5/8/9 REPORTS: KS/OK/MO/AR/TX/IA/IL/TN

[William Reid]

Brown County supercell

I think I found the right place to post this! And, I fixed my web site page for this account, which was not opening up properly in Internet Explorer. So, if you tried to access my Brown County page earlier and it didn't work, please try again!

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http://stormbruiser.com/chase/2009/0...-tx-supercell/

Click the link above to go to my account and images for this chase. Bob Conzemius and I were leading the Tempest Tours group. We got on the Brownwood/Early storm about 15-20 minutes before it hit that community. We utilized the FM road that runs from Blanket to Zephyr, about 7 - 8 miles east of Early, and observed a very impressive wall cloud beneath a spaceship updraft. The cell was diving south, and we stayed with it on its east side for about 30-40 minutes along our N-S road.

We are not convinced yet that there was a legitimate tornado in Early. We surveyed the area today and saw a lot of what looked to be straight-line wind damage. I spoke with one local who seemed pretty sharp. She said that there was some strong wind and one-inch hail as the storm approached, then a lull, and then the blast of wind with a bit of a roaring sound. She thought it was a tornado.

I think we would have seen a tornado had there been one ---- though I'm not certain. There was precip that may have obscured our view that far west.

William Reid
www.stormbruiser.com

 

[Jane Herbert]

We also checked the damage in the Early area and agree that it appears to be straightline - suspect large hail judging from the leaf drifts everywhere. The bulk of damage was trees affected by est. winds 50 - 65mph. Most trees were downed pointing in the same direction (towards SE). Also noted some branches hanging down on larger trees indicating probable downburst activity. We followed some of the path area for a number of miles which showed sporadic intensification and weakening...the locals were all out cleaning up.

Regards,

Clyve & Jane
Australian Severe Weather Asscn (ASWA)

 

[Glenn Schubert]

Mods, can we add IL to this thread?

My intent was to intercept the tornado warned cell in nothern Jackson Co, IL around 12:30 pm, but ended up getting caught in the "inland hurricane" derecho event that hit southern Illinois. A Jackson Deputy reported two funnels near Elkville and I was only a few miles south of there. I saw the area of interest, but there seem to be a lot of rain also. Suddenly, the wind pick up dramatically and started to rock my jeep. Tree limbs were soon flying past me, so I found an area on the road that was tree free and parked it. Soon it was like being in the middle of a hurricane! A tree fell across the road directly in front of me. I heard many calls for help on my scanner. Winds were reported up to 106mph. As I drove back to my house I saw trees down, roofs off and power poles snapped in two (heard there were over 900 down). I had video rolling during the event and will get it posted as soon as I edit it.

Here is video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGJmOeDEBtw

 

[Andrew Khan]

5/8/09 REPORTS : TN/KY/AL/VA

I started out in Fall Branch, TN. I was aware of the inherently tornadic supercell that was tracking NEE at 40 MPH towards me. This storm already had a long history of funnel and tornado production, thus I knew something would likely impact me, due to the topographical enhancement that usually occurs with some rotating storms' updrafts around here. I flew into Johnson City, TN and watched the storm roll in as per what GRLevel3 was reading. The program was indicating a well-defined couplet, and a semi-organized supercell with a definite hook echo appendage. I ended up near Grey, TN and watched two occasions of vortex contact with the earth.

My main problem with documentation here, was that the light got extremely limited as the sun was setting, during this occurrence. As a result, getting a clear picture, without raising the ISO and getting a nasty looking picture was impossible. I used a series of quick exposures with high ISO speeds, and long exposures with low ISO speeds. Also in the process to get a photograph, when long exposure is used, it totally aborts any possibility of documenting rotation in a still photograph, unlike during the day with vivid light. This can be seen in my latter photographs.

These tornadoes were also spotted by other spotters and law enforcement and have been archived in the LSR archives as a tornado.

This broke the twelve year absence of tornadoes that have occurred within Washington County, TN.

 

[David Reimer]

I wont make a long report as it has been covered quite well from the other chasers in the area. The Texas Storm Chasers (Connor and I) were on the Nacona/Montague Supercell that occurred before/at dark. We got some video of a somewhat elevated wall cloud and rotating rain curtains before the chase ended on FM 1806 when I locked myself out of my van just as the tornado warning was issued. I hitchhiked into Montague and sat at a Steak House until 11 PM or so when the spare key arrived from Dallas. A pretty good chase and a even more interesting experience after the chase.

The video is located at www.texasstormchasers.com

 

[Ben Holcomb]

I didn't have anything fun, but I did manage to get my first lightning shot, totally by accident.

I've posted my recap up at http://www.benholcomb.com/20090508.html