Chase Log: May 29th, 2004


Click on any of the SPC products below (Convective Outlooks, Watches, or MCDs) to see the SPC's "Severe Thunderstorm Events" page pertaining to this event.


MAP

Total Distance: 400 miles
Target Area: Enid, OK, to Wichita, KS
Chase Area: Thomas to Arcadia, OK
Maximum SPC Risk category: High
Watches: PDS Tornado Watches 322 and 323, Tornado Watches 326, 327, and 328
Mesoscale Discussions (MCDs): 972, 973, 974, 976, 978, 980, 982, 983, and 985

Today looked like of the best outbreaks of the year as a very strong upper trough/low was forecast to move out of the western US, inducing a very deep low in western Kansas. Strong instability of >4000 j/kg CAPE was forecast across central KS, decreasing to ~3500 in northern OK and ~2500 south of I-40. With the deepening system, a very strong low-level jet (40-50kts at 850mb) was progged to develop east of the dryline. Our original target of north-central OK and south-central KS looked good, as that area had excellent low-level shear (250-450 0-3km helicity) and strong instability. Mid-level was progged to be best over central OK, with a jet max of 50-60kts over central Oklahoma by 0z. We'll later see again why you should stick to your target area.

By late morning, I began to notice backing winds southwest of OKC, east of a confluence line that extended from Caddo county southward. This concerned us greatly, as the setup was looking very familiar to the infamous May 3rd, 1999 event. However, we still liked the area from Enid to Wichita best, and so we headed up to Enid at about 1pm. By the time we reach Enid, there were storms firing along the dryline, which was nearly stationary from Childress, TX, north-northeastward to near Pratt, KS. At the time, the most dominant storm looked to over Roger Mills county. However, this was mostly becuase it was the first storm to form, and thus had the longest to mature. The group voted and decided to head for that storm. As we headed southwest from Enid, more storms matured in Woods county, and a tornado warning was issued for that storm... This storm would later go on to produce numerous tornadoes across Harper and Sumner county, KS.

As we drove through Thomas, westward, the base and meso of the storm to our northwest came into view. When we began to head towards Putnam, a very nice wallcloud rapidly developed. However, a storm to its south began to interact with and eventually cut off this storms inflow. Seeing this, we left this cell (as baseball-sized hail was reported a couple of miles north of us). We were able to (with some luck) make it through the north side of this storm as we drove back eastward through Thomas. By this time, a very large wall cloud was visible to our southwest. By the time we were about 2 miles southeast of Thomas, we were hearing of hail larger than baseballs breaking out windows in Thomas. Whew! Close call to very large hail...

We watched this storm try to produce. The initial wall-cloud disappated, but another very large and low one developed shortly thereafter. There were several brief spinups under and near this wallcloud. The RFD, which was quite hot, punched around and passed us, at which time we realized we needed to get east as the storm was passing us to the north. However, a little thing called a river was the cause of a signficant detour. It seems that the only way to cross the river is either via Hwy 33, which went northeast of Thomas (where the storm was located) or via highways much farther southeast. Seeing how the storm was sitting over or very near Hwy 33, we had no decision but to drop to Weatherford and work east on I40. This cost us significant time and ended up costing us a couple of reported tornadoes.

We did get off I40 and headed into Geary. Rotation was quite evident by this time, as rain curtains rapidly rotated around the meso. We did see some damage in the town of Geary... From Geary, we took Hwy 270 east then east-southeastward into Calumet, stopping several times along the way to watch the meso. As we neared Calumet, we saw a funnel develop to our north. We positioned north of Calumet, at which time we saw the funnel cloud connect with the ground. A full condensation funnel was apparent for several minutes. With some observation, we noticed something very peculiar about this tornado -- it was rotating anticylonically! We continued east of Calumet to near Concho, where we stopped to watch a couple of truly violently-rotating brief tornadoes / spinups to our northwest. Additionally, there were times when two or even three rotating wallclouds were evident at one time.

We stayed with this storm as power flashes were seen northwest of the OKC metro. It looked at the time like it may effect OKC proper, but the storm stayed north of there. We stayed with the storm until north of Arcadia, when my car severely needed gas and thus the chase ended. We saw numerous lowerings and wall-clouds between Edmond and Arcadia, and there were reported tornadoes there. The RFD winds were very strong and likely caused much of the reported damage in this area.

Overall, this was a pretty good chase, although a little disappointing (yes, I know, we still saw 2-3 tornadoes...). This day looked to be one of the most significant outbreaks in quite some time for central OK/KS/NE. However, the cap was a little stronger than forecast, and thus the number of supercells in the plains was considerably smaller than anticipated. The storm that started over Woods county, OK, tracked east-northeast across our target area and produce numerous tornadoes in Harper and Sumner counties. Unfortunately, we got suckered south by the better mid-level flow, and ended up on an impressive, yet very HP beast. The 0z OUN, which was likely pretty representative of our storm, sounding was not very impressive, while the 0z Lamont sounding (more representative of the Harper/Sumner county storm) looked very impressive and supportive of a strong tornadic supercell. We've done pretty good year about staying in our target zone, but I guess you can't always get the best of the storms... The photogenic anticyclonic tornado made this chase, however! Well, the massive wallcloud near Thomas was also very impressive and led us to think this storm was going to drop a wedge!

05-29-2004 Chase Pictures

Click on any photo to see a larger version

We emerged from the rain on the north side of the meso, made it through Thomas, and dropped south a couple miles southeast of the town. This nice, low wall-cloud greeted us... The darkness behind and to the left of the wallcloud is wrap-around precipitation. The right side of a wallcloud is visible on the right side of the image. Hmm... do I see something in there? This is the same picture as the previous one, but digitally enhanced (to an extreme degree) for contrast, in an attempt to sift through the wrap-around precipitation to see if there is something hidden in the rain. I've heard that a tornado was reported at this time, so chances are, the feature on the right side is the condensation funnel. Another wallcloud developed to our north (which would have put it east of Thomas) and had a very low base for a few minutes. Another view of the wallcloud that developed to our north (east of Thomas). After the long detour via I-40, we saw this funnel develop right ahead of us as we were about 1/4 mile south of Geary. The strong rain curtain motion showed the intense circulation ahead. Significant structural damage occurred in Geary. After watching the rain-wrapped circulation for about 20-30 minutes from Geary to north of Calumet, this nice funnel developed as we were driving north through the small town of Calumet. Another view of the funnel as we are stopped on the north side of Calumet. The funnel begins to snake its way towards the ground. Touchdown! While not visible in this video still, a small debris/dust cloud was seen below this funnel, indicative of ground-based circulation associated with the tornado. Now quite a bit easier to see as condensation connects to the ground. It was at this time that we noticed something peculiar about this tornado -- it was rotating *anticylonically*! A rare tornado indeed! Another view a couple of minutes later... The condensation funnel comes to the ground again. The main, cyclonic mesocyclone was to the northwest of this tornado, but was heavily rain-wrapped and not easily visible. The anticyclonically-rotating funnel cloud is on the right, while the very low cyclonically-rotating wallcloud is in the backgroud. Obviously a digitally-enhanced picture, I noticed an interesting feature while reviewing the video. Notice the tornado-like feature above the copyright label... I'm awaiting the official damage survey to see if this was indeed a tornado.