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28 May 2013: Long-lasting Kansas tornado

Storm chasing|Bennington, Kansas, photography, storm chasing, tornado, video, wedge|May 28, 2013
Home » blog » Storm chasing » 28 May 2013: Long-lasting Kansas tornado


 
I saw the wedge tornado at Bennington, Kansas, on May 28, but I wasn’t close enough. I would have moved closer had I known it would be on the ground for so long. This was a hard day and a harder lesson.

The mammatus were a sign of the storm’s vigor. Photo by Chris Kridler, ChrisKridler.com

I chased today with Greg Stephens, Dayna Vettese and Brad Rousseau, Mark Robinson and his crewmate Jaclyn Whittal, Scott McPartland, Dave Lewison, Bill Hark and Robert Balogh. Our target was central Kansas, in the Salina area, in a day of many iffy targets for storms.

This target seemed the best of the lot (and the most reachable from our morning position in western Kansas), and conditions seemed more and more favorable as the day went on and we approached the target area near Salina. Storms fired in various targets this day, but this was the whopper, producing a 40-minute wedge tornado that barely moved.

Of course, we didn’t know it would barely move, so some of us had a more distant view than others as we got into position to intercept it. I’m one of those. But since it was my first wedge tornado in 17 years of storm chasing, I still count it as a pretty productive day, especially since no towns were struck.

Note: This post has been updated with information and images from my old Sky Diary site.

Roll over a photo to see its caption, and click on any of the pictures to start a slide show of larger images.

052813-01
As we passed through our target of Salina, we saw cloud towers going up to the north and south. This one looked vigorous. Photo by Chris Kridler, SkyDiary.com, ChrisKridler.com
052813-02
We heard about a tornado-producing cell near Topeka but decided we should stop for the rapidly growing storm in our target area. Photo by Chris Kridler, SkyDiary.com, ChrisKridler.com
052813-03
Bill Hark gets a shot of the windmill and the storm, which was northwest of Salina. We were east of it. Photo by Chris Kridler, SkyDiary.com, ChrisKridler.com
052813-04
We stopped and watched it grow and were treated to a mammatus show. Photo by Chris Kridler, SkyDiary.com, ChrisKridler.com
052813-05
The mammatus were a sign of the storm's vigor. Photo by Chris Kridler, SkyDiary.com, ChrisKridler.com
052813-06
I was happy with the mammatus, but the storm was far from done. Photo by Chris Kridler, SkyDiary.com, ChrisKridler.com
052813-07
The storm sucked in strong inflow. Photo by Chris Kridler, SkyDiary.com, ChrisKridler.com
052813-08
It began to show signs of rotation. Photo by Chris Kridler, SkyDiary.com, ChrisKridler.com
052813-09
The storm put down a snakelike funnel - a brief tornado, as confirmed by other storm chasers. Photo by Chris Kridler, SkyDiary.com, ChrisKridler.com
052813-10
The storm then produced a serious wall cloud. Photo by Chris Kridler, SkyDiary.com, ChrisKridler.com
052813-11
Here's a closer look at the rotating wall cloud. I repositioned farther back, concerned about hail and the storm's motion. Photo by Chris Kridler, SkyDiary.com, ChrisKridler.com
052813-12
The catch: This storm never moved! Those of us who fell back saw a huge tornado in the rain (this image is contrast-enhanced). Photo by Chris Kridler, SkyDiary.com, ChrisKridler.com
052813-13
The tornado kept getting bigger - I regret not getting a little closer. Photo by Chris Kridler, SkyDiary.com, ChrisKridler.com
052813-14
In 17 years of chasing storms, this was my first wedge tornado. I was very concerned it would hit the town of Bennington, but it stayed away from it. Again, this is highly contrast-enhanced. Photo by Chris Kridler, SkyDiary.com, ChrisKridler.com
052813-15
Just when we thought the tornado was done, it emerged again from the rain, incredibly large. Photo by Chris Kridler, SkyDiary.com, ChrisKridler.com
052813-16
Here's a very wide-angle shot of the storm with the tornado, which lasted about 40 minutes. Photo by Chris Kridler, SkyDiary.com, ChrisKridler.com
052813-17
Here's another wide shot of the storm and the rain-wrapped wedge tornado. Photo by Chris Kridler, SkyDiary.com, ChrisKridler.com
052813-18
From farther away, the storm spins over a wheat field. Photo by Chris Kridler, SkyDiary.com, ChrisKridler.com
052813-19
Inflow still flowed into the storm. Photo by Chris Kridler, SkyDiary.com, ChrisKridler.com
052813-20
When it was done, we looked at continuing convection near Salina and called it a day. Photo by Chris Kridler, SkyDiary.com, ChrisKridler.com
April 30, 2021 Chris Kridler

