Quincy Vagell
EF4
A long awaited chase day did not disappoint, as there was action in multiple corridors.
I started around Wichita Falls, TX at midday and quickly decided to shoot south into the warm sector. I saw a line of storms in West Texas, but was not thrilled by the tendency for storm mergers and upscale growth into an MCS.
A fairly isolated cell began to rapidly organize southwest of Abilene and that was the storm of my choosing. I was able to get really close, but only saw a ragged lowering upon arrival. The cloud base was very low, only a couple hundred meters AGL, but it barely resembled what most would consider a bonafide wall cloud.
I followed the cell for a bit and even though it looked less impressive on radar with time (at least with respect to tornado potential), a funnel suddenly appeared and briefly lowered to the ground. The tornado was very brief and lifted within seconds.
I stopped in Abilene to review footage and was torn on what to do next...either continue with a cluster of cells north of town (into a favorable environment), or drop south for something more conditional in a strongly unstable air-mass ahead of the dryline. Considering that the southern play was out of the way and would mean a very late arrival back home, I finally caved north. The momentary lapse of judgment probably cost me a tornado that occurred near Stamford. I saw some decent structure, but was not close enough to see anything conclusive.
The active portion of the chase reached another peak when I was approaching Goree from the south and suddenly had stray golf balls banging on the car. I abruptly turned around and once the hail subsided, I got out to see what I could find. Little did I know that there were some roughly tennis ball size hailstones widely scattered about. I took a few photos and got back on the storm. I consider myself fortunate that one of the larger stones didn't smash my sunroof or windshield.
The chase was essentially over after the hail investigation, although I did encounter a few icy overpasses that were lightly coated in hail on my way back north. The drive from Wichita Falls to Oklahoma City was very challenging, with constant heavy rain, areas of fog, occasional hail and flash flooding. I basically drove through an MCS for two hours straight before getting home shortly before midnight.
I started around Wichita Falls, TX at midday and quickly decided to shoot south into the warm sector. I saw a line of storms in West Texas, but was not thrilled by the tendency for storm mergers and upscale growth into an MCS.
A fairly isolated cell began to rapidly organize southwest of Abilene and that was the storm of my choosing. I was able to get really close, but only saw a ragged lowering upon arrival. The cloud base was very low, only a couple hundred meters AGL, but it barely resembled what most would consider a bonafide wall cloud.
I followed the cell for a bit and even though it looked less impressive on radar with time (at least with respect to tornado potential), a funnel suddenly appeared and briefly lowered to the ground. The tornado was very brief and lifted within seconds.
I stopped in Abilene to review footage and was torn on what to do next...either continue with a cluster of cells north of town (into a favorable environment), or drop south for something more conditional in a strongly unstable air-mass ahead of the dryline. Considering that the southern play was out of the way and would mean a very late arrival back home, I finally caved north. The momentary lapse of judgment probably cost me a tornado that occurred near Stamford. I saw some decent structure, but was not close enough to see anything conclusive.
The active portion of the chase reached another peak when I was approaching Goree from the south and suddenly had stray golf balls banging on the car. I abruptly turned around and once the hail subsided, I got out to see what I could find. Little did I know that there were some roughly tennis ball size hailstones widely scattered about. I took a few photos and got back on the storm. I consider myself fortunate that one of the larger stones didn't smash my sunroof or windshield.


The chase was essentially over after the hail investigation, although I did encounter a few icy overpasses that were lightly coated in hail on my way back north. The drive from Wichita Falls to Oklahoma City was very challenging, with constant heavy rain, areas of fog, occasional hail and flash flooding. I basically drove through an MCS for two hours straight before getting home shortly before midnight.