5/5/07 DISC: KS / NE / OK / SD

[John Peters]

There were a total of 93 tornado reports last night. Based on NWS storm reports, there havn't been any reported fatalities (thank god). I just saw video footage of what appeared to be a strong/violent torando near St. John Kansas.

Someone commented earlier that it is going to be difficult to distinguish 5/5 tornado damage from that produced on 5/4, since their respective paths are in such close proximity.

Certainly not a good 3 day span for Kansas.

 

[Justin Reed]

There were a total of 93 tornado reports last night. Based on NWS storm reports, there haven't been any reported fatalities (thank god).

Actually we had a fatality (lady in an RV camper, her husband and son escaped with injuries) at the Ottawa Co. State Lake 6 miles east of Minneapolis (Kansas). Very fast moving tornado that was rain-wrapped. I was about 4-5 miles behind it trying to catch up, having trouble with mud roads. I could see it on GR3 real well but never visualy saw the tornado. Only the damage path.

This tornado started at Granite Road and 190th and was EF0 until just before hitting the row of 30ish houses/mobile homes on the west side of the lake. Initial estimates of EF2 damage where the fatality was, and the damage path continued on north for another 4 miles (probably EF0 again) hitting power lines and a group of grain bins northwest of Wells.

I wish i would have had the presence of mind to take a screen shot of GR3 during the tornado because you could clearly see the eye of the meso completely wrapped in rain. It looked like a doughnut at the south end. Does anybody out there have that archived somewhere?

I managed to not see any tornadoes this weekend. Only one funnel. I've pretty much decided that being in the pickup with me is by far the safest place to be during a tornado.....

 

[John Peters]

Several Tornadoes have been Rated

NWS Topeka

OTTAWA COUNTY TORNADO
PATH LENGTH: 5 MILES
PATH WIDTH: 100 YARDS
EF-SCALE RATING: EF-2...WITH ESTIMATED WINDS OF 111 TO 135 MPH.
FATALITIES: 1 ADULT WOMAN.
INJURIES: 5 KNOWN...NO ADDITIONAL DETAILS AVAILABLE AT THIS TIME.

NWS Des Moines

CASS COUNTY TORNADO
PATH LENGTH: 7 MILES
PATH WIDTH: 100-200 YARDS
EF-SCALE RATING: EF-2... WINDS ESTIMATED AT 120-130 MPH

NWS Sioux Falls

AURORA COUNTY TORNADO
PATH LENGTH: 5 MILES
PATH WIDTH: UNKNOWN
EF-SCALE RATING: EF-3... WINDS ESTIMATED AT 14O MPH

 

[kenny_allen]

We passed you a few times.

That about sums up our experience in the NE/SD area. I'd add in fog/low stratus wrapped supercells though

The Short: Got on several tornado warned (and apparently tornadic) supercells in NC Nebraska. Low visibilities and a bad road option later prevented us from seeing any tornadoes or sticking with supercells for a prolonged period of time. Ironically, all the places we drove through earlier got the brunt of the show. Doh!

We headed back home stuck in no-mans land hearing reports from our cell and those near Yankton, SD. We did intercept one other isolated, persistent updraft near Spencer, SD. This was more of a semi-decent photo opportunity consolation prize as the sun tucked behind the small tower.

Aaron

Aaron, I think the Severe Studios Chase Vehicle #1 passed you a few times. We were looking at the Craven/Brooks. SigSvr, and SigTor models and they were focused over the Brewster and Ainsworth, NE areas. We busted west out of SD and arrived in Brewster area to find downed powerlines. With no road options, we decided to head south to Taylor, eventually turning around and heading home.

Half way on our way to the Ainsworth, NE area, we sent our Severe Studios Chase Vehicle #2 back to SD. We saw everything going up in SD and figured we needed someone back home. We had them in place in Yankton, and they were able to chase the supercell that formed in Yankton all the way to Spencer.

So do not feel bad, there was a tornado 3 miles from one of our chaser's home, 20 miles from my house, and our other chaser's uncle's home was destroyed on Friday night. (He actually called in the tornado to the NWS.. how ironic huh?) What a weekend it was for us in South Dakota.

Sometimes, I think we depend to much on the current models, rather than looking at long term products. I guess we all have busts somedays!

 

[John Peters]

Sweetwater tornado rated EF-3 with path length of 7.5 miles

http://www.weather.gov/view/validProds.php?prod=PNS&node=KOUN

 

[Jeff Piotrowski]

Finally posting about 5/5 amd 5/6 Chase

Here is the link to my website about the 5/5 chase...I am having difficulty with the video clip but will post this weekend on my website.
http://www.twisterchasers.com/storm_chasing_may_5,_2007.htm

Also, check out Sean and Katie McMullens video clip for 5/4
the Time Lapse Video clip http://www.twisterchasers.com/ under Severe Weather Column.

It was a great chase overall and good to see old friends out on the road.

K. Piotrowski

 

[Ryan Pfannkuch]

NWS seeking information from chase community about Osborne Co. KS TOR

We here at NWS Hastings have been trying to gather more details regarding Saturday's tornado that caused some sporadic damage in the Osborne KS areas around 6pm. This storm was very tiny compared to the rest of the "headliners" all weekend and had fairly unimpressive radar signatures...but still produced. Just yesterday, we received our first photos of the tornado taken from a chaser a few miles away from it as it passed over Osborne and across Highway 281 continuing on towards Portis KS.

In addition to anybody on this board who may have additional photos/accounts of this storm...one of our lead forecasters is particularly interested in knowing where exactly this tornado first touched down...and what the storm was doing across the southern part of Osborne County BEFORE it produced the tornado.

If there are any fellow chasers out there who might be able to shed some light on this "relatively unknown" event from Saturday...ANY information or insight would be greatly appreciated. Feel free to respond to this thread...or e-mail me privately at: [email protected]

Thanks!

 

[B. Kotcher]

May 4th-5th-6th was an epic chase trip for me—the best of the 6-7 storm-chasing trips I’ve made in my life. I made my decision Thursday night and flew into Denver on Friday morning, the 4th, reaching central Kansas in my rental car just as things were happening. The next three days was an overload of viciously dancing wall clouds, numerous funnels, one—and possibly two—tornadoes, harrowingly ugly gust fronts that looked like the gates of Hell…with all the excitement and adrenaline I felt like I packed a whole year of living into three days. It’s kind of hard to describe, but I felt like I came back a changed person. I was in another world; lived life on a different plane.

What made this trip so special? It wasn’t the first time I’d seen a tornado. Part of it was the three consecutive days of abundant tornadic storms, but maybe the main part was that this was my first trip since joining Stormtrack, and through Stormtrack’s chase partners thread I’d made a few on-line chasing friends with whom I kept in contact by phone during the trip. With all the action we were never able to be in the same place at the same time to link up, but the phone contact, sharing experiences with fellow enthusiasts, really made me feel a part of some event—part of an experience—rather than being entirely on my own like I’ve been in the past.

Josh Jones, Chris Wilburn, Jason Boggs—it was fun, and I hope to meet you in person some day. And I especially owe huge thanks to John MacKay who very generously showered me with nowcasting calls from Arizona and led me to the highlight of the weekend: a big blue cone tornado on Saturday near the town of—I think—Sawyer, in south-central Kansas south of Pratt. Thanks, John! Let me know when you make your next chasing trip and I’ll definitely return the favor.

--Bob

Correction: the town from which I saw the tornado was Seward, not Sawyer