April 30, 2000

The Chase:Tornadoes...3
Location:NW Texas
Moderate Risk/Tornado Watch
Jeff Piotrowski/Brian Stertz/Rich Thies

Triple Point Explodes Again!!

After a late and interesting chase Saturday, we prepared for an even more active/earlier chase today. We had to take care of some business in OKC during the morning, and left for the Wichita Falls area by late morning. Our target zone was the Haskell/Aspermont/Seymour area. The triple point was expected to shift southeast during the day from the Texas Panhandle. At the same time, a mid-level jet max was forecasted to streak across NW Texas from the Midland area towards Dallas. The dryline was expected to bulge into WC/NW Texas by late afternoon. We figured the triple point would be in the right position(left front quadrant) of the jetmax to allow for a high likelihood of tornadic supercells. Overnight convection re-inforced an outflow boundary from near Childress TX to the Ft.Worth area. Winds along and north of this boundary were backed to an easterly component, and deep moisture was pooling to the north of the boundary. We wanted to be sure to be ahead of the bulging dryline and in close vicinity of the outflow boundary.

We reached the Red River and popped into a scary supercell environment. The temps rose from 62 in OKC to 74 with a 66 dew point in Wichita Falls. The winds were gusting hard at 30-35mph from the east-southeast, providing a strong low level shear profile. The deep easterly low level flow would pile the moisture back into NW Texas. The stage was set, but we found out we were without a laptop today. Yesterday's long chase/data overload apparently got to the computer!! We had
the area picked but we also needed to monitor radar for the best circulations. Lots of worry in this chase group...no computer/no weather radio...no data...back to old-fashioned chasing VCR/visual chase rules. Anyway, we decided it might be wise to head directly for the area where everything was expected to come together, just in case the storms fired much earlier than the models had forecasted. We headed south and based on the latest info(second-hand..thanks for helping Mike!) the area around Throckmorton/Olney/Graham was looking to be the most favorable area for the tornadic supercells. We arrived in Olney around 2pm, with no development here, but an isolated
cell was starting to form northeast of Lubbock. Further south, tcu was beginning to bubble along the dryline as well. Things were starting early but further west. Kathryn(Jeff's fiancée) kept us up
to date on the early developing storms. Now it was time to get west. Several small storms were developing in Haskell and Knox Counties ahead of the dryline.

We headed out of Olney(which had a close call later!) and made our way over to Seymour. and a good road to get down to Haskell and Knox Co.. The storms were small and very highly sheared, but had an unfavorable n-ne track. This would not be too good for tornado potential. We pulled over south of Munday(Knox Co.)and decided to watch the storms approach us. The northern storm was a bell shaped LP storm initially, while the storm south had a contorted updraft with
mid level striations. The storms remained very small as we watched them core out. Eventually the northern storm intensified and moved due north. Lightning picked up as the core grew. The southern storm continued to approach us from the south, and soon grew interesting. A small funnel spun up at mid levels on the north side of the updraft. This small(non-threatening)
funnel got more and more pronounced as it started to stretch. This feature lasted about 2-3 minutes, and was just sw of Munday. Not a big deal, but an interesting sign anyway.

The storms organized slowly, and radar was showing some weak shear, but nothing spectacular on both storms, with the southern storm having slightly more. We watched both storms closely
but no good organization was apparent. Meanwhile, we learned that the storm near McAdoo was
starting to rotate. We discussed going out that way since it was still early. Our decision was to
stay put and be patient. The instability axis out there was very narrow, so if the storm moved northeast, the storm would go into cold air and weaken. The storms continued to slowly intensify over Haskell/Knox Counties, and small hailcores were appearing on both storms. We moved to Goree(Knox Co.) to a position where we could watch both. The northern storm grew very large
and had a well developed flanking line. The southern storm was coiled up and remaining
very small, but nicely structured. The northern storm moved away, so we decided to watch the southern storm approach the Knox/Haskell Co. line.

The storm was moving north, but we noticed that the winds were really picking up, and the inflow bands were becoming more pronounced. Could this storm tornado moving straight north? That was the million dollar question. The answer soon became a final answer of no, when the storm
basically sheared out. Horizontal vorticity tubes were stretched out overhead and were spinning pretty hard. The elements were there but the RFD was just too powerful. The storm seemingly maxed out and then quickly died right in front of us in the span of 10 minutes. We did have
a brief hailshower of dime to quarter sized hail about 1 mile s-sw of Goree. Frowns appeared on
all of our faces as the storm split in two. Not good. The northern storm continued to get stronger, but the updraft was "fuzzy" looking so that was also a no-go. Tornado warnings were issued
well to the northwest, as 2 supercells formed at and near the triple point. Close enough to go intercept, but also heading for us. The cell near Matador TX soon had strong rotation, and produced a tornado in E.Motley Co.. The storm near Paducah also had strong rotation. The temptation was just too great. As we made the decision to head north, a new tower started to explode over W.Haskell Co.. We were worried it might get capped and vaporize so we headed
north towards the Paducah TX storm. Tornado warnings remained in effect for Foard,Cottle,and King Counties for the 2 isolated supercells. The word bust came up in our heads if we decided to drop south, and the 2 isolated supercells to our north were the only storms that could/did
break the cap. Lack of data hurt us at this point. Convergence was starting to weaken the cap further south along the dryline so things were becoming more favorable for exploding supercells there.

