May 29th was a marginal day at best. Southeast Colorado looked like the place to be. However, with moisture pooling along a boundary in east central New Mexico, I had a hunch that would produce decent supercells late in the day and evening. The Colorado target got interesting and produced a couple tornado warned storms ( See the previous chase account for the Prime Time Minitour!!!), but I chose to wait and see what would happen in New Mexico. I was not disappointed!!!! By early evening as a short wave trough approached, storms developed northwest of Clovis. It didn’t take long to see they were anchored and would start spinning quickly. As we approached the northeast side of Clovis, a tornado warning was issued. Numerous images from various locals and also my defunked video camera showed what appeared to be a cone tornado northwest of town. The NWS in ABQ is currently validating the tornado based on images, video and local chasers in the area. We nearly had the storm to ourselves, which is quite rare in this day and age!!!! We dropped through Clovis and ended up north of Portales, NM and sat and watched the storm spin like crazy. It was constantly tornado warned. The structure was absolutely top notch, even in the dark and hook after hook formed on this anchored supercell! Finally, by late evening, things started winding down, so we drove to Amarillo to our hotel for the night. One of the BEST structured supercells of 2024, even in the dark! Please enjoy the pics and NO they are not photoshopped!!!!
May 29th Southeast Colorado Tornado Warned Supercells
May 29th brought the last tour day of the Prime Time Mini-tour and Mother Nature brought some nice storms for the ride back to Denver. Started the day in Lubbock, TX with a plan to chase around the Springfield, CO area. Moisture started to mix out in that area, but a nice cumulus field started to build just west of Lamar as a weak La Junta low was forming. We headed for that area and watched from just south of Highway 50 as cells developed between Caddoa and Lubers. As the cells consolidated, lightning became more frequent and we got some nice lightning photos. The southernmost cell then became severe warned and we headed towards the east side of Wiley to stay in front of the strengthening southern storm. After a short time, we had to reposition to the east again along county road 196 and then south to Highway 50. During this time, the cell just to the north of our storm became tornado warned (radar indicated). Unable to get closer to the northern cell, we were able to watch that supercell and the southern LP supercell from our position. As both supercells began turning hard right over and just to the east of Lamar, we took dirt roads to get to a great vantage point looking over open land and observing both cells. The northern supercell was once again was radar indicated tornado warned, but no tornado was observed nor reported. The storms were nearly stationary at this point, moving southeast very slowly which allowed us lots of time to watch and admire. As darkness set in, we decided to start our 4 hour drive back to Denver. Working our way around the south side of the storm, we were treated to an incredible view of the structure of the southern LP cell, causing us to stop and take more pictures. A great day was had by all, super way to end the 4 day tour!
May 28th Morton, Texas Supercell with HUGE hail
May 28th set up had a dryline in west Texas, with strong southeast winds bringing modest moisture westward. Moderate CAPE developed as well and storms formed mid afternoon along the dryline. Storms pulsed quite a bit, and due to straight hodographs, storms split and many mergers occurred. Eventually a supercell developed, anchored near Morton. Structure became better, but due to modest moisture, the cloud base was too high to produce tornadoes. As it moved east it encountered a boundary and spun nicely. After several cycles, it produced 5 inch diameter hail west of Lubbock! We blew it off as it weakened and played further south with a supercell that had softball sized hail. The tornado threat this day was quite low due to high bases, but with strong shear in place and low freezing levels, storms were prolific hail producers.
May 15th Ponca City, Oklahoma Supercell
May 15th featured a boundary across far southern Kansas into northern Oklahoma. Strong convergence, decent moisture and good shear would set the stage for supercells to form along it. By mid afternoon, storms did just that. One main supercell developed and right turned into northern Oklahoma. Structure was very nice and at one point it even produced a funnel halfway to the ground. The supercell was a prolific hail producer with stones falling as large as softballs. As it moved east, it eventually out ran the instability and weakened near dark. One of the prettier supercell of this year so far, and even though it didn’t produce a tornado, the guests loved it! Enjoy the pics!
May 2nd Hawley, Texas Violent Tornado
May 2nd featured a weak boundary in central Texas that would be the focus for storm development late in the day. Numerous storms formed along the boundary. Due to shear profiles, storm splits and mergers were evident. By mid to late afternoon a few storms formed along highway 277 north of Abilene, Texas. One split happened that passed in front of a right moving supercell near Anson and caused it to increase rotation rapidly. West of Anson a tornado touched down and was on the ground for a few minutes. As the old occluded mesocyclone weakened and dissipated, another one formed to the east/southeast of the first one. Soon rapid rotation occurred and eventually led to a small funnel. The funnel ascended and descended several times before it finally touched down northwest of Hawley. As the tornado firmly planted, a debris cloud formed. The tapered tornado widened into a text book drill press type tornado, with its strongest winds at ground level. The waterfall sound of the roar of the tornado was quite audible as it churned towards highway 277. Unfortunately it hit a couple houses, levelling them in its wake. The tornado then moved southeast and dissipated. All in all it was on the ground for over 20 minutes. The damage it causes was sporadic, but was rated high end EF3.
A great chase day, but with sad results due to the destruction the tornado caused. You NEVER want to see that happen anywhere. Fortunately the NWS in Abilene was able to give advanced warning to local residents, which resulted in no fatalities, but a few injuries did occur. Our thoughts and prayers to go to those families who were affected by this violent tornado.
