Shane Adams
We stumbled upon the damage path of the second tornado we saw near Macksville/St John......easily over a mile wide. Lots of tree damage, irrigation rigs toppled, and saw one car smashed flat in a field
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5/4/07 REPORTS: TX, OK, KS, CO
- Thread starter BrandonWhittington
- Start date
Dick McGowan
EF5
Greensburg wedge video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRm4yu2MI-c
Sitka Supercell that produced the Greensburg tornado:
Shortly after......the stovepipe, and the beginning of the Greensburg tornado:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yU3iqkDEpKw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRm4yu2MI-c
Sitka Supercell that produced the Greensburg tornado:
Shortly after......the stovepipe, and the beginning of the Greensburg tornado:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yU3iqkDEpKw
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Rebekah LaBar
A number of British exchange students and I initially headed towards Woodward Friday. We spent some time there before circling up through southern Kansas from Medicine Lodge to Coldwater and back down to Woodward to try and intercept the Arnett tornado. We wound up missing it, but drove north again and witnessed the formation of the Greensburg wedge. We saw a satellite tornado and thought we saw a second rope tornado briefly. About 2 miles south of it (on 183) we had to stop as the road was closed down.
It was the most surreal experience I could ever imagine...I still have such a sickening feeling about seeing it. I don't think I'll ever look on storm chasing with quite the same eyes.
Spent the night in Dodge City before chasing again Saturday, but that's another story. Back in Norman now. I can post some video stills in a couple days, but they look much the same as Melanie's.
While chasing a couple storms near Pratt (Saturday), we saw some of the damage northeast of Greensburg. Even just the trees ripped bare of their bark and fields that used to have wheat all torn up was amazing, but then we also saw a few houses destroyed or without a roof. Power poles snapped a few feet from the ground. There was also this large metal structure all mangled up horribly (I think it used to be a silo with a ladder and some other sort of tower or grain elevator or something). I'll post pictures of that later as well.
Wow, what a sobering past couple of days. :-(
It was the most surreal experience I could ever imagine...I still have such a sickening feeling about seeing it. I don't think I'll ever look on storm chasing with quite the same eyes.
Spent the night in Dodge City before chasing again Saturday, but that's another story. Back in Norman now. I can post some video stills in a couple days, but they look much the same as Melanie's.
While chasing a couple storms near Pratt (Saturday), we saw some of the damage northeast of Greensburg. Even just the trees ripped bare of their bark and fields that used to have wheat all torn up was amazing, but then we also saw a few houses destroyed or without a roof. Power poles snapped a few feet from the ground. There was also this large metal structure all mangled up horribly (I think it used to be a silo with a ladder and some other sort of tower or grain elevator or something). I'll post pictures of that later as well.
Wow, what a sobering past couple of days. :-(
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Bob Fritchie
Greensburg photo. Taken a short while before it entered Greensburg. Position of the tornado is ~ 5 SSW Greensburg
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Decided to go North of Greensburg and instead ran into Macksville/St John area while it was under the gun...stopped and helped out Jason Bolt
with some radar and ended up cleaning some tree limbs out of the road and helping some people out of thier home near NW50th and Hwy 50 (no injuries, but thier 140yr old tree was probably part of what I cleaned out of the road).
All in all, a pretty horrific night. Jason, we are really sorry to hear about the injuries with your emergency crew. I hope they pull through.
javascript:;Decided to go North of Greensburg and instead ran into Macksville/St John area while it was under the gun...stopped and helped out Jason Bolt
with some radar and ended up cleaning some tree limbs out of the road and helping some people out of thier home near NW50th and Hwy 50 (no injuries, but thier 140yr old tree was probably part of what I cleaned out of the road).
All in all, a pretty horrific night. Jason, we are really sorry to hear about the injuries with your emergency crew. I hope they pull through.
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afischer
EF4
Intercepted the "Greensburg storm" near Sitka ~835pm. It initially looked quite laminar as I approached it, but a large wall cloud formed in a hurry. Observed a rope tornado at 845pm immediately downstream of the wall cloud as it began to occlude. A new wall cloud formed at the triple point, but the storm appeared to be taking a break so I hauled east to the next major highway. At 905pm I exited Coldwater northbound on 183 and immediately observed a strong cone to my distant northwest. This tornado evolved into a multiple vortex barrel beneath a huge, descending wall cloud. At ~925pm I pulled within a couple miles of the tornado and observed a distinct satellite rope tornado orbiting its northeast quadrant for a few minutes. Another, more high-based truncated cone tornado occurred in the southeast quadrant of the main tornado for a minute or two. I continued north and watched the tornado begin to wedge out as it crossed the highway. Suddenly about 945pm it looked like rain had wrapped around the tornado... then minutes later it was back in plain view via lightning flashes, and wider than ever. Began to encounter damage along the highway. I'll have to review video, but I'm fairly sure I traversed 1.8 miles of damage (shredded trees, damaged barns, a leaking gas plant of some sort, cows standing on the highway) when I could go no farther. Granted, some of this could be due to RFD winds. A very sobering experience.
