During a busy summer, I’ve been posting videos here and there, which you’ve noticed if you subscribe to my YouTube channel. Since I’m about to do a presentation on storm chasing, I thought I’d include video from this year, so I made a shorter edit (about 4 minutes, 40 seconds) of the incredible tornado I saw May 9 near Wynnewood, Oklahoma. (Also near Elmore City and Katie – I think the storm chasing community has not quite settled on the unofficial geographical location.) If the music bugs you, check out the longer version.
Kathy Velasquez and I targeted southwestern Kansas on May 24, 2016, and saw one of the most extraordinarily prolific tornado-producing storms of my career south of Dodge City, Kansas.
We also met up with or chased in the vicinity of chase friends Stephen Barabas, Scott McPartland, Dave Lewison, Jaclyn Whittal, George Kourounis, Mark Robinson, Bill Hark, Jason Persoff, Robert Balogh and John Mann – and a couple hundred other chasers!
So much traffic was heading north toward the storm and the city, which was under threat at the time, that we held back, allowing me to get this once-in-a-lifetime shot of the storm structure with a large tornado beneath and the sun’s rays beaming through – heaven and hell.
We actually lost count of the tornadoes. Getting close was a challenge because of muddy roads, but the wide shots of the structure with the tornado were glorious, especially since it missed the bulk of Dodge City. And the day ended with even more spectacular skies, including a dazzling mammatus show.
Roll over each image to see the caption, or click on one to see a slide show with larger photos.
Kathy Velasquez and I targeted the north-central Texas Panhandle on May 22. Two tornadoes, including a large one that went from a wedge/fat cone to a multivortex beast, were the payoff for a crazy day of colliding storms and camera issues. And we got to film while being blasted with wind and rain and dodging peril as rear-flank downdraft winds knocked down telephone poles (watch the video for the grungy results).
Photography was challenging to say the least, but it was a visceral experience in person.
Roll over each image to see the caption, or click on one to see a slide show with larger photos.
On May 21, Kathy Velasquez and I focused our chase target to Leoti, Kansas, along with legions of other chasers, and were treated to a stunning supercell with amazing structure.
We barely saw the first tornado and missed the others but chose to hang back and appreciate this rare beauty of a storm rather than tangle with the rain. This supercell ranks among my favorite storms of all time for its beauty.
This storm was so pretty. I shot photos pretty much continuously, along with a great GoPro video that I time-lapsed.
Roll over each image to see the caption, or click on one to see a slide show with larger photos.
May 14, 2016, was a down day for chasing storms, so a great day to attend the event in Wakita, Oklahoma, celebrating the 20th anniversary of the movie “Twister.”
In the film, the town is destroyed by a tornado. During this event, storm chasers drove through town in an impromptu parade, as you can see in the video.
Roll over each image to see the caption, or click on one to see a slide show with larger photos.
A research vehicle plunges down the road ahead of an Oklahoma tornado on May 9, 2016, to deploy scientific instruments. (c)2016 Chris Kridler
Note: This post has been updated with a gallery and information moved from the old chase log at SkyDiary.com.
I’ve had three chase days and a day “off” (to work) this Tornado Alley trip, and two of the chase days found me in front of tornadoes I could not have imagined. In fact, the first tornado I saw on Monday was the most dramatic in my 20 seasons of chasing – or at least compares to the 12 May 2004 chase in Attica, Kansas, that saw a house destroyed.
Unfortunately, several houses were damaged or destroyed by the EF4 (upgraded from EF3) tornado I saw near Elmore City, Oklahoma, on Monday, and it killed one man. A hundred feelings rushed through me as I watched the tornado get close to my location on a hill in the difficult-to-chase, tree-filled terrain of southern Oklahoma. First, I considered my escape route, because the tornado was coming my way. And then I was filled with dread as I saw the tornado approach the structures near where I was parked – even though I had no idea so many more homes were in the path. Once it started hurling debris with incredible force and speed, I felt sick, even as I was filled with wonder. This was the most stunning tornado I have ever witnessed, partly because of my proximity to it, but also because of its unusual visibility, manifest power, long duration (it was on the ground for about 25 minutes), and sheer beauty as it shifted from a multi-vortex serpent to a swirling white stovepipe wreathed in dust to an ethereal white rope. I worried it might run me over (though I had an escape route planned), but it stayed just to my south, where I had a view of its violent motion and could actually hear the tornado’s roar.
