Saturday
This chase was no different than many of the other chases we’d been on. The NWS forecasts and models, combined with our interpretation of the information available to us, prompted us to activate a day earlier than we’d planned. The elements necessary for severe weather were falling into place.
We’d been watching the developing conditions since early in the morning, my mood vacillating from boredom to excitement with each radar update and revised forecast from the National Weather Service.
At 10:32 a.m., we went active.
It’s always thrilling to me when I finally realize that I’m heading for unstable conditions and the possibility of seeing Mother Nature’s big show. I quickly put the last charge on the camera and computer batteries, packed a suitcase and loaded the gear. While waiting on Justin to arrive I’d run to the computer to check the radar sweeps and read the latest SPC bulletins. It’s a ritual that is sure to be repeated again and again this season. Yes it’s a familiar scene, but each chase has that favored element of excitement, just like it was when I chased storms for the first time. Perhaps a little more confident now, but I still grapple with the unknown factors that keep storm chasing exciting.
The conditions that could spawn supercell thunderstorms were located in southwest Oklahoma, so we went west. The first couple of hours on the road were spent narrowing down the target area. Southwest of Oklahoma City seemed to be where the most favorable conditions were.
We found a massive storm system in Granite, just south of Elk City.
It had all the markings of a storm capable of producing a tornado. Rotation, strong winds, heavy rain and dime sized hail. No, it didn’t produce a funnel, but it was an awesome storm to watch.
Once the hail ended, we left Granite and found ourselves in Greer County watching this eerie looking storm trying to produce a tornado.
When the storm began dissipating, we continued on to Washita County. The sun was beginning to set and we stopped to take in the beauty of this amazing process.
But, there was still a storm to the north, and it wasn’t long until the storm began to produce a funnel cloud.
Even though it looked like there would be one, we didn’t get a touchdown. But the amazing sunset was still happening. Our time for chasing this storm was running out.
It was getting late and we decided to call an end to the chase for the day. We grabbed dinner and found a hotel in Clinton. While watching the news, we learned that tornadoes had touched down 120 miles north of us — in Enid.
A 414 mile chase day yielded 3 massive wall clouds, 1 hail shower and 2 funnels. We slept well.
Sunday
The next morning, we took our time getting around. We looked at the forecasts for the day and Justin downloaded the entire musical soundtrack to the movie Twister. Okay, it’s an inside joke. Anyway, it was promising to be a very active weather day and our plan was to head north to the area hit by the tornado on Saturday.
Although we didn’t find many opportunities for photographs on Sunday, we did find one large storm on our way to Woodward. Near Shattuck we stopped and watched the storm build. The owner of the house in the picture stopped and asked us about the weather. Apparently his wife had raised concern with him about the storm looming over their farm and made him come home to watch it with her. As you can see by the photographs, she had reason for concern.
I’m sure the storm wasn’t the only thing causing the family concern. Maybe all of the storm chase vehicles near their farm had something to do with the rising stress level as well.
We followed this storm for several hours and caught a glimpse of a forming funnel, south of Woodward, shown in the photograph below.
Near Woodward we were forced to stop and wait on the side of interstate 270 as 4 cells moved through. We knew they were bad, but I don’t think we realized how bad until we finally ventured back onto the highway.
Heavy rains, winds and hail had blown a couple of vehicles into the ditch. We actually thought we might try to stay up with the worst part of the storm, now producing a tornado, but all of the roads to get us back into position and heading towards 412 were flooded. So much rain had been produced that the county roads and highway 50 were overtaken by flood waters. Our route to the storm was cut off. We had no choice but to continue traveling on 270 to Woodward.
We joined one of the storm cells in Woodward. Very heavy rains, strong winds and more hail. The parking lot of Walmart, now deserted, was littered with shopping carts. Some of them still rolling at high speeds towards the light poles, remaining cars, and us. The streets were beginning to flood and debris from the powerful winds littered the roadways and floated on the flood waters.
We found a gas station that still had power, filled up, called an end to the chase, and headed back home.
The entire trip back to Tulsa tested our endurance. Driving in pounding rains and powerful winds made both of us a tad nervous. Justin made comment of the indentions I’d surely leave in the steering wheel from gripping it so tightly.
We stopped in Stillwater to grab a bite to eat and rest. We naively hoped that the layover would delay our journey long enough that the rain would be far ahead of us before we continued home. That wasn’t how it turned out. The rain stayed with us all the way.
After chasing storms for 909 miles over a 2 day period, we were home. It had been a busy and intense chase. And, yes, we’re ready to do it again.