5/25/08 REPORTS: MN / WI / IA / IL / KS / TX

[Bob Hartig]

These are sobering reports on the Waterloo/Hazelton tornado. Bill and Tom Oosterbaan, Jason Harris, and I caught this monster southeast of Fairbank. We may have been as close as a half-mile to the south side of it. Managed to stay ahead of it, and dropped south before we got to Hazelton. At that point, it was getting obscured in rain. The circulation was so massive and the visibility so hazy that it was hard to make out exactly what was happening beneath the wall cloud; in fact, it was hard to distinguish the wall cloud from the tornado.

We knew we had something serious when we started encountering debris falling from the sky well ahead of the storm. When we finally encountered the circulation just east of Fairbank, it was broad but, at the moment, non-tornadic. Heading east, we saw the meso/wall cloud lower and kick up a crapload of dust. When we stopped to film, it became apparent the thing had morphed into something huge. How big? Hard to say. Half a mile, a mile...real big, that's all.

We may have saved a couple Amish families as we headed south by warning them that a massive tornado was on the way. I've never seen people galvanize into such instant action as they did when Bill yelled, "Head for your basement!"

I'm sure the other guys plus maybe Kurt Hulst and Dave Diehl will add on, so I'll end here. Once I've reviewed my video tomorrow, I may add more.

 

[Stan Rose]

Started the day in Lincoln NE, briefly considered the nrn target but chase terrain, cloud cover, expected storm mode, and next days target convinced us that KS was the more prudent choice.
Saw the wonderful landspout/tornado near Bison. Also observed numerous funnels from the sup, which had some incredible structure about 15 min prior to the spout. Once the line filled in, hunger took over so we stopped for some mammatus shots and dust-storm shots outside Dodge (winds were gusting 60+ mph). Many chasers at the Applebees in Dodge afterwards. Another exciting chase day!

 

[Michael Towers]

Departed Enid and went west to Fort Supply, where I debated playing the dryline in the panhandles or the moderate in Kansas. With the expected crowds in Kansas and the prospect of an early transition to a cluster f*ck, the idea of getting an isolated supercell in relative solitude was appealing. About that time the first SVR warned cell went up in western Kansas and the pull to go for the higher odds was too much.

I went up 283 and crossing the KS border saw another cell go up just NW of DDC. I had a feeling I should continue north and intercept what could possibly go SVR, but instead opted to go for the now TOR warned cell west of Scott City. So I jogged west on 160 and blasted up 23, hoping to intercept near Dighton. For the first time this trip I ran into connection problems, same location I did back in 2005. Sprint has been fantastic just about everywhere this year with the exception of that far SW KS area. Avoiding speeding tickets I made it to Dighton in time, the storm was now just to my NW and was reachable. But cells were firing all over the place, and the location of the rotation would likely end up pinching me in between other cells, most notably the one heading for Dighton from the SW. That one looked like crap both visually and on radar, so I didn’t want to waste my time chasing it but at the same time didn’t want to get pinched by it. So, not wanting to get trapped in a cluster f*ck, I headed east for a cell NE of Ness City. Just as I approached town, a SVR warning went out for Arnold & Ransom, a storm with strong rotation heading that way. Hell, that had to be the storm west of Dighton. Checking radar it still looked like crap but I change plans anyway and hop up 283 and wait with a few other chasers. That likely cost me the reported tornadoes in La Crosse, the storm was through there by less than 10 minutes when I got there after finally bailing on Ransom and heading back to my previous target. I did catch up to it just east of Bison and finally saw something resembling a supercell, but the wall clouds were never very convincing and the areas of rotation were so damn broad in scope instead of concentrated. I continued east on Hwy. 4, staying under the meso and constantly watching many areas exhibiting wall clouds and lowerings. I got to Otis and was going to head north up the county road to the TOR warned area but much to my amazement I saw a huge convoy of traffic heading south. WTF? Seconds later I saw why, a huge precip core was rushing south. I continued east where I was joined by quite a gaggle including a DOW. I stayed and they departed, they must have gone south toward Great Bend because I never saw them again (aw shucks!). I stayed on the same storm on Hwy. 4 all the way to Interstate 135, seeing a bunch of wall clouds and quite a few funnels, including twins that came from the same lowering just west of Geneseo, resembling a big swirling upside down V. Highlight of my day! In all it was still a respectable storm given the fact it was competing with so many other storms and traversing through an already worked over environment.

Now I’m at the Salina Comfort Inn, accommodations being the only thing better about this day than the previous two. Not the best Comfort Inn, housekeeping could have done a better job. But no foul odor, plenty of space, clean and with modern furnishings. Gonna play the Kansas game tomorrow, looks like I’m already sitting pretty. Just hope we don’t get another round of cluster f*cks but based on forecasts it could be pinch city all over again. Here’s hoping for a long-lived isolated classic supercell!

 

[Bart_Comstock]

Some friends of mine and I, too, were on the Bison, KS (Rush County) storm. While this storm may have produced a tornado near LaCrosse (we did observe a fairly nicely sculpted wall cloud from I-70 driving west), but near Bison, the tube here, was very landspout-ish looking and was truly a gustnado.

I have picture and video evidence, but don't have it available right now. The tube came out of a "finger" that happened to develop east-southeastward from the gust-front.

Unfortunately, 3 or 4 tornado reports came from this, according to what we were seeing on SpotterNetwork at the time.

I too was on this cell only I was just a few miles from where the "landspout-ish" tornado touched down and can verify that it indeed did extend from the ground all the way to the base of the storm and had a very odd, yet still attached funnel to the base of the thunderstorm and thus by definition is a tornado, not a gustnado. Several other spotters/ chasers that Chris and I were in contact with saw the tornado from other angles and to can confirm our thoughts that it was a tornado. I captured video of both the funnel and the dust whirl on the ground showing that it was a tornado and not a gustnado. I am not trying to shoot you down or anything just trying to clear up that it wasn't a gustnado as one of the three reports were mine. The tornado was on the very edge of the meso and was getting distorted by the rfd and pushed out from under the storm but the funnel was persistent. Eventually the dust kicked up by the tornado did get blown out away from the storm for a while but it had stopped circulating at this point and the funnel had dissipated and I can see where one would think it was just a gustnado.

As for the rest of the chase I encountered two more tornadoes and had one of the most stunning wall cloud shots of my life. I wont go into to much detail as Chris and I road together (which is why I rarely ever post a report) as usual and thus there isn't more that I can add to his report. I will get the video up shortly of the chase.

 

[edward oneal]

Kansas 5/25/08

Chased today in Northern Ness and Rush Co. could never get in the right spot to see any tornado. But did get large funnel in Northern Ness Co,and a few dusty spin ups South of Rush Center.

 

[George Kourounis]

The day started off in Omaha but as soon as we woke up and saw the forecast, we immediately dashed back to Kansas and targeted the area south of Hays. We ended up intercepting the supercell near Lacrosse. I formed a funnel that made it about halfway to the ground but we were able to confirm debris on the ground below it so it was certainly on the ground and heading straight for us. That touchdown was brief but the rotation in the cell was insane. It wrapped up like a cinnamon bun and was pin wheeling overhead just south of town. We were totally expecting it to put down a big white tube right beside. I jumped in the van and moved a few hundred feet down the road just in case it did put down a big tornado on top of us. It crossed the road and formed another funnel, this time a slender needle that may have touched down as well but we couldn't tell from our vantage point.

That was the third close encounter for us this week.

Continuing east to the town of Bison, we witnessed what appeared to be a brief landspout tornado. Some other chasers claim it was a gustnado but it was difficult to tell. The sirens were going off in town due to the tornado warning and the storm was still looking good. It eventually merged with other nearby cells and became a big, disorganized cluster. It did however, have an awesome green colour in the core. we dashed out of there before we got pounded by what was likely some big hail. Another great chase day.

We eventually made it back to hays where had a nice dinner and shared stories from the past few days with some other chasers. This recent storm pattern has been really active and may be one of the best in a long time. It looks there may be more activity in Kansas tomorrow.