It was also a thrill to see two scientific research vehicles speed past me to plant probes in the tornado’s path. For a second, it was like a scene from one of my novels.
I hate to see tornadoes destroy people’s lives, but I am humbled to be a witness.
The Katie, Oklahoma, tornado of May 9, 2016. Photo (c) Chris Kridler
My expectations were not high when I woke up in Wichita that morning, but it was clear there would be severe weather, with the most potential – given the upper-level flow and moisture – in southeastern Oklahoma. Known not-quite-affectionately to chasers as “the jungle,” this is a very difficult area to chase, with hills and trees hindering visibility and navigation. Nonetheless, I hit the road. Though I looked at a number of forecast parameters, I was intrigued to see one little cell go up right where the HRRR model said it would. I arrived in its vicinity, near Elmore City, Oklahoma, when it was just a shower. As it grew, I observed eerie “fingers” (shear funnels, presumably) dangle briefly from the storm. Then it began to strengthen, and I dashed a bit east and south near Katie, Oklahoma, and found the top of a hill to observe the areas of rotation. One of these produced a tornado that became the most dramatic I had ever seen.
I was then late to get to the wedge tornado near Sulphur and saw it only from a distance. But I did see a pretty white tornado form near Connerville out of a negligible storm. Overall, it was an amazing day.
These photos for the most part reflect early edits from the original report at my old Sky Diary site. Roll over each image to see the caption, or click on one to see a slide show with larger photos. Later, more refined edits can be seen in my galleries (prints available).
A later edit of this photo of the Wray tornado clearly shows the dusty base and falling rain.
Lots of convection fired early and often, but I still hoped for a quality storm to get going in that area, and it finally did. By that point in the chase, I’d met up with Jason Persoff, and at Wray, Colorado, we witnessed a beautiful, dusty tornado from funnel to stovepipe.
Later, I had some regrets when I saw how close people got to the gorgeous base of the tornado on the sunlit side, but we had a fantastic show and the dramatic photos to prove it.
The photos in the gallery below, transferred from my old Sky Diary website, reflect early, not final, edits. But the edit I did of this shot – enhancing the natural sepia-toned color and contrast of the day and evoking a vintage photograph – is one of my favorites.
Roll over each image to see the caption, or click on one to see a slide show with larger photos.
I separated from the group, hoping to escape the rain, and stopped on the bridge to check out the circulation. Whoa! A huge cone on the ground!
Incredibly, the storms not only went up there, but one tornado-producing storm there barely moved all day. At one point we just set up and watched it spin out one funnel after another.
But the main show was the large tornado, which we all filmed from different angles. I watched it from the highway bridge over the river, filming the tornado as it churned beyond the wagon bridge that had always captivated my imagination in spite of its sometimes gloomy history. Unfortunately, the twister reportedly caused injuries.
Roll over each image to see the caption, or click on one to see a slide show with larger photos.
The group was happy after seeing a tornado in open country – the best kind.
I chased with Mark Robinson, Jaclyn Whittal, Michel Millaire, Matt Grinter and Brad and Dayna Rousseau. We targeted the Lubbock area and ended up moving a little east to intercept a small line of storms. The southern one surprised us by producing a classic tornado despite a relatively weak storm that was nothing special on radar.
Roll over each image to see the caption, or click on one to see a slide show with larger photos.
It’s been about a year since I chased tornado-warned storms in central Florida. This is one of the most popular videos on my YouTube channel. Of course, I didn’t see any tornadoes, but there was some awesome cloud structure on March 29, 2014, that sure looked like one for a minute.
A severe storm approaches Melbourne Beach, Florida, on March 26, 2015. Photo by Chris Kridler, SkyDiary.com, ChrisKridler.com
My chaser friends are starting to buzz about the season to come. Will there be an early burst of activity in May? Will the more serious severe weather pattern kick in later? Now the suspense begins. I’ll be posting updates here and at SkyDiary.com, my storm-chasing site, as I chase storms in Florida and in Tornado Alley. Stay tuned.