We raced northwest towards Foard Co. from the Benjamin area. As we got closer to the storm,
we could see a large lowered area on the southeast part of the storm but we could not discern
ANY rotation/cloud motion. Frowns returned to our face when the lowering showed just one motion- south-southeast. Outflow!!...major cold outflow. As we gained on the storm, the updraft tower softened and a cold arcus band started to surge. Well to our south, the storm had in fact exploded into a spectcular supercell with large back-sheared anvil. This was the day of frowns (early) for all of us. Not only was the lack of sleep getting to us, the swarm of biting flies that poured into the car was attacking us. Again, the lack of radar data hurt us. The positive air of confidence returned to the car, as we got a quick radar update. The supercell  just east of Haskell was moving northeast towards Throckmorton. We could easily get to this one thanks to good
road options and the handy dandy DeLorme Texas Map Book. We figured on an intercept somewhere west of Throckmorton. We had already decided to flee the cold gundge monster coming out of Cottle/Foard Co. so we were in good position to zig-zag down to Throckmorton. Apparently, several other chasers were doing the same thing, although we did not see any of
them on the road between Munday and Throckmorton (TX 222). Kind of surprising. The storm
already had severe t-storm warnings issued for large hail in E.Haskell/N.Throckmorton Co..

We gained on the storm quicker than expected, and had the whole updraft region in view as we crossed into Throckmorton Co.. Initially the storm looked to be dryline type...higher based with a lowering. However, as it moved east of TX 222, the storm started to appear as though it was going
into HP mode. We could see a large hail shaft about 3-5 miles east of the road, and figured we probably would come up on the hail swath on the road. Sure enough! We found golfball to baseball sized hail along TX 222 about 8-10 nw of Throckmorton. The storm already had a large vault, and a very strong RFD notching the back updraft tower. The tornado potential with this
supercell looked good, and it was heading east into a favorable area of deep low level shear. The further east the storm got, the larger and meaner the storm grew, but also becoming more and more HP structured. Frequent cg's arced around the developing meso nw/n of Throckmorton.
The HP structure worried us because of the lack of roads and no desire to punch into the mean
bear's cage of baseball hail and heavy rain. We quickly refueled in the town of Throckmorton, as residents scrambled for shelter. The gas station quickly closed right after I paid. It looked to Brian that the main threat was north of the city. Intense rotating rain curtains rapidly appeared to
the north as supercell tornadogenesis started north of Throckmorton. The supercell at this point was becoming a space ship HP, and was intensifying rapidly. A tornado warning was already in effect for Throckmorton Co., but was also extended into Young Co.

We took US 380 east from Throckmorton towards the Young Co. line. The track of the supercell was east-northeast at 30-35 mph. The tornado was expected to track towards the towns of Elbert(Throckmorton Co.), and Padgett-Olney(Young Co.). Based on the projected path, the tornado was going to track right along TX-79. Oddly enough, this track was very similar to the F3/F4 tornado April 21, 1985. Enough of past history, and back to the current events! We headed north on FM-578 towards TX-79, and then west to Elbert. The tornado was advancing on Elbert as we hauled back to the west. Rain was definitely wrapped around the tornado. To the north of TX-79, a long/nearly permanent cigar cloud was racing back to the tornado marking it's general location. Intense rotating rain curtains ominously darkened the skies over Elbert. Winds were east at 35-45 mph with higher gusts. Very quickly, a cone tornado appeared on the west side of Elbert
as the rain curtains parted very temporarily. This tornado tracked across town, with lots of debris being lifted on the west/north part of town. We knew this tornado had been on the ground a while. Lots of debris was centrifuging from the tornado/circulation. The width of the tornado was
in the 1/4 mile wide range at Elbert. We needed to keep ahead of this scary circulation, that was still INTENSIFYING. We met fellow chaser buddy David Payne on the east side of Elbert and
watched this monster HP tornadic supercell close in. What a sight! The tornado warning for
Young Co. was reissued and Olney was mentioned in the path.