May 1st North Central Kansas Tornadic Supercell
May 1st showed plenty of opportunity for severe storms, however the best tornado threat was in 2 different area, the Texas panhandle, and north central Kansas. Since we couldn’t make it to Texas in time, we chose the northern target. Moisture was limited and it was going to be close to get moisture this far north before storm initiation occurred. Storms formed rapidly later afternoon and intensified during the evening. 2 supercells emerged with the tail end storm eventually becoming the dominant cell. As it moved across north central Kansas in the evening it continued to intensify. It stayed along and just on the cool side of an old outflow boundary south of Interstate 70. Inflow was quite strong, and lighting frequent. At sunset, it ramped up in intensity and produced a couple of brief tornadoes under the front edge of the updraft as RFD surged around from the south side. Both tornadoes were weak and lasted only 2-4 minutes each. We eventually let is go as it continued to move north of the boundary since we had to be in Texas the next day. A fun day, with decent results, but had the supercell attached to the boundary it could have been quite a bit more tornadic. Enjoy the photos!
April 26th Iowa Violent Tornado Outbreak
April 26th had the appearance of a major tornado outbreak. It certainly lived up to the hype! We had spent the night in Salina, Kansas and targeted Nebraska City, NE to Creston, Iowa for tornadic supercells. Strong wind shear, with dew points in the lower 60s and surface based instability of 2500 CAPE would set the stage for the event. We arrived in the Nebraska City area mid afternoon, as a supercell produced a couple of tornadoes between Lincoln and Omaha, Nebraska. Due to storm motion and speed, we could not catch up to it, so we decided to stay put. An hour later storms erupted along a confluence line near the Missouri river and quickly gained rotation. Near Council Bluffs we decided to go east and get in front of a tornado warned storm. When we saw it, it was ready to produce a tornado. As it approached a cone shaped tornado formed, turning into an 800 yard wide EF3 wedge tornado as it crossed the road within a half mile of us. It completely destroyed 2 farmsteads along highway 92 and as we approached them, nobody was there to help the residents. We immediately stopped and went into search and rescue mode. We found a family trapped in their storm shelter as their home collapsed on them. After removing a lot of debris as a few other chasers stopped to help, we were able to get them freed. Shook up, but healthy, attention turned to the other farm. An elderly woman and her dog were buried in debris as her house was demolished except for the walls. They also were able to be rescued. Soon paramedics and the local fire department arrived as we directed them to the residents and told them about propane tank leaks. At that point, it was time for us to leave and let the authorities do their jobs they did so well!
By the time we were able to depart the scene, it was too late to keep chasing as the tornadic supercell was 15 miles north moving away. It went on and produced more strong tornadoes near Minden and Harlen as we turned south to make the journey back to Oklahoma City. I do NOT regret missing the other tornadoes to stop and render help to those in need. Given the opportunity to do it again, there would be no hesitation!!! People are far more important than weather. Thanks to all who stopped that day to help families in desperate need of assistance.
April 23rd Sweetwater, Texas High Based Supercell
April 23rd promised some decent severe weather opportunities. However due to lack of good moisture, storms were high based. We intercepted one storm northwest of Sweetwater and stayed with it all the way south of Abilene where it gusted out. Structure was pretty and the hail up to golfball sized. It was also a pretty decent lightning producer. As it reached maturity and started weakening an haboob developed spewing red dirt all over. Winds were gusting over 70mph. All in all a decent day for the ingredients available to produce intense storms. Enjoy the pics!
March 13th Rossville, Kansas Tornado
March 13th saw our first ON CALL tour of 2024 take place. We chased the 13th and 14th and intercepted either tornadic supercells or tornado warned supercells both days. March 13th took us to central/eastern Kansas to play the warm front/dryline triple point. Most models suggested storms would form there and also along the warm front. And they did both! We jumped on the first strongly rotating supercell east of Alma and watched it intensify and become tornadic after dark. A second supercell to our west also became tornadic near Alta Vista. Unfortunately, since we were committed to the initial eastern cell, we could not make it back west to play the Alta Vista cell. As our cell crossed I-70 west of Topeka it became tornado warned with two large cone funnels extending halfway to the ground. The eastern funnel touched down and became a tornado which lasted close to 10 minutes near the town of Rossville. We stayed with the storm all the way to Hoyt, where a tornado was also reported. We could not confirm one as anything was completely rain wrapped.
March 14th we chased in eastern Oklahoma and western Arkansas and intercepted several tornado warned storms. No tornadoes were confirmed, however hail nearly grapefruit sized occurred. We ended up near Atoka, OK at the end of the day chasing a tornado warned storm just north of town.
Overall, a great way to start the 2024 chase season!!!!
Here’s a You tube link of our video from this day: https://youtu.be/uuLlzTRFcA0
July 29 -August 8 Arizona Monsoon Storms
Each year we run a tour in the desert southwest from Tucson we call the Desert Thunder Tour. Its specific purpose is to photograph the incredible lightning that occurs during this period. The 2023 monsoons haven’t been very good thus far, however we were still able to capture many great lightning strikes in southeast Arizona and also near Sedona. Nothing prettier than the desert landscape filled with cactus and red rock foregrounds to set the stage for a beautiful lightning image! Please enjoy them!
