John Diel
EF5
Sorry, no pics for this one.
Small thunderstorm complex formed in Sumner County, KS along the KS/OK line. This cell was Severe Warned at least twice from 5:00 pm to about 7:00 pm. I left Ponca City about 5:30 and intercepted this storm as it transition SE from KS to OK in the Braman area along I-35.
The storm was moving about 5 to 10 mph with a heavy rain core prececed by a very active shelf cloud. On the southern end of the storm, there was a pronounced lowering for a short period that eventually was overtaken by outflow winds from the rain core and then dissipated. Wind Speeds averaged 25 to 35 mph and Heavy rain was experience at Braman with the heavier rain occuring just north of Braman.
Since this was such a slow moving storm, I managed to stay ahead of it fairly well. From Braman I took US 177 south to Peckam Road and stayed ahead of the storm to Newkirk. I did observe a rapidly rotating cloud column at the intersection of US 177 and Peckham Road. While debating on whether to report this lowering rotating column, it fell apart and detached from the main storm solving that dilemna. At around this time, the storm fell below severe levels and became a prolific rain producer.
At this point another cell was starting to form over the Tonkawa area on the outflow of this storm. I was able to watch this one closely as I drove into the Ponca City area. Some minor rotation was reported, but I wasn't in a position to see it. However, around 8:30, a lightning strike took out a main power relay station south of Ponca and basically took down the entire northern half of Kay County.
Now that was fun! Seems like everyone decided they were going to go for an evening drive 10 minutes after the power was out in torrential rains and massive lightning. All power was out except for emergency generators and it was simply crazy! Anyway, power was down from about 8:30 to 12:30 and was simply a mess. Went home about 11:00 to a sweltering sauna and attempted to get some sleep before getting up at 5:00 am for work.
All in all, not a bad chase and the best cloud movement I've seen all year.
John
Small thunderstorm complex formed in Sumner County, KS along the KS/OK line. This cell was Severe Warned at least twice from 5:00 pm to about 7:00 pm. I left Ponca City about 5:30 and intercepted this storm as it transition SE from KS to OK in the Braman area along I-35.
The storm was moving about 5 to 10 mph with a heavy rain core prececed by a very active shelf cloud. On the southern end of the storm, there was a pronounced lowering for a short period that eventually was overtaken by outflow winds from the rain core and then dissipated. Wind Speeds averaged 25 to 35 mph and Heavy rain was experience at Braman with the heavier rain occuring just north of Braman.
Since this was such a slow moving storm, I managed to stay ahead of it fairly well. From Braman I took US 177 south to Peckam Road and stayed ahead of the storm to Newkirk. I did observe a rapidly rotating cloud column at the intersection of US 177 and Peckham Road. While debating on whether to report this lowering rotating column, it fell apart and detached from the main storm solving that dilemna. At around this time, the storm fell below severe levels and became a prolific rain producer.
At this point another cell was starting to form over the Tonkawa area on the outflow of this storm. I was able to watch this one closely as I drove into the Ponca City area. Some minor rotation was reported, but I wasn't in a position to see it. However, around 8:30, a lightning strike took out a main power relay station south of Ponca and basically took down the entire northern half of Kay County.
Now that was fun! Seems like everyone decided they were going to go for an evening drive 10 minutes after the power was out in torrential rains and massive lightning. All power was out except for emergency generators and it was simply crazy! Anyway, power was down from about 8:30 to 12:30 and was simply a mess. Went home about 11:00 to a sweltering sauna and attempted to get some sleep before getting up at 5:00 am for work.
All in all, not a bad chase and the best cloud movement I've seen all year.
John