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A pretty Space Coast sunrise greeted a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch on January 18, 2023. Video (c) 2023 by Chris Kridler, ChrisKridler.com; music licensed from Pond5.
18 January 2023: Sunrise and SpaceX launch
A SpaceX Heavy rocket lifts off from Kennedy Space Center during a beautiful Florida twilight, then its boosters separate, fire and return to Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on January 15, 2023. Timelapse and photos tell the story. Video/images ©2023 Chris Kridler, ChrisKridler.com. Music licensed from Pond5.
15 January 2023: Twilight SpaceX Heavy rocket launch and booster landing
A beautiful sunset provided the backdrop for a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch with OneWeb satellites and a booster landing at Cape Canaveral, Florida, on December 9, 2022. Video and images (c) 2022 by Chris Kridler, ChrisKridler.com. Music licensed from Pond5.
8 December 2022: SpaceX sunset rocket launch & booster landing
Tropical Storm Nicole produced wild waves and attracted kiteboarders at Cocoa Beach, Florida, on November 9, 2022. Video (c) 2022 by Chris Kridler, ChrisKridler.com. Not for broadcast. 4K video available for licensing.
9 November 2022: Big waves in Tropical Storm Nicole, Cocoa Beach, Florida
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Spotted at the Cocoa Village car show. #Caliente! Spotted at the Cocoa Village car show. #Caliente! #hotwheels #coolcars #classiccars
Spotted on the morning walk. This is what passes f Spotted on the morning walk. This is what passes for rotation around here. #flwx #floridaspring
Lovely mackerel sky this morning on the #spacecoas Lovely mackerel sky this morning on the #spacecoast. #flwx #clouds
Murky storm over Cape Canaveral earlier today. #fl Murky storm over Cape Canaveral earlier today. #flwx #stormchasing #oceanstorm #gulls
Supercelledelic. #AIart #unreal #supercell #stormc Supercelledelic. #AIart #unreal #supercell #stormchasing #imagination #wombodream
Fast-moving #clouds in Pennsylvania as winter weat Fast-moving #clouds in Pennsylvania as winter weather passes. #timelapse #pawx
"Revenge of the Sunflowers." AI art to start your "Revenge of the Sunflowers." AI art to start your day. #art #tornado #sunflowers #aiart #stormchasing #imagination
#Windy day! #flwx #wind #Windy day! #flwx #wind
Lake Washington #sunset. #flwx #floridawinter #ref Lake Washington #sunset. #flwx #floridawinter #reflections
And what were you doing at 3 a.m.? #SpaceX was lau And what were you doing at 3 a.m.? #SpaceX was launching another rocket. Feels like #groundhogday. 🚀 #spacecoast
Sun dog alert. #flwx Sun dog alert. #flwx
Moody #floridawinter sky this morning over the Ind Moody #floridawinter sky this morning over the Indian River Lagoon. #flwx #spacecoast #ducks
I dug into the archives to find my favorite photos I dug into the archives to find my favorite photos of 2022. See them on the blog. Link in bio. #stormchasing #space #launch #photography #spacecoast #flwx @aletheakontis
Happy New Year, and may you find the weather you s Happy New Year, and may you find the weather you seek! ⚡️
Florida winter sky. #flwx #sunset Florida winter sky. #flwx #sunset
Don't miss this one-day book giveaway, no strings Don't miss this one-day book giveaway, no strings attached. Happy Boxing Day! #freebooks #amreading
The day got away from me, but we got sleet here in The day got away from me, but we got sleet here in Florida Christmas morning. I'm ready for our usual balmy winter to return! #flwx #cold #xmasweather #merrychristmas
Hoping the tropicals survive the next couple of ni Hoping the tropicals survive the next couple of nights. #flwx #floridafreeze
#SpaceX launch Sunday of two lunar spacecraft, boo #SpaceX launch Sunday of two lunar spacecraft, booster separation and booster return to Cape Canaveral as shot from the Indian River Lagoon in Rockledge, Florida. This is an image stack. #spacecoast #space #nasa #hakuto #moon #rocket
Gorgeous rocket launch Thursday. More pix and vide Gorgeous rocket launch Thursday. More pix and video on the Sky Diary blog. Link in bio. #spacex #skydiary #lookup #spacecoast
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  • 9 January 2023: A SpaceX launch and photography fiasco
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  • 8 December 2022: SpaceX sunset launch and booster landing at Cape Canaveral

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