Those "Other" Tornadoes

[Adam Lucio]

^ Great Example, Jared. I never even heard of that tornado until now. I have my own "other" from that day near Tuttle, OK. In fact the NWS wasn't even aware of it until they stumbled on our video.

 

[Ben Holcomb]

As jari called it, "Big Tornado"
Watch video >

 

[JamesCaruso]

My most recent "other tornado" is the Bray, OK EF1 that occurred at the same time the Moore tornado was on the ground on 5/20/13. This is the first tornado that I have ever driven away from on purpose. My wife was sheltering in the freezer at Moore Medical Center and I had to get back up north.

Attempting to get the "other" tornado is actually my primary mission these days. Not as much traffic and secondary targets are more challenging.

Steve, can you share the timestamp on that 5/20/13 Bray tornado? I was on that storm but didn't see anything, could never determine whether I was just late, driving at the time with an obstructed view, or in a bad viewing spot too far away... I looked at the storm reports but hard to rely on those exact times... Not that I looked that purposefully, but this is the first picture I have seen of it and I didn't realize it was that substantial, I always assumed it was a brief spin-up! I screwed up so many times that year in such a condensed period of time that I never had the chance to go back and research all of it!

Thanks!
Jim



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[Scott Sims]

Full life cycle of the Otis/Timken, KS 4-14-2012

I have to go with the same one Adam Davis mentioned as probably my best documented 'other', but I have some other 'others' were not 'the show' of their day.

This Timken/Otis cell had no business putting down a rope the way it looked on radar. It was northwest of the growing Langley beast and I don't think it had a core over 40 Dbz at the time it produced. But, since i was already close to it(headed towards it before it started to die) and I could see there was a funnel and a good route through Great Bend to still cut in front of the new growing Langley storm, I decided to give it a few more minutes to produce. I sat just south of Timken and watched it go from directly west to directly north of me. I only wish I had HD at that time for the early squiggly rope stage that it had just before it pulled up and set down as a thin trunk.


I also saw the big wet meso with some spinups under it near Roscoe/Ipswitch after the Bowdle wedge on 5-22-2010, but that one still burns me because I could have been there for the wedge had I read the setup right and left Redfield, SD just 20 minutes sooner. I think these spinners in this video near Roscoe may have been the ones that chased some folks out into that field where the map showed a road... Not 100% sure on that part.

I was also around for two 'others' mentioned for Viola KS on 5-19-13 and Bray OK on 5-20-13 as well, but the video and intercept for these not impressive enough to mention, and I haven't even put them on Youtube. The best part of my Bray video is actually the shotgun blast thunderclaps that kept barraging me while I sat there filming.

 

[Alex Heimberger]

Secondary targets are going to need to be more commonly considered among the more skilled chasers, in order to stay away from the obvious targets that get bombarded by everyone else. So, I think it's important to have appreciation and some pride when a secondary target works in your favor.

That was a good read.

June 12th 2013 Savanna IL. Was a high risk day, but haven't seen to many videos or pics of it. Darn near didn't get any myself. Caught me off guard when we came over a hill. This was right by the Mississippi, so rough terrain.

 

[L.B. LaForce]

I have a good one. 8/13/2010 in Hayfield, Minnesota. Basically it was the Friday the 13th Needle in the "Hayfield." She sure was a beauty, and if I remember correctly, the only chasers on it were myself, Chad Cowan, and possibly one other. This was a real cluster of a day. The previous day spawned a few HP sups and tors. 8/13 was a large 2% tornado risk, and I just happened to be in the right spot at the right time.

 

[Dan Robinson]

Every so often I go off on a tangent looking for "other" tornadoes from past big days. The March 13, 1990 Hesston day had several impressive tornadoes in Oklahoma, Nebraska and Illinois that are rarely cited in recaps of that event. Seeing these should make anyone a believer in "secondary targets". If this event were to happen in the modern era, I think most chasers would have targeted the dryline in Kansas and seen the Hesston/Goessel tornadoes - but I'll tell you, I would have been very happy myself with that surface low play in Nebraska.

These are all links to Youtube videos:

Wakita, OK tornado - 3/13/1990

Nebraska:
Guide Rock, NE tornado - 3/13/1990

Grand Island, NE tornado - 3/13/1990

Grand Island, NE tornado - 3/13/1990

Lawrence, NE tornado - 3/13/1990

Illinois:
Cordova, IL tornado - 3/13/1990

 

[Jeff Duda]

The March 13, 1990 Hesston day had several impressive tornadoes in Oklahoma, Nebraska and Illinois that are rarely cited in recaps of that event.

There was also an F4 tornado very close to my home at the time near Cedar Rapids, IA. All I recall from that day is being in kindergarten and having to get into our disaster shelter for awhile. I could occasionally see outside (view to the east and southeast), and all I could see was a very ugly black looking cloud base with a yellow/orange clear sky in the background. I never even knew about the tornado until years later.

 

[Wesley Luginbyhl]

My "other" tornado definitely has to be the May 23, 2008 storm in NW OK, while everyone else was on I-70 at Quinter. I was chasing out of Lubbock at the time and didnt have a ton of cash to chase that far north. I chased the Clearwater, KS area the day before and drove back to Lubbock. Woke up on the 23rd and realized NW OK had a shot, so I hit the road again and caught one of my favorite tornadoes. Definitely the best tornado day, where I only got a one, that I have had. Was the first time I ever came across damage right after a tornado though and ended up hitting a downed power line, which is on the video. Click here for the chase report from that day.

 

[Adam Reagan]

I forgot to add this tornado that I saw on April 14, 2012. I'm not sure of the exact location of this tornado but we were between Marion and Lincolnville, KS when I first saw the tornado illuminated by lightning while we stopped for a cigarette break after my chase partners and I saw the Moundridge tornadoes.

 

[Jeremy.Degenhart]

June 20th, 2011, while most people were on the other (better) tornadoes further east, I saw a couple tornadoes near Holdrege, NE. This was the best shot I got that day.

Also on April 27, 2014, while the prize was Louisville and Tupelo, got on an early tornado around Yazoo City, MS.