of the dry line. A secondary surface low was forecast to develop near the Childress area and move into Western Oklahoma. This strengthening low would back winds along the dry line into the late afternoon hours and spelled trouble. Taking a closer look at things, at least two prominent outflow boundaries were evident on visible satellite imagery. The first one extended from Springfield, MO toward the Ponca City, OK area. The latter was [much like May 20th] centered over the Oklahoma City metro extending west, just south of the Interstate 40 corridor. One good thing about live forecasting severe weather events in Oklahoma is their Mesonet system. Up to the minute wind direction, temperatures, and dew points really help you get a look at minute details such as moisture pooling and convergence. After three o’clock, winds really started to back with upper 70 dew points pooling between El Reno and Chickasha along the stagnant dry line. The atmosphere was priming itself for something spectacular and the seven of us knew it would be within 25 miles of the metro.

Initiation:

Considering I didn’t sleep well the past several days, my fatigue began wearing on me and I laid on Ben’s couch for twenty or thirty minutes. Not sure if I actually slept or not, but was jolted awake by everyone screaming about a meso-scale discussion outlining a pretty significant tornado threat for our general area. I hopped on Facebook to see what my fellow chasers were saying and to compare thoughts. Scrolling through various statuses I got the feeling that everyone knew the potential. I recall one status from a well known chaser exclaiming “Today could be the costliest and deadliest tornado day in Oklahoma’s history.†Events such as April 26th, 1991, May 3rd, 1999, May 24th, 2011, and other dates were fresh in my mind. Half past three and NWSChat “dinged†with a PDS tornado watch. In a mad scramble, we all grabbed our video cameras and ran over to the wall mounted weather radio in anticipation. Normally we wouldn’t capture such a thing, but with today having the potential to be such a historical day… the opportunity couldn’t be passed up. A peculiar thing about chasing today was that we really didn’t have to drive anywhere. Unfortunately for Ben, his apartment was directly in the line of fire. While many other chasers had to travel, we stayed put. It seemed like a massive convergence was gathering in El Reno. It was pretty easy to see why.

Rapid thunderstorm growth was underway well off to the north and east across Missouri and Kansas. A couple tornado warnings were issued for cells interacting with the aforementioned Northern out flow boundary. We continued to wait. At four, Ben turned on the local news channels to see what Mike Morgan and Gary England were saying. To my shock they already had crews in the field with live streams running. I had never seen anything quite like it before. There was so much panic and attention given to the situation that news stations were legitimately covering towering cumulus fields and reporting them live. We watched for an hour as live coverage continued and tiny green echoes started dotting the dry line. By five o clock, rapid supercell growth was apparent and we knew that was our cue to get moving.

The Chase Is On:

The seven of us grabbed our gear and threw in our respective vehicles. Adam drove his black Expedition with Alec and I and Ben his green pick up with Lindsey, Jari, and Stephen Jones. We headed to I 35 and Lindsey where our plan was to head south to Highway 9 then west to I 44 and make a judgement call on whether or not to head for isolated cells by Lawton or a cluster of storms near Hinton. A couple of events took place during the time it took to get from Ben’s place to 44 and from 44 to our storm intercept. I won’t go as far as to call it divine intervention, but certain things slowed us down just enough where we didn’t find ourselves in extreme danger. We hit Lindsey and attempted to enter I 35 southbound, but the on ramp and southbound traffic was absolute gridlock. It took nearly twenty-five minutes to get the one mile distance it covers from Lindsey, over the Canadian River , and to Route 9.

