5/13/09 Reports: MO/IL/OK/KS

[Scott Weberpal]

Caught 2 tornadoes today, one near Green City, MO; and the other between Green City and Novinger. Tornado 2 grew from a truncated cone into a 1/4 mile wide beast and passed 1/8 mile in front of me. Unfortunately I was blocked by debris and couldn't continue the chase beyond there.

 

[sdienst]

We started the day just south of Watonga and got on the early high based stuff just north of town there. Watched a high based storm produce a brief landspout type tornado near the intersection of Hwy 270/58/33 with a defined funnel and a nice ground circulation. Will get a video grab or two up later.

EDIT: We ended up sitting through the tornado/macroburst? in Anadarko. Initially I was near downtown but turned around and tried to get to west but extreme winds caused us to pull over and take shelter. Got blasted with strong winds (70+?) then drove back east into town where we viewed major damage in Anadarko. Multiple large trees broken, downed powerpoles, roofs, etc... littering the streets.

 

[Darrin Rasberry]

Saw a nice meso that may have been responsible for the LaBelle report at 7:00, and most likely witnessed its occlusion. Also saw a well-defined wall cloud out in the boonies SW of Kirksville, but couldn't get a good sight (or grab) of it due to the hills and trees. Went through some very windy roads to get back on track to Kirksville, got sick (yay), kept chasing. Can't complain about my catches given the still relatively cheap gas, <1000 miles logged for once, and probably a stomach bug. This was also my first "solo" chase with tornadoes possible, and I'm pretty proud of myself for it!

Thoughts are with Kirksville ...

 

[Skip Talbot]

Superb chase day. I finally got my first 09 tornado. Ben Leitschuh and I intercepted south of Memphis, MO at 6:30 pm. Beautiful wall cloud with a multiple vortex tornado. Here is one of the vortices that spun under it:

We also saw someone lose their baby pig on 270 near St. Louis. The driver stopped the left lane and went running down the side of the road to retrieve him. Not sure how he wound up in the road like that but he was still kicking though didn't look good. Poor guy.

Will post more later.

 

[Jeremy Ludin]

Joel Wright and I were also on the Kirksville, MO beast. We were positioned south of the meso, but the tornado was rain-wrapped and we could not get a visual. At times we could see rain curtains wrapping, but just couldn't get eyes on it. Missouri road options weren't very pleasing either.

 

[Dick McGowan]

Darin Brunin, Jordan Wrecke, and I first intercepted the Kirksville tornado as it neared the town. After the tornado moved east we were able to intercept one more time a few miles east where it seemed more intense. After two close calls we decided to give up on the storm and call it a night.

 

[Dan Robinson]

Chose the MCV play and lost. Got some decent lightning before and after the event, a few photos here:

http://stormhighway.com/blog/may1209a.shtml

 

[Jim Saueressig]

I missed the tornado as it was obscured from my point of view by the rain but it made for a fun but quick short distance chase. The first is East of Emporia as the cell is getting wound up good.



This is the storm over New Strawn as the tornado sirens were sounding for a very brief funnel that would have had to have been overhead as I was getting into a new position. This was just a couple of minutes before the tornado was filmed behind this rain band by the chopper.



The whole area got a good dose of 1.25" to 2" hail.

 

[Mike Hollingshead]

Saw the end of the first tornado west of Kirksville. Talk about zero view driving west on 6 for quite a ways. Only reason I saw it at all was I flipped around after about in the storm with no view, and drove back to Kirksville where one could see.

Here is where I sort of screw up, at least getting a nice close op. I sat JUST north of highway 6, JUST west of 63. I shot video of the bigger one for about the next 20 minutes or so there. The whole time I kept thinking, I'm in the worst spot if I need to flee south. But I kept thinking, this thing is going to JUST miss me to the north. I thought it was going just north of east. This was until it was getting much closer. It then vanished in the rain, I don't know, half mile away. It was then I was starting to think it was actually heading right for me more than anything. No time to flee north and 1/4-1/2 mile south was a stop light and traffic. Same time I decide to get the hell out of there I could clearly hear the thing...just not see it anymore. As I head the short bit south to highway 6 I can see crap flying around in the rain just west of me. Storm on radar was going south of due east now. This wasn't a wonderful feeling, stuck behind cars trying to get out of the way. Turned out the south side of that tornado hit about 100 feet from where I'd been sitting shooting video. I only wish the damn thing wouldn't have vanished when it did as I would have gotten better close video.