More pictures online here:
http://www.stormchaser.ca/Tornadoes/2008_05_25_Lacrosse/2008_05_25_Lacrosse.html

George Kourounis
www.stormchaser.ca

 

[Dustin Wilcox]

I just added another day of video and pics to sort through, I'm now like 15 tornadoes behind on my website. Shot tripoded video of tornadogenisis SW of La Crosse, the rotation was pretty good and it should make a good time lapse, I then saw and filmed the land spout which developed about a half mile to my SW. Shacked up in DDC, I need to head to get a tire repaired and some power steering work done early tomorrow and then will be out for tomorrows show.

 

[Kenny Drake]

I witnessed the Hugo, MN tornado today. I should have grabbed a quick cell phone shot of it but didn't happen. I would not call this a successful chase as I didn't chase it... it came to me. Not too much "damage" at our house, mostly leaves and branches plastered against the west-facing walls and the cars. Still piles of hail in the yard 8 hours after it happened. Just 1/2 mile north of here is where all the damage occurred. Someone apparently hates the neighborhood just north of here as the tornado touched down on the neighborhood and lifted as it left the neighborhood. Hugo from a spatial standpoint is mostly rural... kind of sad that it decided to touch down on the 10% that is populated. It could have been much worse if this was not Memorial Day weekend as most are out of town.

 

[Mikel Shively]

Wasnt able to get out and chase today, but did spot locally a few miles from my house near Coatsville, MO. as the storms rolled through around 11 PM or so. I was on the very southern end of the line of storms that had produced 60-70 mph winds further West: Here's a shot:

Im in the process of moving and hoping to get back out there once the moving is complete.

 

[Dan Melby]

Wow, what a devastating day in eastern Iowa... I started out the day witnessing two cells fire right along I-35, Northeast of Fort Dodge.. I decided to go with the northern storm, which I knew at the time was a bad choice but went with it anyways.. I guess one of these times i will learn.. The southern cell that I initially passed ended up being the one that produced what I now believe to be an EF4. I spent the rest of my day trailing the storm trying to play catch-up, I was definately right behind the wedge but could never get a good sight of it being HP.. After encountering blocked road after blocked road and downed powerlines, I decided to call it off near Hazleton.. I may have missed the tornado today, but this is one day I will never forget..

 

[Wesley Luginbyhl]

Went out after the storms west of Lubbock this afternoon and ran into the biggest shelf cloud I have ever seen, but was overtaken by the biggest dirt storm I have ever before I could take a picture. Visibility droppped to 0 at one point, I really couldnt see more than 5 feet in front of my Jeep. Came across some down powerlines and some winds were reported close to 80 with this storm. I was sandblasted for a continuous 30 minutes of driving, if not longer. Definitely not the chase I was hoping for, but eventful none the less.

 

[Bill Hark]

I was chasing today with Jason Persoff and Robert Balogh. After busting in Nebraska, we hoped to redeem ourselves. The target was around Garden City to Dodge City. The RUC and NAM showed an area of localized precip with decent CAPE and shear. The precip was expected to form ahead of the dryline. Surface winds and 850 winds were initially veered but would back later in the day if the models were correct. We drove west from York, then south on 183 to Hays, continuing to Sanford. Satellite images showed a Cu field in SW Kansas. Storms were forming to far our southwest along with an isolated storm southwest of Scott City. We drove a few miles east to Larned to check data. There were some towers to our north. Eventually a line of storms formed from our north to southwest. The one to our west was fairly isolated. The surface winds were still veered. We drove west on 156. By the time we reached Burnett, the storm had developed a wall cloud. We drove north from Burnett watching the developing wall cloud. The storm was pulsing. Each time, inflow would increase. There was a nice lowering at 3:23PM but no tornado. We continued north on the road that became dirt and mud. The wall cloud was white and very well-defined. It had moved to our northeast. We parked on a dirt road at 3:42, watching the white cylindrical wall cloud to our east. Apparently, there was a brief tornado under the wall cloud but we didn’t see it from our position. On the ground around us were scattered spikey hail. After a few minutes, I decided to race north. I turned east on 96 at 4:02 PM. The wall cloud had enlarged with increasing rotation. I was sure a tornado would form. At Rush Center, the tornado sirens were sounding. I turned north on 183. At 4:14 PM, I saw a brief needle funnel on the wall cloud. I went south on 589 to see the next storm. I passed Bison at 4:37 PM, dropping a couple of miles to watch the large wall cloud to my west. Jason and Robert had stopped just to my north. At 4:48PM while filming the wall cloud, I heard some locals yelling about a tornado. I turned around and saw a nice landspout tornado forming to my south. I filmed the beautiful translucent tube for a couple of minutes before it dissipated. Tornado sirens sounded in Bison. I drove back through Bison, east. The storms were now basically a line of embedded cells. I met up with Jason and Robert and we watched one of the storms from dirt road. They stayed to photograph the storm while I tried to get ahead of it. As I turned north, I realized that I didn’t have enough gas and I didn’t want to risk going north in an area with no towns. I took a frustrating detour to Hoisington for gas and waited in a too long line. My north option was closed. I tried going east, then north ahead of the storm in Odin. The storm was massive but was producing mainly cold outflow. At this point, I ended the chase and threaded my way north between cores. Thanks to Jason and Robert for getting me an extra hotel room in Hays. Almost all the rooms are filled, many with storm chasers. Jason, Robert and I had dinner and enjoyed chatting with the Cloud 9 Tour group.

