SCORE!!! :-)
I finally broke my curse!! :-) Jay McCoy, Kanani and David Drummond and myself chased the big isolated cell that erupted in Hemphill County, TX and moved into NW OK. We made it up to Perryton, TX where we munched data. It became clear that we needed to head back towards Canadian/Shamrock. Towers were starting to pop up down there in an area that was looking rather tasty on SPC mesoanalysis as well as good dryline convergence...not to mention the Caprock upslope.
We got south of Canadian and a cluster of towers started exploding. Game on. We stayed with the first cell until it scooted off north and replced with a second cell which quickly started rotating. We took a gamble and flirted with the large hail core to punch north on a good bob's road that crossed the dreaded Canadian River. That gamble nearly resulted in getting severely cored.
After dodging hail up to baseballs (I could see some hitting all around us), we finally got east to Arnett and cleared the hail core and precip. We quickly turned south Hwy 283 as we watched a rapidly developing and lowering wall cloud...with rotation!! The structure of the storm was INCREDIBLE! A funnel quickly formed and the big show began. I hastily found a good spot to setup just as the funnel cloud started to touch down. For the next 20 minutes, we enjoyed quite a spectacle of a tornado. I've got some great video and pics below.
After it roped out, we played tag with until east of Woodward before calling a night with a celbratory dinner at Mazzios in Woodward. We got to partake of some breathtaking structure before we did though. MAN!! WHAT A STORM!! I want to do this again tomorrow. :-)
Some of the best pics of many I took:
Labels: Arnett Tornado, Chaser Nirvana, Storgasm, Stormwood
posted by Steve Miller TX at 5/05/2007 02:42:00 AM
14 Comments:
All I can say is booyah :)
What incredible structure and rotation this beast had. it wasnt all that great on radar due to being an LP and in the range limit hole of 3 different radars but what a sight to behold.
Once again the SPC is on crack this morning and has the damn dryline out near the freakin Tx/Ok border even though as of now its near the New Mexico border and wont mix that far east (as usual) so they really really need to back their risk areas up. Yesterday they had all the risk way up in Kansas and where di the storms pop?? thats right on the caprock edge. even the tornado that hit Greensburg was one of the original storms that blew up in hemphill county. Can we say another great caprock rim chase today.
And next time we celebrate I wont be gorging myself on pizza. I am still having stomach issues (thank god for alka seltzer).
Miller TX!!! Congrats on a great chase day! I'm jealous. Perhaps it's time for me to consider moving to AMA too.
Anyway, beautiful contrast on those shots and I like the timeline format you took - very sweet!
Today really looks like a western OK event. Not sure why SPC is turned on to KS as much as they are but I'm no met either. Looking forward to seeing how things play out. 2007 is shaping up to be a great year. Sure wish I had time to frickin' chase.
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I deleted that last comment - I'm trying to get my arms around this forecast and the RUC isn't helping a bit...
I'm back to looking at the Dodge City area again.
First, Steve - who did you steal those pics from? Do you have witnesses to this supposed event where you and a tornado are actually within 150 miles of each other?
ROTFLOL
I slay me.
OK, I was gonna chase today but the 12:45Z Day1 scared me off - nothing in TX/OK till after dark? Not worth a 700-mile round trip, sorry. So maybe I'll just do some spotting Sunday. Gives me a chance to do some *MUCH* needed maintenance on the ghettomobile.
Where did you get the idea of nothing for the panhandle or west oklahoma until after dark??? We will be lucky for the lid to hold until 4pm. CAPE of 6000 and a nice dryline bulge along the caprock = major action.
700mb temps of 10-11 will be overcome easily.
Let the panhandle magic once again commence.
Hmm, Steve, those pics look a lot like the one's I took.....hmmmm.
Glenn: ROFL!! :-) I stole David and Jay's photos since I targeted Clovis, NM. ;-0
Headed out the door...you should come play with the storms today...plenty to fire up this afternoon...no after dark stuf to worry about until you have to drive home. ;-)
Steve: Thanks man...it was one of those memorable storms....wish you coulda been there. Sell all your stuff, quit your job, and move to Amarillo to become a chase hippie :-)
jm - it's 4:30 - where is this magic you speak of?
SteveTX - I did managed to get halfway to Wichita Falls then checked radar - I scared all the cells into KS so I came home. If something fires up around Childress before dark I may need Jay and Kanani for vehicle decoration. :o(
I tell you what, when you score, you score big time... almost seems worth all the storm busting... to experience something, just once that is that magnificent. I am awe-struck. Phenomenal catch, and congrats to you, David, Jay and Kanani. Way to break that curse! I am so freaking jealous, I can't stand it.
Whoa what a catch! Sweet nader with kickass storm structure!
Congrats Steve! Great pics.
Thank ya'll. :-) I give all the credit to Ma Nature though. She sure put on quite a show the past few days. I'd have paid good money to have gotten the front row seat I ended up with. :-)
Really beautiful captures.
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