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Tim Marshall
EF2
Started in Wichita, KS. Target was Dodge City. Sat in a park on the northeast side of town during the afternoon. Grew impatient. Got suckered north to I-70. Then, saw the storm blow up near Canadian and knew right away I was jinked. Chased the LP storm in northern KS. It had nice structure with barberpole updraft, but never could do much except look pretty. Gave up on it at dark then headed south to stay in Liberal, KS for the night. Skirted the Greensburg, KS tornadic supercell.
Dan Robinson
Saw three nighttime tornadoes including the Greensburg wedge. Two on the ground at the same time after the wedge. With loudly hissing gas main leaks, the strong sickening smell of gas and shredded trees, cows walking on the road and power lines strewn everywhere, this was one of the more intense, chaotic and sobering chases of my life.
A few video grabs here:
http://stormhighway.com/blog/may407b.shtml
Went down to check out the LP in Woodward before that, a few shots are at the bottom of this blog post:
http://stormhighway.com/blog/may507a.shtml
A few video grabs here:
http://stormhighway.com/blog/may407b.shtml
Went down to check out the LP in Woodward before that, a few shots are at the bottom of this blog post:
http://stormhighway.com/blog/may507a.shtml
fplowman
I was up north on the same storm as Tim Marshall. It had some great structure and inflow.. It was "howling" and spinning like crazy. It didnt tornado however when i was on it but it was neat. I observed and monitored on Baron the Greensburg Storm during my travels.
Maybe Im better off not being there in retrospect. i think it was around 10pm when it was doing its thing and was at its most destructive point but Im unsure.
Maybe Im better off not being there in retrospect. i think it was around 10pm when it was doing its thing and was at its most destructive point but Im unsure.
Fabian Guerra
EF1
I just got back to Chicago after an amazing and chaotic couple days in Kansas. Long story short, myself and Craig Marie caught a nice looking thick rope at about 9pm, kept following it as it morphed into a large stovepipe and then watched with utter amazment as it quickly turned into a monster wedge. We witnessed it on the ground for close to 45 minutes before it left our sight. We would have kept following it but we, along with many other chasers, got caught in some pretty bad damage along the road and were essentially trapped between power lines, busted gas lines, cows, cars, you name it...it was surreal. I just found out that it was rated EF5 and it doesnt surprise me in the least. Anyway, we'll post video grabs as soon we get a chance.
Edit: here is a quick vid grab...
Edit: here is a quick vid grab...
Attachments
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Michael O'Keeffe
Adam Atkins
EF2
Our convoy, including Kiel Ortega and myself, targeted Woodward, OK. The dryline bulge punched well north, but it seems the thin cirrus limited destabilization further north. We drove 30 miles north of Woodward on the intersection of HW 64 and SR 34 and observed a weakly developing cumulus field to our west. A more significant cumulus tower developed SW of Woodward and we could see 3 separate updrafts before one really took root. We intercepted the storm just north of Arnett and observed a photogenic skinny cone just west of town. Not quite as close as some of our members, but a good view, nonetheless. The storm was all updraft at the time of the tornado, as we were literally standing in the hail core and were only getting sporadic stones. Ended up staying north of the low level mesocyclones and observed several occlusions but no more tornadoes. Broke my windshield amongst the 3 inch stones south of Woodward.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UrREqbVCLE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UrREqbVCLE
Joel Taylor
Guest
I never should've let Reed drive. If you haven't already seen it, here's a link to our video from southwest Ellis County. Unfortunately, the HD video loses most of the quality when put onto youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNL7ASvl4k4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNL7ASvl4k4
Scott Olson
EF5
Black Hole in Greensburg
Waited through the afternoon in Lanerd, KS. After watching the dryline bulge starting to advance farther east, I headed into Great Bend. We had just reached peak heating, yet the southwest Kansas sky was without the faintest sign of hope. I quickly noticed intiation down in Texas and decided to go for it since intiation in Kansas was looking less likely. I intercepted a beautiful LP supercell near Mooreland, OK and watched it for about half an hour. Even though it had weakend considerably, I decided to follow the convection up north just in case it was able to tap into the favorable environment farther north where flow was backed.
As I neared Kansas I started noticing a marked increase in lightning on the cell to my north. This steadily increased until it suddenly exploded right as I passed through the border. As I passed through Coldwater the air all around begun rushing in at immense ferocity. I pulled off between Greensburg and Coldwater and sighted the tornado. Tree's around me were bending towards the storm as well as other vegetation as the winds rushed into a mesocyclone of such power, that it felt that as if a black hole was there. The deep howl of the wind was combined with the nearby sounds of animals who were obviously aware that something bad was happening. A nearby bird repeated the same strange pitch over and over again while cows could be heard nearby letting off the most distressing sounds I've ever heard cows make.