We along with a large number of chasers headed back east on TX-79 as the town of Elbert TX disappeared into a wall of rain/hail after the tornado passed. We pulled over and shot more video of the approaching very mean tornado. Winds had increased to 45-55 mph within 2-3 miles of the tornado. The cigar cloud remained a fixed feature on the northeast inflow side of the tornado. We knew things were bad and about to get worse. Numerous chasers were using the stop and flee chasing technique as the roaring tornado approached. This was a very audible tornado for much of the track, especially between Padgett and Olney. About 4 miles northeast of Elbert, the tornado widened to a 1/2 mile wide wedge shaped tornado. We pulled over and let the monster track our way. The first rain curtain passed and then an "inner wall" bear's cage rain curtain passed by. The tornado was now about 1/4 of a mile from us. East winds increased to over 80 mph and we were now in the dangerous inflow jet. Moisture condensed all around us, and I squatted behind the van to block the stinging rain. The tornado evolved from a cone to multiple vortices to a large wedge
shape in a matter of a minute. Brian and Rich jumped back into the van as winds were ferocious and the rain had a mean sting, very much like hurricane conditions. The tornado was now closing in quickly. I jumped in the van at the right time! Several suction spots(small scale tornadoes) started appearing in the field less than 100 yards south of the van. Cloud vapor just condensed
out of nowhere as we headed east on TX 79 near the small town of Padgett(Young Co.). As we broke free from the pull of the inflow jet, we all breathed a sigh of relief. Nervous times for all of
us. This was a violent tornado now. Our ears told us that much!

We got safely ahead of the tornado again, and regrouped our thoughts and let our heart rate
lower some. The tornado was now a solid 1/2 mile wide tornado. Olney was directly in the path, especially the south parts of town. We got out and let the tornado approach again (not as close this time) but close enough to hear the major roar. The contrast was poor to variable at times
as the tornado was becoming more embedded in rain curtains again. The large menacing
tornado slowly crept at us, but the intense rain curtains were about 1-2 miles in advance of the wedge. The tornado crossed the highway again to the south side, and now the intense multiple vortex structure was back. Some of the most violent rotating rain curtains were bearing down on us, but the motion was so strong, we could still see the tornado. Very quickly the tornado again transitioned to a large wedge, but started to become more hidden again by rain. About 3 miles southwest of Olney, the large tornado was moving along and immediately south of TX 79. About
3 miles to the northwest of Olney, a new circulation formed quickly along the cigar cloud shear line. At first, there were numerous power flashes as it passed through the lines, and no visible cone. In less than a minute, a pronounced cone tornado about 100 yards wide was to our north. Quite a sight on the west side of Olney. To make the package complete, the wail of the Olney tornado siren was also heard. This very dark circulation, that we assume was still a tornado, tracked east now. Fortunately for the town of Olney this slight turn happened where it did. The smaller tornado to the north weakened as we came into the deserted town. One of the more
surreal sights is a town hunkered down with a tornado approaching, and you are driving into
town.

We lost sight of the tornado at Olney. We were sure it was still on the ground, but we were also pretty certain it was much smaller now and not as intense. We decided to head east-southeast on TX-114 towards the town of Jean. The supercell apparently started to collapse at this point as
the storm slowed down to about 10 mph. A large outflow vaulted area with intense sinking motion continued. We watched this with a local firefighter and very quickly the storm started to weaken, especially the northern circulation. The southeast flank was starting to organize into the new
"fresh" meso. Meanwhile the occlusion process continued. We decided to call it a chase. Partly because we were devoid of new radar data, and partly because we were all spent from the past
half hour of intense action and a long weekend of chasing. We headed north towards Antelope
through the old circulation,60 mph winds and torrential rain. We were treated to a great sunset on the way back to Oklahoma City.

Looking over the weather data from the time between 3-7pm, the supercell formed right at the
triple point, and northeast of a significant dryline bulge. At that time the storm was n-nw  of the town of Throckmorton, the left front quadrant of a 500 mb speed max was charging into N.Texas. No wonder the supercell produced a violent tornado. The deep east flow at low levels also kept a continuous feed of DEEP moisture into the updraft even though there was heavy rain all around
the tornado. Helicities increased from 100m2/s2 up to 300+m2/s2 as the supercell moved through
Young County. Unlike the supercells earlier between Lubbock and Childress TX, the tornadic supercell had a large unstable wedge of air to move into, and sustain the circulation. The intense warm/wet RFD was aided by the strong mid level winds that were deflected down/around the
storm by the already established updraft. Bottom line was this tornado was exactly where it should have been, and so were the chasers. A side note to this tornado was how little attention was paid to it by the Ft.Worth and San Angelo NWS offices. Official tornado damage reports were never issued or released by NWS Forth Worth, and a very limited report was released by the NWS San Angelo. The strong/violent tornado was well covered/documented by chasers though. Based on
our vantage point of this tornado, a strong F3 rating is deserved. This tornado was by far the
strongest HP supercell tornado we have ever seen.

Editors Note:
This was a momentous occasion for Rich. This was his first tornado ever and what a whopper it was. His tornado jinx has now been lifted! Now he just needs to land one up in his own backyard!!