8/13/08 REPORTS: CO

[Verne Carlson]

Radar grabs and video are up now on our blog:

http://stormchaserco.blogspot.com/2008/08/michael-and-danns-elbert-county-tornado.html

 

[Matthew Grzych]

Intercepted a tornadic storm south of Ramah, CO. The storm seemed to be anchored on the dry line/ trough as it was nearly stationary for about an hour leading up to tornadogenesis. Very rapid rotation was present for a long period of time prior to tornado, but not a classic wall cloud for most of it's life. I got caught up in the developing tornado for a brief period and got peppered with road gravel. It gathered strength about 1-2 miles to my east and lasted for about 5 minutes At one point it had some significant debris lofted. It may have hit a barn or some other structure. The storm appeared to be sort of a mini, low-topped LP. It had a very small RFB and was very sheared over to the east. After the tornado dissipated the storm moved off the boundary and lost it's low level rotation. That's when I aborted. Sorry for the poor quality pics... I just moved and couldn't find my old gear.. and my wife is out of town with our good camera. These pics were taken on my iphone.

 

[Dann Cianca]

Alta Vista Tornado

Intercepted a tornadic storm south of Ramah, CO. The storm seemed to be anchored on the dry line/ trough as it was nearly stationary for about an hour leading up to tornadogenesis. Very rapid rotation was present for a long period of time prior to tornado, but not a classic wall cloud for most of it's life. I got caught up in the developing tornado for a brief period and got peppered with road gravel. It gathered strength about 1-2 miles to my east and lasted for about 5 minutes At one point it had some significant debris lofted. It may have hit a barn or some other structure. The storm appeared to be sort of a mini, low-topped LP. It had a very small RFB and was very sheared over to the east. After the tornado dissipated the storm moved off the boundary and lost it's low level rotation. That's when I aborted.

Nice Matt!

I was on the other side with Michael Carlson. We were on the storm for over an hour and noticed a slow increase in rotation. It had very unusual structure ... the updraft being VERY displaced from the precip. We just watched and watched and waited and waited. Finally, the rotation really picked up and we got pretty close. Michael noticed the funnel up in the wall and moments later I saw the debris cloud on the ground and my camera promptly ran out of batteries. haha I took a moment to call the NWS and then replaced batteries.

We drove south, almost parallel to its SSE path.

The tornado lasted for 9 minutes by my estimation: 4:16 to 4:25PM

The path took it within a mile of the "dot on the map" Alta Vista.

I took some bad video and pictures ... can be seen here:

http://blog.bigskyconvection.com/2008/08/finally.html

I don't have a full report up yet ... but there are a couple of stills and all of the video.

I know Michael got some good images with the funnel and the debris cloud in the frame ... so I cant wait to see them!



...

This was my first tornado ... and my 45th storm chase. I've always joked about how I was saving myself for the right one. haha

I'd just like to say, that I'm glad things happened the way they did. I wasn't even expecting a tornado yesterday. I went out to chase storms. We just so happened to be chasing an amazingly beautiful, unique storm. As we watched it ride the boundary, it lowered, rotated, and tightened up. It was then I realized what might happen.

There was no tornado watch (or watch of any kind), no warning, no meso/shear markers, no TVS (no drive toward the pink triangle and bag your tornado!)... no chaser convergence. It was just us (and Matt!) and the storm. I'm sure there was some luck involved.

... but this one was special.

So thanks to Tony Laubach, the Carlsons, and my other CO chaser friends ... and thank you to all in the chase community.

... that steak tasted good last night.

Dann.

 

[Michael Carlson]

Brief: Myself and Dann Cianca cought our first tornado in Eastern Colo.

Long Report and Photos

 

[Dann Cianca]

Michael and I conducted a "survey" of the Alta Vista Tornado today. It should be noted that since the tornado occurred, heavy rains had moved through the area and 9 days had passed since the touchdown.

When we arrived on the scene, we were hard-pressed to see any damage. Our first clue was twisted sheet metal along Alta Vista Road, northeast of where the barn reportedly had taken a hit. We did find the barn at the corner of Alta Vista Road and Berridge Road.

To the south of the barn, we saw a lot of debris (mostly sheet metal, plywood, and insulation) strewn about the field. In addition to that, we also found a fence that was knocked over. Upon further investigation, the fence looks to have gone down recently. The grass underneath the downed posts was very much alive and bent. Also, a large tire sat along the downed fence, the grass in similar condition underneath.

We cannot tell for certain that the tornado did this, but I speculate the tire was thrown from its original location and may have taken down the fence. (It was a heavy tire!) The fence is west of the tornado's starting point, so it would have had to "wind" westward in its track to interact with the fence. It should be noted that the fence on the other side of the road was not damaged.

I could see no evidence of shrapnel being driven into the ground or other objects; most of the debris appeared to have simply landed at the location.

We drove up to the house in front of the damaged barn to speak with the owner, but she was not home. We decided not to take any pictures while on her property, so all photos were taken while we were on the road.

Pictures can be found on the blog:

http://blog.bigskyconvection.com/2008/08/alta-vista-tornado-damage-survey.html