Video of tornado on Youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCliMb0MISo

Video stills



Initial wall cloud northwest of Burnett, KS
http://www.harkphoto.com/052508wallcloud.jpg

Wall cloud to the east
http://www.harkphoto.com/052508wallcloud1.jpg

Wall cloud to the east at 3:52
http://www.harkphoto.com/052508wallcloud2.jpg
Playing with large hail stones.
http://www.harkphoto.com/052508largehail.jpg

Wall cloud to the northeast
http://www.harkphoto.com/052508wallcloud3.jpg

Funnel from large wall cloud at 4:14PM
http://www.harkphoto.com/052508wallcloud4funnel.jpg

Wall cloud west of Bison just before landspout
http://www.harkphoto.com/052508wallcloudz1.jpg

Views of landspout tornado south of Bison at 4:48PM

http://www.harkphoto.com/052508tornado1.jpg
http://www.harkphoto.com/052508tornado2.jpg


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCliMb0MISo



Bill Hark

 

[Bart_Comstock]

Here is my video of the Bison/ La Crosse/ Rush County, Kansas tornado. You can clearly see the funnel above it and to the right before I pull into a tight shot of the dust whirl.

 

[Quintin Erdman]

The big one

Given the time of day I will be breif.

Kevin Sarazin, Ben McMillan and myself left Ames not knowing what today would bring. We picked up a wall cloud (tornado warned storm) just south of Ackley. The storm started as nothing and within 25 minutes it was the largest tornado any of us has ever seen. We were making reports to DMX as it became a wall clound, then a funnel, then a tornado, then a 1/4 mile wide tornado, then a 1/2 mile wide tornado and finally the 1 mile wide wedge that destroyed Parkersberg.

The damage was horrible. We wanted to stop and help, but left after hearing gas leaks. We followed the wedge the best we could before being stopped by debris and the occasional satellite tornado.

We ended the night by stopping by DMX to show them the video we shot. There was discussion of EF4, maybe more, we shall see tomorrow.

We have incredible video of the entire evolution of the storm from birth to before it became HP. I will post it later.

Seeings how it is 5am, I am going to go to bed and will update the post later.

~Quintin

 

[Chad Cowan]

Great day. Skip Talbot and I saw the first tornado (fully condensed funnel) 5mi southwest of La Crosse and the apparently second one 1mi southeast of town. Structure was nothing short of awesome. Scott Currens reported ground level circulation at the time we saw a needle funnel drop from the incredible wall cloud. It's amazing that city was left unscathed. Intercepted supercells number two and three in the same location, tracking over the same spots. We may have seen the landnado on supercell #2. Followed #3 pretty far east and were abducted by the mothership (last picture). Watched supercells #4 and 5 gust out from south of La Crosse kicking up a lot of dust.

Video and more detailed report to come. I'm spent.


Supercell #1- south of La Crosse, two mesos in view with dominant in foreground

Supercell #1- massive wall cloud tracking over La Crosse (video grabs)

Supercell #3-

(PS- Can't get my watermark program to work right now... these pictures are mine, not yours, and they are not of Katrina coming ashore)