The time was just before five thirty and we finally were able to exit onto Hwy 9. Cloud to ground lightning was occurring close enough away that we heard thunder. The storm was still over twenty five miles away. From our vantage point the whole northern horizon was filled with precipitation, the eastern sky was dominated by a large anvil that spread all the way to the horizon, and the southern sky had two dominant updrafts in bright sunshine. The western sky, however, was the main attraction. A brilliant rock hard updraft stretched into the Heavens with very distinct inflow features evident even this far away. I remember making a comment that holds so true in these dry line supercell set ups. Literally there could a mass of chaos in your area, 20 miles to the south the sun is shining, 25 more miles to the south another mass of chaos. We quickly approached the Hwy 9/I 44 intersection and made the call to head toward the massive supercell encroaching on Southern Canadian County. No tornado warning was issued yet, but it was obvious something big was going to happen. I remember looking at the METAR for El Reno and seeing a jaw dropping 83/77 with a backed flow in excess of twenty knots. There were three updrafts battling each other for dominance. The strongest one at the time was to the north near Hennessey. At this time a couple of tornado reports came in. A rope that briefly lasted a few minutes before dissipating. With the Mesonet knowledge fresh in my mind and the storm visually looking better, we made the decision to forego the I 44 route and stick north to play the El Reno storm. Ben was in the lead and Adam decided to follow him. We were all in agreement because this was Ben’s backyard and we knew he knew how to get us to the best spots. With his knowledge of the back roads we figured we could avoid traffic jams on the main highway and be in good position to view the tornado if one were to form. We hit Hwy 37 and passed through Tuttle. At this time the storm went tornado warned. Our position was about 10 miles southeast of the area of rotation developing near Reno Road and Methodist Road.
Since the storm was clearly visible from our position, we didn’t really pay attention to the radar or our GPS position since Ben was in the lead. A sculpted updraft base came into view with rain curtains wrapping around the back side. A ragged wall cloud was visible way off on the horizon as we approached US 81. We turned north and accelerated into the updraft region of the supercell. It was at this point in time I like to think this miscalculation saved our well beings. Just north of Minco, the road splits with US 81 going north to Union City and west toward Binger. We got to the intersection around six o clock and turned left [west] instead of continuing north. Adam and I both questioned this move, but we figured Ben knew a short cut on the back roads so we went with it. Over the next ten minutes we headed on the back roads to the south of the Canadian River noting interesting features on the northern horizon. Once we hit Ranch Road, the seven of us flew north across the river and turned east on Reno Road. From a visual aspect the area of rotation appeared to have crossed the north/south Ranch Road and was a few miles to our east. We didn’t get more than one half mile east on Reno Road before we hit RFD precipitation from the north. Some interesting things clued us in to what may have been lurking in the rain ahead. Several semi trucks and cars came bailing west out of the gray mass blaring their horns and flashing their lights. We knew SOMETHING was up there, but couldn’t see through the back end of the hook. The “hook slice†technique is one that all of us are accustomed to doing and generally netted some fantastic views of the tornado off to the side of the road. To elaborate on hook slicing; sometimes we fall just behind a storm and the only option to keep ahead of it in the least amount of time is to blast from west to east through the wrap around precipitation into the updraft area. This isn’t exactly the safest of moves to take as you will find out.
We powered east toward Courtney Road with visibility and conditions rapidly dropping. The sky to the east was a very dark shade of gray and the flow went from a strong northwest to a stronger north. We approached Heaston Road and conditions immediately went down to nothing. A loud roaring sound was heard at this time and we were getting north east winds sustained at severe levels. Natural gas smell filled the air and our instincts told us to bail immediately. In fact in my video you hear me say “We are in a bad spot, we need to bail.†If there is one thing I can pass along to you from that particular experience is that you NEED to be aware of your situational awareness and trust your instincts. Clues such as oncoming traffic, smells, and especially wind direction and speed. Had we continued just one mile more on Reno Road to Chiles Road we would have driven directly into the core of tornado. We aborted on the outer circulation of it and while we didn’t physically see the multiple vortex nature of it at the time, we knew it was right there and that traveling east was just not going to happen. We made a U-turn and pulled up next to Ben where we both rolled down our windows and said “F$#@ that!†A probable life saving decision. At this point in time we lost Ben and gang for the remainder of the day. We back tracked down Reno Road west to Ranch Road before heading back to the US 81/39 JCT that we passed by earlier. On our fifteen minute drive back a lot of things occurred in the storm chasing community. Probably one of the most pivotal fifteen minutes in chasing ever. We crested a hill along the southern bank of the river and I swear I saw a gigantic white cone tornado off to the northeast about four miles in distance. I shouted out TORNADO and Adam verified my suspicions saying he saw that too. On top of the next hill the feature was gone so that doubt always lingered in our mind.

This is when the chase went from mildly frustrating to downright scary. Adam’s and my phone started receiving many text messages saying to please say we were okay and asking for us to say something and to verify our well being. We both looked very puzzled and just assumed it was because Adam lost internet connection and, given our proximity to the circulation, his Spotter Network icon must have gone “dead†and worried everyone. After a few text messages it became painfully clear what just happened. This monster circulation put down a beast of a tornado that hit several chasers. At the time the only reports we were getting were the ones pertaining to The Weather Channel crew. We reached the JCT of 81 and decided to head north toward Union City where it seemed like every single person in the state of Oklahoma was sitting on the side of the road watching. Onward we progressed into town where a road block was set up directing traffic to the east toward Mustang. I was unsure whether or not the tornado was still in progress and never knew of the dramatic shift it took. The tornado was 5 miles north of where we were currently located [at least in my mind]. In reality the tornado made a large curve to the north and was dissipating on I 40 eight miles to our northeast. We traveled east several more miles in bumper to bumper traffic before deciding to bail south on Richland Road to avoid the congestion. It was at this point that we tried to restore our internet connection and see what else was going and if there was another play. Sitting at Richland Road and 104th Street, I noticed another wall cloud looming to our northwest and pointed it out that we should make a play at it. As we moved west on 104th, the wall cloud became much better organized and a little too close for comfort. The only option was to bail north on Banner Road and back east on 152 since there were no south options thanks to the Canadian River.

