jshields
i left omaha around 10 this morning with an initial target of macon, mo on hwy 36 which is 30 miles south of kirksville. i arrived around 2 and waited in town looking at radar, data, etc. i almost went north when i saw mike hollingshead was going to but thought i would wait a little further south where it seemed like it would clear faster. bad move!! i should have known mike knew what he was doing when he mentioned going north towards kirksville!! i still ended up having a close call like mike and a few others did though too. i saw the first tornado warning go up for west of kirksville and actually thought about staying put bc at first on radar it didn't look that great but neither did anything else at that time so i shot up hwy 63. on my way up there a tornado warning is also issued for a storm back southwest near lirneus, mo and i almost waited for that one but didn't. also there is a cell just south and east of the kirksville storm rapidly forming as well. as i head north i began to see a rather large wall cloud form to my west. this was not related to the kirksville storm that at this time was near novinger. its looking pretty healthy so i stop about 2 miles south of kirksville(i know dumb since the tornado was actually on the ground near novinger still), to watch and get pictures of the rapidly developing wall cloud southwest of kirksville. thanks to the stupid missouri hills, i don't end up getting a real long look before it starts to fall apart. these 7-10 minutes though that i spent on this feature i regret
i get back onto hwy 63 and get into kirksville. of course there's lots of traffic and stoplights so its slow going to get to hwy 6 to try and catch the tornado. just as i turn onto hwy theres a viaduct or some kind of bridge where there were a ton of vehicles and chasers pulled over. i get out just in time to see what i'm guessing are the rain curtains wrapping around the tornado because they are moving very rapidly and roatating. this was probably about 3-4 miles to the west of kirksville at this time. i think i know the answer to this with what mike h reported, but was anyone in this location to verify whether you could see the tornado from here before it became rain wrapped? after about 2 minutes i can see the rfd coming rapidly towards us, so i turn around and go back south thru town until i come to the turn for hwy 11. i start heading east figuring i could parallel the storm. MISTAKE!! first thing that should have made me turn around was the road closed ahead sign, but i figured there would be a detour. about 5 miles down the road it suddenly turns north for probably 1.5-2 miles and then kindof goes east northeast. so i end up having to go up into the cell. it wasn't actually bad at all, just some heavy rain. now mind you i think at this point the tornado is still probably back in north kirksville. a couple of miles further down the road the rain lets up, but i hit the road closed sign. i also see 3 storm chase vehicles that had turned around as well. they pulled over and i've now turned around and am heading back west. not more than maybe a mile and half i start seeing leaves, then sticks, then debris laying in the fields and in the fences. there were also leaves, and sticks falling from the sky! i keep going slowly and eventually see a pole snapped and fence blown across the hwy. from this point i look to my right out over the field and you could see the scour marks in the ground about 1/2 mile up over the field. the tornado had crossed the road right behind me right after i had passed through there not more than about 3-4 minutes before! i think what happened was the first circulation occluded right near north kirksville after causing the damage, and then a new circulation/tornado developed a couple of miles east of there. that's the only way that it could have gone over hwy 11 that quick. radar seemed to represent that as well, as that cell i drove through just south of town met up with the first supercell just east of kirksville. anyways after looking around a bit and carefully driving over the fence over the road, i went back to hwy 63 dropped south to hwy 6 east and was going to try and catch back up with the storm. however, crappy, tree-lined, hilly roads, poor cell phone coverage and therefore no internet, and the idea of a totally rain wrapped tornado made me turn around and start heading back to omaha. i don't know if the chasers i saw on hwy 11 after the tornado passed are on stormtrack, but if so and you read this, who are you?!! i know that time tonight wasn't the time to meet and chit chat!
i get back onto hwy 63 and get into kirksville. of course there's lots of traffic and stoplights so its slow going to get to hwy 6 to try and catch the tornado. just as i turn onto hwy theres a viaduct or some kind of bridge where there were a ton of vehicles and chasers pulled over. i get out just in time to see what i'm guessing are the rain curtains wrapping around the tornado because they are moving very rapidly and roatating. this was probably about 3-4 miles to the west of kirksville at this time. i think i know the answer to this with what mike h reported, but was anyone in this location to verify whether you could see the tornado from here before it became rain wrapped? after about 2 minutes i can see the rfd coming rapidly towards us, so i turn around and go back south thru town until i come to the turn for hwy 11. i start heading east figuring i could parallel the storm. MISTAKE!! first thing that should have made me turn around was the road closed ahead sign, but i figured there would be a detour. about 5 miles down the road it suddenly turns north for probably 1.5-2 miles and then kindof goes east northeast. so i end up having to go up into the cell. it wasn't actually bad at all, just some heavy rain. now mind you i think at this point the tornado is still probably back in north kirksville. a couple of miles further down the road the rain lets up, but i hit the road closed sign. i also see 3 storm chase vehicles that had turned around as well. they pulled over and i've now turned around and am heading back west. not more than maybe a mile and half i start seeing leaves, then sticks, then debris laying in the fields and in the fences. there were also leaves, and sticks falling from the sky! i keep going slowly and eventually see a pole snapped and fence blown across the hwy. from this point i look to my right out over the field and you could see the scour marks in the ground about 1/2 mile up over the field. the tornado had crossed the road right behind me right after i had passed through there not more than about 3-4 minutes before! i think what happened was the first circulation occluded right near north kirksville after causing the damage, and then a new circulation/tornado developed a couple of miles east of there. that's the only way that it could have gone over hwy 11 that quick. radar seemed to represent that as well, as that cell i drove through just south of town met up with the first supercell just east of kirksville. anyways after looking around a bit and carefully driving over the fence over the road, i went back to hwy 63 dropped south to hwy 6 east and was going to try and catch back up with the storm. however, crappy, tree-lined, hilly roads, poor cell phone coverage and therefore no internet, and the idea of a totally rain wrapped tornado made me turn around and start heading back to omaha. i don't know if the chasers i saw on hwy 11 after the tornado passed are on stormtrack, but if so and you read this, who are you?!! i know that time tonight wasn't the time to meet and chit chat!
