Tony Laubach
EF5
A day that I went in thinking was going to be a generic storm, perhaps get on something severe day... the word "tornado" never entered my mind, particularly across south/southeast KS. But I was out, got one the cells that formed near Braman, OK and crossed the border. For a good chunk of the early evening, it was a dance with the core, me trying to find the golfball hail reported near Oxford. Meanwhile, the storm started to take shape, velocity scans showing a large RFD forming, and suddenly the storm made a southeast turn. I was on the north side of the core outside Oxford when I observed this radar trend, so I cut out US-160, eventually into Winfield and south on 77 where I positioned near Hackney and pitched camp looking southwest. An area of interest with a little broad rotation suddenly gave way to a funnel, which teased at the ground for several minutes before making contact. It was brief, but it was the first tornado of the season for me, and marked the 21st anniversary of my very first tornado chase back on May 14, 1997 in Ohio.
After the tornado and subsequent snaky funnel, I was in the process of repositioning with the intention to get through Arkansas City and eventually east on US-166, but was T-boned in town by a woman who ran a stop sign. It put an abrupt end to my chase, as well as the career of the minivan. Fortunately, all involved with the accident were uninjured. She was cited with failure to yield. The quest for the next ride will begin ASAP.
That storm eventually cross back into Oklahoma, then turned a hard 90-degrees and came back up into Kansas (this was likely the storm seeing I was no longer able to chase and decided to come back). I have seen chunks of this radar loop, but would love to see it in its entirety as it crossed the KS/OK line at three different points, looking almost like a sine wave. Anyone who may have access to such a animation, I would be dorkingly delighted to see that.
This was the first day my living and working in Kansas paid off, as this was a day I would not have driven any real distance to chase. What a great surprise considering how things looked. It was very cool to see the evolution of that storm after fiddling with it so long, and even in its final moments prior to tornadogenesis, still not believing this was about to put down. What a satisfying chase in a season that has offered very little.
After the tornado and subsequent snaky funnel, I was in the process of repositioning with the intention to get through Arkansas City and eventually east on US-166, but was T-boned in town by a woman who ran a stop sign. It put an abrupt end to my chase, as well as the career of the minivan. Fortunately, all involved with the accident were uninjured. She was cited with failure to yield. The quest for the next ride will begin ASAP.
That storm eventually cross back into Oklahoma, then turned a hard 90-degrees and came back up into Kansas (this was likely the storm seeing I was no longer able to chase and decided to come back). I have seen chunks of this radar loop, but would love to see it in its entirety as it crossed the KS/OK line at three different points, looking almost like a sine wave. Anyone who may have access to such a animation, I would be dorkingly delighted to see that.
This was the first day my living and working in Kansas paid off, as this was a day I would not have driven any real distance to chase. What a great surprise considering how things looked. It was very cool to see the evolution of that storm after fiddling with it so long, and even in its final moments prior to tornadogenesis, still not believing this was about to put down. What a satisfying chase in a season that has offered very little.