I got a bit nervous at this time because the wind had really started picking up. Upon further analysis we were right on the threshold of a strong rotation directly behind us and the RFD of the original supercell/violent tornado to our immediate north. Needless to say we were in a bad spot. On a normal chase this would have been really easy to escape, but given the fact we were in the metro area in gridlocked traffic…. it just wasn’t possible. I was very alarmed with the circulation behind us because I was able to pull up NWSChat from my phone and they repeatedly mentioned a strong tornado possibility. We reached the town of Mustang with winds sustained at seventy miles per hour out of the northwest. There was no rain falling at the time, the sky was roiling with an eerie shade of aqua, and damage was occurring on both sides of the road. Power was out in town as winds continued to increase into the eighty to ninety mile per hour range. Power poles were being snapped, tree branches tumbling, and even parts of roofs started to come off. It was a hair raising drive east to our south option. I plotted an escape route on Mustang Road that would have taken us south to Hwy 4 and then back south to highway 37 where we would have a couple of different options. Due to the incredibly deteriorated conditions our route was blocked by a falling tree. We made a three point turn and went back north to 152 and back east another mile to the actual Hwy 4. Unknown at the time, but another tornado was in progress two miles to our east at the Will Rogers Airport which would explain why we were battling a northerly wind at damaging levels.

Finally we reached Hwy 4 and accelerated south with no cars in sight. It was such a good feeling to be free of the storms reach. That was until we made it three miles and encountered the worst situation I could have EVER imagined. Unknown to us at the time, several media meteorologists urged residents in Yukon, Mustang, and Oklahoma City to get out of their homes and bail south on the highway. This created an all out panic and clogged the roads worst than any rush hour in Chicago. We were boxed in on the far left lane of the Canadian River bridge as a dangerous lowering approached. I was so mad and upset at this point. So this is how it was going to end? Chased nearly one hundred tornadoes, thousands of storms, and the way I was going to go was having a huge tornado drop while trapped on a bridge. I couldn’t yell to go anywhere because there were literally thousands of people on the road trying to head south. We crept along at ten miles per hour as this ominous lowering approached. We finally made it over to the right hand shoulder and acted with urgency due to the extreme danger we were in. Adam used very aggressive driving maneuvers to put us in the best position of safety. The next road south of the river was Silver City Ridge Road. Our goal was to get south of the river and then take the back roads out of harms way. Since supercells kept firing and re firing over the same area to our northwest, we made the call that heading west to try to beat the southward advancing storms was our only feasible shot. We traveled 3 miles west on Silver City Ridge Road before turning south on Cemetary Road. Traffic was pretty heavy, but moving at a good clip so we figured we were in good position. Another three miles to the south and we were back on 37. After letting twenty or so cars pass, we turned out and headed west toward Tuttle. This is when our scariest encounter with Mother Nature of the day occurred…

I noticed a very low hanging ragged looking wall cloud immediately to our northwest. The sky was getting absolutely swallowed into this thing. The motion was incredible! After passing a grove of trees, this wall cloud planted a stout cone tornado on the ground one mile to our northwest. Given the storm motion had accelerated to the southeast, I yelled to floor it west. Winds started to increase dramatically. The tornado was rapidly moving at us. Seventy, eighty, nearly ninety miles an hour we could not beat it before it crossed the road directly over us. Horns blaring, we flew into town. People were driving around town like nothing was happening. Just as we got into town is when the tornado hit us. Sheet metal started flying off buildings and nearly struck the car, tree branches were being lofted, and winds were gusting in the eighty mile per hour range. Thankfully the tornado was very weak or else our story may not have ever been told. That was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I was mentally exhausted from chasing that day and plotted us our best route to get to Anadarko where we could finally escape Mother Nature’s cold hand of death.

Pictures:

Supercell comes into view just west of Tuttle, OK

Large rotating wall cloud to our north to the southwest of Union City

Bailing south on Ranch Road out of the outer circulation of a violent tornado

Our position at 6:05 P.M in relation to the tornado

Our position at 6:09 P.M in relation to the tornado and when we decided to bail

Photo courtesy of Patrick Marsh depicting the major traffic jam we experienced to the south of Mustang on HWY 4.
​

Video:


0 comments

Full summary: http://www.nrnilstormchaser.com/20130531

 

[Gregory Kaeser]

Our report of this day in El Reno in our blog:http://www.westwind.ch/usa13/20130531/20130531.html

Greetings
Gregory

 

[Skip Talbot]

Six months after the fact, the details of this day are still vivid in my mind, and we know so much more about what happened now. It's a weight off my shoulders finally having time to commit these details to writing, in what is by far my most extensive and detailed chase log to date. My chase log from May 31:
http://skip.cc/chase/130531/

Much of the photography is courtesy my chase partner, Jennifer Brindley Ubl.

Some frame grabs from my video:

 

[Terrence Cook]

After this event I had no desire to edit or even watch the video. However, our team did a great job chasing this event and our story seemed worthy of sharing in a documentary style. I chased with Greg McLaughlin, Casey Zanderberg, Joseph Tyree and Derek Weston.