 

[Bill Schintler]

5/13/09 Reports: MO/IL/OK

Our group had a great chase today. After leaving Childress, TX, were we were after yesterday's chase; we arrived at our target of north central OK a few hours prior to initiation. The first storms fired along the cold front east and northeast of ICT. These quickly lined out and it was appearing as though the day was over. Later, we were on the tornado-warned cell in Chautauqua Co., KS. This storm initially exhibited decent structure but subsequently weakened. By now it was dark, and a cell in the line west of Bartlesville rapidly strengthened and showed strong rotation. Once on the south side of town, we observed a broad lowering which soon became rain-wrapped. Several power flashes were observed over the city - visibility was poor due to rain. I’ll get photos up at an early convenience.

- bill

 

[Jason A.C. Brock]

Anadarko storm

I was on the storm that would hit the Anadarko area from about the time it formed. Kept stiicking to tail end charlie then stopped on the way back home in Anadarko for gas....bad move.....heard OUN say they were concerned about an area near Gracemont & It was moving due south. I dont chase at night and now I know why. I was headed down 281 back home to Wichita Falls and hearing this area was moving more south I figured id swing back through Anadarko and fly east to chickasha and perhaps get out of the storms path but I should have just kept bookin it South...altho 281 goes Southwest.
Anyways I got on the east side of Anadarko and massive power flashes and power goes out. Tree limbs fly accross road & the road is blocked...Im screwed.....I pull off the road and point my butt against the wind and roof shingles fill the air. I sat on 62 along with some other cars and some spotters but keep the back of the truck at the wind and put my cell phone in my pocket and duck down below seats. Heard debris hit the truck but truck isnt moving and I keep askin god to make sure it doesnt move. I kept the dash cam running but im sure all you can hear is me begging for it to stop. It does.....for a bit...I actually saved a radar image on laptop then boom...more debris fills air. This goes on for what seems like forever but I doubt it was.
Im still too pumped with adrenaline to sleep but this was a bad move on my part. I never chase after dark and I was actually headed home cutting the chase off North of Gracemont. Ya just never know when things will ramp up twist and turn. I also hate the 25 mph speed limits in these Oklahoma towns. I was able to get out of Anadarko and now in CHickasha in a room. Planning to see what the damage is like tomorrow early. My truck has about a 2 foot long dent in the back tail gate and some tar streaks down the side. The drivers side rearview mirror is shattered but didnt break off. I had a shingle stuck to the back of the truck and some small pieces stuck between my wind guards on my window.
I am lucky and I know it.....I also know I had someone lookin over me. There was time to take shelter outside with debris already flyin so I practiced the new techniques I guess. I will have to review the video radar images and see what the damage is like but I at the very least was on the outskirt of a tornado...more likely in it. :-(
No I didnt get that close on purpose and dont want to be in another again. If it had been daylight I would have been a few miles from this thing and not in it. Its amazing what circumstances can do.
not sure how bad the damage will be but the metal light poles on the road I was on were snapped off alog with many trees down.
I should have went down highway 8 now that I look at it but My GPS didnt show 8 there at all. Maybe its time for a new GPS....
I hate SSE moving supercells

 

[Steve Worthington]

I-35 SE of Tonkawa Oklahoma

 

[Brandon Sullivan]

Sweet Deal!

Headed out from hometown of Macomb, Illinois at 3:15 PM.

Headed to Hannibal, MO with an assumption that we would need to go south into cental Missouri possibly.

We saw the ingredients coming together up north, so we headed north and stepped it up when the first report came in. We took 61 up to US 136 and headed west. We came out just east of Edina, OK to see a beastly supercell with awesome wall cloud, with the best moisture condensation into the updraft Ive ever seen. It was awesome! A time lapse of another chasers video was cool to see..

I grabbed a shot of a tornado over Edina, which matches up well with the damage reports from other chasers..

All in all, just really enjoyed seeing an awesome local supercell!

 

[Andrew Pritchard]

I guess I saw my first 2009 tornado, though it was pretty non-dramatic compared to what others bagged.

Sat back too long and missed the earlier wedges and then had one last shot before it crossed the river into Illinois so decided to shoot north and get right into the notch. Caught a couple condensation vorticies under the rapidly rotating wall cloud at very close range near Williamstown.

Watch out for this guy - he meant business. (shot of one of the little condensation fingers under the wall cloud below)

 

[Jason Boggs]

First, congrats to all who scored today.

Got on the tail end of the line that formed near the cold front in OK. I made it to Bridgeport, OK around 6:00 or so. Stayed at the Love's truck stop and took a few photos of a developing wall cloud. I slowly made my way south and kept taking a few photos. I made it down to Binger, OK and had the dilemma of going south or west. It was getting late and I still had over a 3 hour drive, so I slowly went west and took a few more parting shots. The storm seemed to really speed up fairly quickly around dark. It almost seemed like it was going twice as fast as earlier in the day. Anyway, here are a few photos: