Tyler Graham
EF0
Hello Stormtrack users! On April 3rd my dad and I went out to eastern Oklahoma (just east of Tulsa Oklahoma) to chase storms as they fired off the dryline. Watching the radar, it was pretty obvious that the supercells that were developing would not remain discrete, but would remain discrete for a very short period of time before conglomerating into a linear mode. As we continued to watch the radar, a supercell impacting an area between Bixby and Tulsa Oklahoma was moving to the northeast, towards Chouteau. So we continued west on highway 412 to try to get near the hook. The first glimpse of the wall cloud was observed at 3:21pm. We sat and watched as the RFD rain shaft and wall cloud had some interactions side-by-side and noticed a very small condensation funnel drop from the base. This occurred at 3:23pm. As we continued watching, something amazing happened. I witnessed my first tornado. On the ground, below the condensation funnel, dirt was getting quickly suspended in the air and was starting to circulate around the funnel cloud. At first, I thought it may have been strong RFD kicking up dust or even the updraft ingesting dirt, but since there was a condensation funnel present, then there had to be rotation. Also, the dirt did rotate around the condensation funnel. Now, the tornado was extremely brief, and only lasted about 30 seconds, likely due to occlusion of the updraft by the rear flank downdraft that quickly overtook the storm and then went linear. So I just wanted to post this incident to the members to see if anyone else was out on these storms, get some comments and feedback, and also get a question answered. I have looked everywhere on the internet with no luck in finding any pictures or videos from the event. My question would be do you guys agree as fellow storm chasers that this would indeed be a brief tornado? As soon as we arrive d you could see the entire wall cloud vigorously rotating and within 2 minutes time a small condensation funnel could be seen, and it was rotating as well. and then there was dirt on the ground that was swirling around the base. Now, there were also rain curtains from the RFD getting caught up in the updraft, and the possibility that it could be dust getting kicked up from the RFD or even dirt ingested into the updraft, but I have to negate all of these theories because the dirt was rotating around the base of the wall cloud and around the condensation funnel. It was also darker than the rain bands, which means it had to be dirt. I believe that it was a tornado, and I'm just getting doubts since it was my first one and I have never seen one before. This being my first one in person, I have no previous experience with one to base facts off of. So I would greatly appreciate any comments regarding the tornado. But if there are any questions or comments or feedback from you guys, please tell me! I would love to hear input from others. I will post the pictures and give captions to each of the file names. Thank you all for reading and commenting. I just previewed the post and I am sorry the pictures are so small. It is hard to really analyze them. Is there any way I can get the images larger and within the post? If so, please tell me and I can re-upload them for a better viewing.
IMG_9564 5: IPhone Panoramic (Grainy if not viewed on an Apple product) Showing the circular wall cloud just a few minutes before dropping the brief tornado.
DSCN4538 1: The rest of the photos were taken with a NIKON CoolPix. This photo shows the rotation within the wall cloud just seconds before dropping a small condensation funnel and then the tornado. Notice the RFD coming in from the left
DSCN4539 2: Photograph of the wall cloud and the condensation funnel as well as dirt getting swirled around at the ground to the left of the yield sign.
DSCN4542 3: Close up of the small and weak tornado in progress. Notice the condensation funnel clearly visible as well as the dirt now getting more lofted into the air as well as it getting swirled around the base.
DSCN4546 4: Another Close up showing the tornado likely at its greatest intensity. The dirt was getting a lot more darker (indicating more of it) and the base of the debris field was a lot wider and more wrapped up as well. It dissipated soon afterwards.
IMG_9564 5: IPhone Panoramic (Grainy if not viewed on an Apple product) Showing the circular wall cloud just a few minutes before dropping the brief tornado.
DSCN4538 1: The rest of the photos were taken with a NIKON CoolPix. This photo shows the rotation within the wall cloud just seconds before dropping a small condensation funnel and then the tornado. Notice the RFD coming in from the left
DSCN4539 2: Photograph of the wall cloud and the condensation funnel as well as dirt getting swirled around at the ground to the left of the yield sign.
DSCN4542 3: Close up of the small and weak tornado in progress. Notice the condensation funnel clearly visible as well as the dirt now getting more lofted into the air as well as it getting swirled around the base.
DSCN4546 4: Another Close up showing the tornado likely at its greatest intensity. The dirt was getting a lot more darker (indicating more of it) and the base of the debris field was a lot wider and more wrapped up as well. It dissipated soon afterwards.