Our first pick for a target area was southern Kansas in the small town of Harper. We weren’t the only ones either. A couple dozen storm chase vehicles filled the parking lot of the convenience store. We found a dirt road and waited for something to happen. All of the elements required for storm development were present.
The emergency manager and a police officer both stopped to chat with us for a few minutes. Fortunately for Harper, nothing developed.
We decided to chase a storm that was, yes, “lookin’ to hit Wakita head on.” South to Wakita we went.
Chasing storms over several years, I’d yet to go through Wakita. You might know about Wakita if you’ve seen the movie “Twister.” I couldn’t resist shooting a picture of the Wakita water tower so I could prove that we were really there! No, the Twister Museum wasn’t on our agenda.
Of course we weren’t there just for the water tower or the movie. There were a couple of storm cells there as well.
We followed one of the storm cells for the rest of the day. It did produce heavy rain, gusty winds and small hail. At times we found circulation in the mature part of the storm.
It was actually a pretty impressive storm. And, of course, I couldn’t let another sunset pass me by.
We followed the same cell into Tulsa County and called an end to the chase. The storm had fallen apart and was no longer a threat.
There were reports of wind and hail damage to some areas. The only tornado report near our location, that we were aware of, was produced by a storm near Dodge City that placed Greensburg, KS under a tornado warning. Thankfully, the storm dissipated before it reached Greensburg.
With the season coming to a close, we were glad we had another opportunity to witness the brilliance of Mother Nature.