During this time I ventured back a bit west back to the highway and headed north. Through the lightning flashes I could see several sattelite tornadoes and there were many funnels. The needle funnels would extend about 1/8 the way down and could be seen off and on anywhere near the location of the tornado. During this time I had attempted to head north on Highway and continue the chase but ran into devastation instead. A home had suffered some substanial damage. Further down another structure had been completely destroyed, trees were uprooted and power lines were down. A natural gas plant that suffered damage was venting out. The sound and smell of this was strong even a mile away. My northward progress ended when I came upon a significant amount of barb wire in the road. It was clear that I wouldn't be able to make any more northward progress. So I decided to try and clear the barb wire in an effort to make the road more passable for emergency vehicles. I was quickly joined by several others chasers (Gene Rhoden and crew). After that I turned around and drove outside the damage area to photograph lightning. The distance where damage was present was very significant (1.5mi+).
I am grateful for having the oppurtunity to witness and document this storm and deeply saddend by the loss of life it claimed. Appreciation for the rescue workers and volunteers and for the chasers who assisted in various situations.
Texas LP:
Large tornado near Greensburg:
Cone tornado viewed a half hour later.
Greensburg Lightning
Dozens more photos from the Texas LP supercell and the Greensburg cyclic monster at:
The Axis of Nature
Waited through the afternoon in Lanerd, KS. After watching the dryline bulge starting to advance farther east, I headed into Great Bend. We had just reached peak heating, yet the southwest Kansas sky was without the faintest sign of hope. I quickly noticed intiation down in Texas and decided to go for it since intiation in Kansas was looking less likely. I intercepted a beautiful LP supercell near Mooreland, OK and watched it for about half an hour. Even though it had weakend considerably, I decided to follow the convection up north just in case it was able to tap into the favorable environment farther north where flow was backed.
As I neared Kansas I started noticing a marked increase in lightning on the cell to my north. This steadily increased until it suddenly exploded right as I passed through the border. As I passed through Coldwater the air all around begun rushing in at immense ferocity. I pulled off between Greensburg and Coldwater and sighted the tornado. Tree's around me were bending towards the storm as well as other vegetation as the winds rushed into a mesocyclone of such power, that it felt that as if a black hole was there. The deep howl of the wind was combined with the nearby sounds of animals who were obviously aware that something bad was happening. A nearby bird repeated the same strange pitch over and over again while cows could be heard nearby letting off the most distressing sounds I've ever heard cows make.
During this time I ventured back a bit west back to the highway and headed north. Through the lightning flashes I could see several sattelite tornadoes and there were many funnels. The needle funnels would extend about 1/8 the way down and could be seen off and on anywhere near the location of the tornado. During this time I had attempted to head north on Highway and continue the chase but ran into devastation instead. A home had suffered some substanial damage. Further down another structure had been completely destroyed, trees were uprooted and power lines were down. A natural gas plant that suffered damage was venting out. The sound and smell of this was strong even a mile away. My northward progress ended when I came upon a significant amount of barb wire in the road. It was clear that I wouldn't be able to make any more northward progress. So I decided to try and clear the barb wire in an effort to make the road more passable for emergency vehicles. I was quickly joined by several others chasers (Gene Rhoden and crew). After that I turned around and drove outside the damage area to photograph lightning. The distance where damage was present was very significant (1.5mi+).
I am grateful for having the oppurtunity to witness and document this storm and deeply saddend by the loss of life it claimed. Appreciation for the rescue workers and volunteers and for the chasers who assisted in various situations.
Texas LP:
Large tornado near Greensburg:
Cone tornado viewed a half hour later.
Greensburg Lightning
Dozens more photos from the Texas LP supercell and the Greensburg cyclic monster at:
The Axis of Nature
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Craig Maire II
Friday
As Fabian stated in an earlier post he and myself intercepted the Greenburg Kansas supercell/tornados just north of Coldwater Kansas, words cannot describe my feelings with regard to this storm chase, I am both extremely happy to have witnessed this truly monumental and magnificent storm and yet left completely humbled and saddened at witnessing the destruction that we came across and hearing about the lives that were lost. This was one of the most exciting and wildest storm chases that I have ever had the privilege of being apart of and at the same time the scariest. Video captures of the Greensburg Kansas tornado will be on my website Monday. Congrats to those who caught this storm and my deepest sympathies to those in Greensburg etc. that lost everything...
As Fabian stated in an earlier post he and myself intercepted the Greenburg Kansas supercell/tornados just north of Coldwater Kansas, words cannot describe my feelings with regard to this storm chase, I am both extremely happy to have witnessed this truly monumental and magnificent storm and yet left completely humbled and saddened at witnessing the destruction that we came across and hearing about the lives that were lost. This was one of the most exciting and wildest storm chases that I have ever had the privilege of being apart of and at the same time the scariest. Video captures of the Greensburg Kansas tornado will be on my website Monday. Congrats to those who caught this storm and my deepest sympathies to those in Greensburg etc. that lost everything...
Jason Bolt
As a follow up to my earlier report, our officer is still critical. Thank you all for your concern. I have spoken to personnel in Greensburg and we are all so grateful for the help from the chasing community. Besides the physical help, the overall image you projected is good for storm chasing in general. In a damage survey today it looks like the Macksville storm may be EF-3. Also, if anyone can point me to archived radar grabs from Stafford County storms on 5/4 and 5/5 it would really help me out.
