2022-04-23 REPORTS: OK/KS/MO/IA/MN/SD

[gdlewen]

We got a late start while waiting for an appliance delivery, and storms were underway W of OKC by the time we hit the road. Nevertheless, coming from Tulsa, this was more or less a local chase, and I felt certain we could intercept one of the cells streaming NE with plenty of time. We headed W on US Highway 412, exiting to head S on OK 18. I wanted to stay out of the hilly terrain descending into the Cimarron River valley, having made that mistake the last time I chased here. We settled in on the top of a hill about 5mi E of Stillwater on OK 51.

In retrospect, I think we had time to get closer by heading into Stillwater, and then south towards Perkins on OK 177, but I haven’t yet acquired a good feel for estimating my car-cell-relative motion. Until I do, I will have to err on the side of caution. Still, we had a great view to the SW, and only had to wait about 10-15 minutes to get good pictures. The first uploaded image is the situation when we stopped (~1915 CST); our position is indicated by the white dots E of Stillwater.

We were too close to the cell’s front flank and had to suffer through brief periods of light rain, but for the most part it was quiet. By 1930 CST, the mesocyclone was close enough for decent photography (Image 2.) The bowl-shaped cloud nearly overhead in the picture was really more elongated, and I am pretty sure we were sitting under the shelf cloud at this point. Not long after this we relocated to (1) get further away from the front flank, and (2) closer to the mesocyclone, heading south on OK 108 towards Ripley. We got a good view (~1937 CST, Image 3) before the rain chased us N. (Our location is halfway between OK 51 and Ripley.)

After this, we really couldn’t get good position on the cell, probably because it wasn't clear which roads leading N from OK 18 would be optimal. But also because at this point KOKC radar showed weak midlevel rotation, and KINX showed even an weaker rotational signature. However, just E of Yale, we got to watch the formation of a new wall cloud to the north, as what appeared to be scud in advance of the rain curtain (2010 CST, Image 4) quickly organized into a non-rotating wall cloud (2017 CST, Image 5.) At this point we are heading N on OK 99 and it is almost too dark to see. KINX radar showed convergence at this point, which developed into rotation within a few minutes (not shown.) At this point it was too dark to see and we effectively lost contact with the wall cloud, and headed home. No tornadoes, but my goal in chasing is to learn to correlate a storm’s structure as measured by radar with what I see from the ground, so tornadoes are a bonus.

 

[Randy Jennings]

Initial target was Lawton, OK. We ended up changing to Anadarko, OK based on GOES. Afte a little while, the storm became the second cell to go SVR warned (the one north of it got warned first). We stayed on this cell all afternoon/night. We chased it to Tuttle, OK where it became TOR warned and produced a EF0 tornado. We were very close, but never saw this one because of the rain.



Here is what the cell looked like in Newcastle, OK, just before we crossed the Canadian River:



We used I-240 and I-40 to get around the south side of OKC. We exited I-40 at 102 and went north and stopped short of McLoud, OK. It was dark by now and we shot some video and thought we saw a funnel or possible tornado looking toward Harrah, OK around 8:26 pm. I took a screenshot of the video and tweeted a report to NWS Norman.



Radar had a nice couplet, and it did look like a tornado to me, but as I zoomed in, I have to admit I wasn't 100% sure. @Mike Smith retweeted me pretty quick saying it looked like one on radar and I felt a little better. My gut tuned out to be correct - NWS Norman initially said it was a EF1, but today updated it as two EF0s with a 110 mph straight line wind event that took down 8 power poles in between the 2 tornados. My chase partner @Chadwick Stelzl has more pics and video on twitter @KD5UMO.

All in all it was a fun chase. We ran into quite a few other chasers, but just didn't have time to talk. I did get to talk to Daniel Shaw on ham radio. We leap frogged with Charles Peek a lot, and we briefly parked behind Tim Marshal and Carson Edds. Looking forward to a time pre or post chase where I can catch up with them and some of you.

 

[Ray Walker]

Some lightning I shot south of Minco Oklahoma looking south Saturday night.

 

[gdlewen]

Initial target was Lawton, OK. We ended up changing to Anadarko, OK based on GOES. Afte a little while, the storm became the second cell to go SVR warned (the one north of it got warned first). We stayed on this cell all afternoon/night. We chased it to Tuttle, OK where it became TOR warned and produced a EF0 tornado. We were very close, but never saw this one because of the rain.

View attachment 22673

Here is what the cell looked like in Newcastle, OK, just before we crossed the Canadian River:

View attachment 22674

We used I-240 and I-40 to get around the south side of OKC. We exited I-40 at 102 and went north and stopped short of McLoud, OK. It was dark by now and we shot some video and thought we saw a funnel or possible tornado looking toward Harrah, OK around 8:26 pm. I took a screenshot of the video and tweeted a report to NWS Norman.

View attachment 22675

Radar had a nice couplet, and it did look like a tornado to me, but as I zoomed in, I have to admit I wasn't 100% sure. @Mike Smith retweeted me pretty quick saying it looked like one on radar and I felt a little better. My gut tuned out to be correct - NWS Norman initially said it was a EF1, but today updated it as two EF0s with a 110 mph straight line wind event that took down 8 power poles in between the 2 tornados. My chase partner @Chadwick Stelzl has more pics and video on twitter @KD5UMO.

All in all it was a fun chase. We ran into quite a few other chasers, but just didn't have time to talk. I did get to talk to Daniel Shaw on ham radio. We leap frogged with Charles Peek a lot, and we briefly parked behind Tim Marshal and Carson Edds. Looking forward to a time pre or post chase where I can catch up with them and some of you.

Ray--do you have any pictures taken from the site of the radar view you posted above? (Image 1.) I did check C. Stelzl's twitter feed and it's not clear where you all were when the pictures he posted were taken. I am curious what things looked like from the ground.... Many Thanks.

 

[Randy Jennings]

Ray--do you have any pictures taken from the site of the radar view you posted above? (Image 1.)

I was on the passanger side and storm was on driver side, so got very few shots.. Here is one from 10 mins earlier than the radar. As you can see it looks very similar to the one I posted that was 17 mins after radar.

 

[Dave C]

Chose the KS dryline near Newton to start the day as a hedge between dryline initiation and northern triple point, with a strong preference for heading down to a southern storm to avoid the inevitable mess and line-out up north. We watched updrafts start to brew overhead, and debated how much further south would initiate and if it would happen before dark. Signs of organization motivated us to pursue a two cell cluster with a dominant southern updraft from approximately Canton to Junction City. In hindsight we were perhaps a bit too eager to get out under a meso for the first time this year and briefly lost sight of our initial plan to keep south.

We contemplated bailing several times after watching updraft strength vary and the two cells trade dominance, with echo tops inconsistent. Our storm collected itself and kept clear inflow long enough to produce a brief very weak tornado. The cell kept a persistent funnel just long enough to keep us interested beyond the point we could have made it south to clear the impending squall line. We finally did exit south from much further northeast than we had intended to. Road network complicated movement enough that by the time we saw Andover updraft on the horizon, we were still way too far north and then the squall line rapidly filled in and intensified with several embedded mesos, making any tail end chase a could have / should have fantasy.

Saw a dusty weak tornado on the line on an incredibly sculpted and stout embedded meso but we had to rush out of the way too fast to even get photos as the line accelerated eastward. All in all entertaining day with some ok structure.