It started out as a normal Friday. With a hot cup of coffee in hand, I looked at the model runs and forecasts at 6am, like I do every morning. I didn’t see anything really alarming. Rain was forecast along with a slight risk of severe storms in SE Oklahoma and Arkansas.
Justin called and said he needed one of the GPS antennas and the wireless for a camping trip he and his family were making. He’d stop by later to pick them up.
Once at the office, the normal morning routine of reading email and planning the day took my attention away from where I’d rather be – out driving the back roads of Oklahoma, searching for the elusive photo of the day.
I reviewed the latest MD and noticed that things were changing some. The wording included the chance for possible thunderstorms and tornadoes and it was possible it would affect the Tulsa area, to the south and to the east.
I cleared my appointments for the afternoon.
Just before 2:00, I headed home to load up the gear. The weather pattern was shaping up. It could be an active one.
I stopped on the way to gas up the truck and the phone rang. “Tim, this is Lee’s and your lawnmower is ready.” Damn it. I’d taken it in yesterday. Repair shops are never able to get repairs made that quickly, in fact one of the guys I work with said it’d probably be two weeks before I saw the lawnmower again.
I jumped back on the highway and headed towards the repair shop. During the drive I tried to talk myself out of going home and mowing the lawns, even though it’d been a couple weeks since I’d last mowed. The wilderness look is the now in style for city dwellings, isn’t it?
I picked up the lawnmower and headed home. I’d decided that I had to mow before more rain arrived or it would take a tractor and brush hog to get through it. It’s that time of year. You can hear the grass growing. You can see the blades stretch for the sun.
Painted concrete is a good idea.
It was now 3:00 and the grass was mowed. I didn’t take the time to trim, clean out the flower beds or do anything else except review the latest weather developments.
Within 20 minutes, I was showered and the gear was in the truck. I’d decided that the Muskogee area, just south east of Tulsa, would be the starting point for the day’s adventure.
The sky in Tulsa was beginning to cloud up. I needed to hurry to get into position.
On the BA expressway, also known as highway 51, I continued east towards the Muskogee turnpike. Storms were developing behind me. Severe thunderstorm warnings were issued.
Arriving in Muskogee, I found a place to park and keep an eye on the situation. A layer of mammatus clouds were overhead. I know, normally nothing develops out of mammatus clouds, but knowing how unstable the situation was becoming, I was fairly confident that something was going to happen. The ingredients were there.
Storms were popping up northwest of Muskogee. I found my way back to highway 69 and drove north.
I pulled off to the side of the highway and waited. It wasn’t long until one of the storms I’d been tracking on radar appeared to the west. It was moving east-northeast and it was packing a punch…large hail, heavy rain and gusty winds.
As the storm moved across the highway, I caught this photo of a developing funnel cloud.
The sky opened and hail began pounding my truck. Mostly pea to marble size stones, but a few of them were about the size of a quarter. I picked up a couple additional dents in the hood.
Media reported that this storm eventually produced a tornado a few miles from where this photo was taken, west of Tahlequa, OK.
I drove back south as the sun began to set. I knew traveling solo was not a good time to chase tornadoes into the darkness. I pulled to the side of the highway south of Muskogee and caught a beautiful sunset.
There will be more opportunites to chase in the next few weeks and I’m looking forward to it. This was the kind of chase I really enjoy. No pressure and a few opportunities to take some great photographs.