PAGE 10
PAGE
21 |
| PAGE 1 | PAGE 2 | PAGE 3 | PAGE 4 | PAGE 5 | PAGE 6 | PAGE 7 | PAGE 8 | PAGE 9 | PAGE 10 I
I PAGE 11 I PAGE 12 I PAGE 13 I PAGE 14 I PAGE 15 I PAGE 16 I PAGE 17 I PAGE 18 I PAGE 19 I PAGE 20 I
I PAGE 21 I PAGE 22
I PAGE 23 I PAGE 24
I PAGE25 I PAGE 26 I PAGE 27 I PAGE 28 I PAGE29 I PAGE 30 I
PAGE|
June 13
June
13, 1998 NC Kansas and SC Nebraska Severe Weather
Today was one of those
typical mid-June days when the intense heat coupled
with extreme moisture would allow for an explosive severe weather event in the
C. and S. Plains. To assist the explosive development, a unseasonably strong
shortwave was expected to enter the C. and S. Plains by afternoon during peak
heating. It doesn't take rocket scientist to figure out what would happen today,
but it would take plenty analysis of weather data to figure out the prime spots to
see the most impressive supercells. The Storm Prediction Center broad-brushed
almost the entire C.Plains area southward into Oklahoma with a moderate risk of
severe storms. A surface low was expected to slowly track northeast from EC
sections of Colorado into NW Kansas. A dry line was forecast to take on a bulge
configuration across WC and SW Kansas into C. Oklahoma. A warm front was
lifting northward across N.Kansas into S.Nebraska by late morning, and it was
forecasted to be located very near the I-80 corridor by evening. CAPEs ( a metr.
measurement of updraft strength/velocity) were expected to be in the extreme
category- in excess of 5000 j-kg from C.Kansas into C.Oklahoma!! Temperatures
were expected to climb well into the 90's, with some areas in the 100-105 degree
range by evening across the Plains states. Dew points were also forecasted to
be extremely high (70-80 degrees) so the atmosphere was primed for severe
storm development today.
I targeted NC Kansas as
my chase area today. The dry line was forecasted to
bulge in this area and convergence in this area was expected to be extremely
high there by afternoon. Since the cap would inhibit storm development, I was
confident that I would make it to N.Kansas before the storms erupted. After I
finished my review of the weather data, I headed out from Tulsa to I-35 by 10 am.
When I reached the area south of Ponca City Ok my Blazer's thermometer read
an incredible 102 degrees- this at around noon. This concerned me quite a bit
because this massive heating would bust the cap over Oklahoma. Once the cap
would break, all out supercell explosions would happen over C. Oklahoma. I
was really worried that this might actually play out later (my gut feelings were
right on the money by the way!!). The cap was considerably weaker to my north
over C.Kansas, so I continued my trek up I-35 through Wichita and Salina.
I reached I-70 around
2pm, and towers were starting to bubble on the dry line
over N.Kansas near Hill City. The location where the towers were was right at
the dry line bulge and in the area of maximum moisture convergence. With this
in mind, I headed west on I-70 to Hays where I could head north to this area of
interest. I watched radar closely to see if any of the towering cu would make the
transition to storm/supercell development. Because the CAPEs were so high, I
figured the transition from tcu to supercell would be rapid. Apparently, the Storm
Prediction Center thought so too, and promptly issued a tornado watch for much
of N.Kansas and S. Nebraska. I headed north from Hays and a storm exploded
near Phillipsburg Ks. Time to chase, and with the storm being so isolated, I knew
that I would be in good shape to watch this storm. I zig-zagged through the roads
in Rooks and Phillips Co. and could now see the beautiful supercell as I was
approaching the town of Kirwin Ks. The supercell was located east of the town of
Phillipsburg at 4:25 pm, and I was in very good position to intercept.
A severe t-storm warning
was issued for Phillips Co. and reports of golfball sized
hail were noted west of Agra Ks. No tornado warnings yet, but the storm visually
suggested rotation with the main tower. Significant striated banding was evident up
to anvil level, and the tower itself knuckled back into the backsheared anvil.
A pretty sight unless you happen to live under the storm!! I passed through Kirwin
at 4:40 pm when the National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for the
eastern sections of Phillips Co and for NW Smith Co. Ks. Radar indicated a large
hook echo/bounded weak echo region very close to the county line north of the
town of Kensington. The storm was moving northeast at 30-35 mph at this time,
but because of difficult road options, the storm was hard to gain on!! I reached
U.S. 36 at 4:55pm, and a massive hook echo was indicated on radar southeast
of the small town of Thornburg Ks. I opted to head towards Smith Center since
the circulation was heading for the Nebraska border. I needed well paved road
to safely and quickly intercept the storm.
As I approached Smith
Center, the tornado warning was reissued for N.Smith Co.
Kansas but was extended into S.Franklin Co. Nebraska. The circulation was near
the small town of Womer Ks just after 5pm, and was going to cross the state line
soon. I decided to head over to U.S. 281 through Lebanon Ks since I wanted to
avoid the wrap around hail which was clearly evident on radar. I reached U.S. 281
at 5:05 pm, and started my pursuit of the circulation 8 miles to my north near the
state line. A tornado warning was also issued by the NWS Hastings for Webster
Co. Nebraska at this time. Things were looking up as I was planning to intercept
the large vaulted updraft region between Lebanon Ks and Red Cloud Ne. As I
headed north, the sun was shielded by the storm and I could now see the broad
updraft area. The circulation was extremely large scale, and a pouchy/ vaulted
area marked the area where huge hail was falling. At 5:15 pm, I approached the
center of the circulation near the state line. Several other chasers were camped
out in this area watching this very broad rotating updraft. The updraft was high
based so viewing was easy and also quite striking. A RFD was driving into the
updraft causing a double circulation situation to develop. An occluded circulation
was to the northwest of U.S. 281 and was spinning like a top. A fresh wall cloud
was also firming up just east of U.S. 281. I wanted to keep up with the storm so I
decided to head north to Red Cloud Ne.
More Info & Pictures
|
