Tornado Onslaught

FOR ANY OF YOU WHO CHECKED IN EARLIER,  I APOLOGIZE FOR THE CHAOTIC FORMAT.   IT WAS THE RESULT OF USING A WIRELESS CARD ON THE ROAD  COMBINED WITH A SUDDEN TRANSITION TO AN ACTIVE CHASE OUTSIDE WAKEENEY KANSAS (AGAIN!) TODAY AT 3:00 P.M. AND NO, WE DID NOT GET ANY TORNADOES TODAY.

IT'S BEEN DIFFICULT TO POST BECAUSE OF CHASE DAYS THAT HAVE EXTENDED UNTIL MIDNIGHT. AND NOW I SEE THAT POSTING FROM THE ROAD DOESN'T WORK VERY WELL...

It’s Leora again, reporting from the road between York ,  Nebraska,  and  Hays,  Kansas. My fellow bloggers have written about the insanity and madness of the last few days—and I have to agree. The system that moved into the Midwest brought an onslaught of tornadoes. Fortunately most passed over open countryside, avoiding homes and lives. Yet, three people were killed during this period.

 For storm chasers, out in droves for Memorial Day Weekend, the wealth of tornadoes has been the equivalent of a large herd of buffalo charging across the plains. It’s rare for the targets to be so numerous and predictable. On Friday, the  Storm Prediction Center put tornado probability in Kansas at over 95%. The forecasters on our team couldn't remember the last time this had happened (perhaps one of you does).

On Thursday and Friday, it was the classic setup, our team members kept saying, very excitedly. They loved everything they were observing on their computer monitors: the warm and cold fronts and the boundary they were creating, the high moisture, the directions and intensity of the low and high-level wind shear, and a cap neither too weak nor too strong. Karen Kosiba, DOW navigator, who is just finishing up her PhD on tornadoes, told me on Thursday morning: “If you look at any textbook as to what makes a tornado, this is exactly what you’ll see. There will be tornadoes, multiple tornadoes. You want to be on the major one.” She added: “Everyone is obviously excited.”

 

Herb, DOW driver, was somewhat cautious: “Having been in this situation many times, it will either be an incredible day or an incredible disappointment.” In fact, it was neither. For the DOW, it was a tough day because of a computer-card malfunction, which disabled the radar. So Josh decided to send out Probe 1, Probe 2 and SCOUT to do some old-school, radar-less chasing, with the goal of deploying pods. There we were in the late afternoon, with no technological advantages trying to make it to intercept tornadoes in central and north-central  Kansas.

 Justin and Mark were thrilled at the challenge. (Danny and Aaron, “Team C,” had already been testing their storm-chasing skills for weeks as they broke off from the DOW on their own missions.) They were keenly attuned to the sky. Intermittently they managed to access the National Weather Service data through a wireless card. They sure wanted to succeed, but for all our maneuvering we didn’t find ourselves near any storms that were  hatching tornadoes. At a gas station in WaKeeney, as darkness was subsuming the land, the guys decided to call it a day.   

 And then—you guessed right—a violent thunderstorm gathered just to our south, radically changing our plans. Probe 1, Probe 2 and Scout all deployed a single pod in town and raced west along I-70 in lashing rain and wind. It was a long wait to retrieve the pods, because another storm fired up right after the first. But we had the satisfaction of intercepting a tornado; tree and sheet-metal damage in town confirmed what we’d suspected. A tornado had passed through WaKeeney minutes after we'd left. Though weak by Fujita Scale standards, it nevertheless managed to snap and uproot trees and destroy an airplane hangar.

The ground-level measurements we’re collecting will hopefully make the lives of people on the Great Plains safer in the future.  As  Josh likes to say,we need data from the lowest thirty meters because that’s the zone in which we live.

To those of you who were wondering, here’s the follow-up to my previous blog, filed from Fort Morgan, Colorado: Yes, we would have done well to trust the upslope mechanism and to stay put. That way we might have intercepted the violent Windsor Tornado. Quite a few of us are residents of Colorado, including Josh who lives in Boulder, and so the frustration at missing a tornado in our own back yard was great. Nevertheless, if you look at the reports on Kansas that day,  you'll see that our  choice of location was logical. Thank you to a few readers from Colorado  who commented!

This blog is by now too long to describe the events of Friday, our best day of the season yet, so check in again soon!

The picture below is of our ultra-cool shooter and technical director Keith.

      

Comments

[John]

Awesome job out there guys. Congrats on the intercept!

Josh, ABC News has your interview plastered all over their tornado coverage. Dow 6 looks really cool! And yes, they spelled your name right (Fox has messed up before).

How are TIV1 and TIV2 doing? Hey Sean, what can we send ya to help you out?

We here in Atlanta had 2 tornadoes last Tuesday and we're still cleaning up from it. I was atop Sweat Mountain in northeast Marietta, GA watching a storm approaching from the north with GR2AE when the storm popped a tornado and came right at me. It also had 2 inch hail and larger. The police officer/storm spotter and myself have never run so fast down the mountain to get away. It was reported as an EF-1 and did $40 Million in damage. That's the problem and danger with chasing in Georgia. You have to go to the top of the mountains to see what's coming at you (literally). Thankfully no one was killed.

Hey Josh, our tornado season here in Georgia is January to mid-March. Why are we having to many tornadoes this late in the year? Normally all the action moves out west to the Great Plains and we watch it on TV. So far this year, we are dodging at least 2 tornadoes a week.

Stay safe and good luck in your quest.
John, Atlanta.

[richard]

Awesome post Leora, we are receiving reports in the UK about the devastation. They were constantly running aerial footage of a particular nasty tornado. Hope you guys play it safe. Every moment I get I try and keep up. I am more than determined to meet up with you guys in two years. I am yours for a month as a photographer i live on Mountain Dew and twinkies, I will have finished my BBC camera course by then (yes I am that serious). Anything to prevent further deaths is fine by me.

I am what you would call a conscientous chaser.

The weather is sporadic winds but no storms as such.

As before watch the skies and play safe.

Rich

[Dale]

Keep up the great work, Leora. Your posts are the best so far. Even the attempt via wireless was comprehensible so don't necessarily give up on that. Having watched the NGC documentary and each episode of Storm Chasers at least twice, not to mention having spent a year in KS in the service, it's much easier to read the blogs and imagine from a safe distance here in L.A. what the crew is going through out there. Is there a planned date for your chase season wrap this year? Looks like it's still going strong enough to keep you all busy for a while. You know, if meteorology doesn't work out for Josh, he could always get a job as a radar repairman. The TIV crew could do a better at updating their blogs. They wouldn't want anyone stealing their thunder, so to speak, would they? Looking forward to seeing this season's episodes. Has the production crew mentioned anything about air dates? Keep up the blogging and please play it cool out there.

[Laura]

It's pretty interesting to see the pics of the production crew as well. There have been a few of the Tech Director and he looks like he's more involved than most of the cast. Especially with the injuries he got and the danger Keith and Kerri were in. The cast seem to be safe inside their tanks and DOW's but the film crew is right in harms way filming with monster cameras. When is the show airing? Are they in it as well? Are there any behind the scenes stories?

[Jordans 6]

Thanks so much for posting these, they are fantastic! So bummed I missed what looks like a truly unique evening.

[coach suitcase]

“You wish ~” My American friends love this sentence! They use it to tease and taunt each other constantly!

[coach outlet]

a bold attempt is half success.

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Guys you are so brave. You have dangerous job.