2021-01-30 REPORTS: OK/MO

[KenMcWatters]

An unusual January storm chase! Around noon storms began firing near the triple point near the KS/OK border N of Tulsa. Per SPC at least 2 confirmed tornadoes occurred between Nowata, OK and Coffeeville, KS. That supercell moved almost due east toward Miami, OK. Meanwhile another low-topped supercell developed to the south, maturing near Vinita, OK where it crossed I-44. It became tornado warned at that time, and also became the dominant cell in the area.

I chased east of Vinita toward Afton, where I saw a thin white funnel descend from the back edge of the storm. I could not see if it made ground contact, and within a few minutes it roped out and dissipated. Pictures are below, taken about 4 miles to its SW.

I drove through Afton and continued east, where I soon saw pea to marble sized hail partially covering the ground. A fun start to the storm season!

 

[Nate M.]

It was a super fun little chase. Definitely a lot of action for January. I headed west out of home base in Southwest Missouri and got set up at that northern cell moving towards Hollow/Welch Ok. I got some shots of structure and then opted to head south for the Afton storm. I caught the very tail end of that rope near Afton, but at the time that happened I was having to really focus on driving and couldn’t pull over. The hail was deep there north of the turnpike on 59 and there were several wrecks due to the slick road. I wouldn’t have traveled far for that setup, but the little hour drive I had was a major payoff. Here’s the wall cloud of the storm near Welch