May 30 - June 5,1999  Chase Season Goes Out With A Bang....

The 1999 storm chasing season has been without a doubt my best ever. Since
I could see the end of the line for the 1999 chase season, I decided to dedicate
the entire week to chasing storms. A typical year includes maybe one or two "good" tornado events; this year has included 3 already and I knew there was more to come. I left on my chase odyssey on May 30th and did not return home
until June 6th. I will recount in detail the highly exciting and successful chases
over this period. My chasing would be primarily focused on 4 states during the
week....Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska, and South Dakota. Brian Stertz (Tulsa)
would chase with me for much of the period; Pat Mc Mahon (Detroit) and Kathryn Ray (Tulsa) chased with me from May 30-June2. The cap restricted me from chasing further south in Oklahoma and Texas; this is common to this time of the year as the mid level temperatures have a hard time cooling. The chases will be capsuled into a travelogue format for this extended period of chasing!!

Sunday, May 30......NC Kansas Supercells

Today was not a sure bet for severe storms or tornadoes. The cap was building
northward into the plains, and I was not too sure there would be enough cooling
aloft to allow for storms to develop.The instability was expected to become more
favorable for supercells to erupt by evening, provided the cap could weaken.
Climatology favors successful chasing this time of year and this spring you have
to chase no matter what!! My original target zone was NC Kansas in the vicinity of Phillipsburg.

The cap held tightly across Kansas for much of the afternoon. Severe storms did
develop across C. Nebraska along and north of a weak frontal boundary. The cap
was weaker in Nebraska so storms were more likely to pop there, particularly to
the north of I-80. We chased several "pulse-type" severe storms that produced
large hail before succumbing to the cap over NC Kansas and SC Nebraska. The
first significant cell that we chased was near Red Cloud Nebraska. As this storm
eventually weakened, other isolated cells developed over C. Kansas near Salina
and near Concordia. These storms had large hail up to golfball sized at times,
but little in the way of rotation. As these storms slowly worked their way east, a
small but highly sheared storm developed near Clay Center KS. We followed this
striated lp storm for much of it's lifespan. Radar indicated great rotation with this storm as it moved east-northeast towards the small town of Randolph in Riley Co..
Right at dark, the storm produced a weak tornado west of Randolph before it wound down in open country. We decided to pull over for lightning photography
as the storm headed into Riley and Pottawatomie Counties. We decided that we
had better get into position for the next day's chase. We stayed in Wichita as the
target zone looked like it was going to setup over SC Kansas and NW Oklahoma.

Tornadoes....1

Monday, May 31......Clark Co. Kansas Tornadic Supercell

Today there was far better potential for supercells and tornadoes over S.Kansas,
Oklahoma, and the E.Texas Panhandle. We originally targeted SW Kansas and
NW Oklahoma. A surface low was expected to deepen over SE Colorado and a
dryline-warm front intersection was expected to be over SW Kansas. Winds across
SW Kansas and NW Oklahoma were forecasted to remain due east during the
day adding to already favorable low and mid level shear profiles. By late morning,
the forecast models were indicating that the dryline was not expected to push as
far northeast as earlier models were trending. As a result, the best combination
of upper level support, instability, and shear looked to be setting up more in the
NE Texas Panhandle than in S.Kansas. CAPEs of 6000 j/kg were forecasted over
much of W.Oklahoma , extreme S.Kansas, and the E. Texas Panhandle. Since time was on our side, we compromised for NW Oklahoma as our target zone by late morning. Brian Stertz was also planning to chase today and he agreed with
the target zone. We were hopefully going to meet somewhere in the Woodward/
Shattuck OK area by late afternoon. We left Wichita around noon for the target area
of NW Oklahoma.

For much of the afternoon, the S.Plains remained strongly capped and storms did
not look too imminent. A mid-level shortwave was expected to weaken the cap by evening to allow for explosive supercell development. The Storm Prediction Center kept the moderate risk for severe weather for S.Kansas and NW Oklahoma, but did expand the outlook area to include the E.Texas Panhandle and SW and WC Oklahoma. A few strong tornadoes were mentioned in the updated moderate risk. The mid-level shortwave was expected to develop storms south and then gradually northward as the energy/pva spread across much of W.Oklahoma, SW Kansas, and E. Texas Panhandle. We made our way out to the Oklahoma/Texas border near Arnett and waited for development. Brian eventually made his way to
Arnett, and he too played the waiting game. About 100 miles to the south, the
first storms of the day erupted near Clarendon TX and Altus OK. The extreme
instability was releasing as the shortwave was now approaching!!

We watched the massive storms develop to our south, but decided that what was
happening there, was eventually going to also happen up north. We continued to
watch radar closely but still no development north of I-40. Very large hail and mid
level shear was now present on radar with the storms to our south. We decided
not to go south as the storms would have more HP structure than storms that would eventually develop north. Finally, radar indicated a small but severe storm
near Liberal KS- 80 miles to our northwest. After a little bit of indecision, we opted
to commit to this storm. Radar was showing that it was still in the early stages of
development so this was a good storm to try to intercept. The better low-level
shear was setting up over SW Kansas so the threat of tornadoes was definitely on
the high side. We quickly worked our way up to the Kansas border, and the storm was now starting to track e-se right for us. Very large hail(up to softball sized) was
reported to the northeast of Meade KS. The circulation was organizing rapidly  near the town of Meade. Tornado warnings were soon issued for E.Meade and
for Clark Counties. We were in good position now!!!

Brian pulled over to the southeast of the developing wall cloud and we continued
further north to the east/northeast of the wall cloud. Radar indicated strong rotation
on the Meade/Clark Co. line to our west about 3 miles. The wall cloud became
better organized and impressive as it started to turn slightly to the southeast. We
watched vigorous rotation and occasional funnel clouds with the increasing wall
cloud that was approaching. Our location was near the intersection of U.S.283 and
U.S. 160. The threat of huge hail and powerful RFD winds made us pull up from
the great view we had of the developing mesocyclone. We worked our way east
with the wall cloud slowly. Occasional dust swirls would spin up under the wall
cloud as it headed towards the town of Ashland KS. Further south, Brian was cut
off by 90 mph+ RFD winds and had to track the circulation from the south side.
We passed through Ashland and continued east on U.S.183 towards the small
town of Sitka which looked to be in the path of this circulation.

The circulation was becoming extremely violent and a tornado seemed imminent
in the Sitka area. The storm started to turn right (move se) and spared the town
from the tornado, but not from the very large hail. We continued south on U.S. 183
through Sitka (SE Clark Co.) ,and the wall cloud was starting to take on the tornado
look. Unfortunately the tornado appeared to be also accelerating to the southeast.
The first tornado was about 2-3 miles south-southwest of Sitka. Numerous small
vortices swirled and dissipated in classic multiple vortex fashion. The tornado
appeared to have lifted, but only for the moment. A classic condensation cone
funnel worked down to the ground minutes later. The tornado appeared to be on
a south-southeast movement/track now. In the span of 2 minutes, the tornado was
a mature strong tornado. The width was increasing to 200-300 yards and large
amounts of soil/debris were working upwards into the funnel. We had to race ahead of the advancing tornado that was now moving southeast at a rapid pace.
Fortunately, we were able to get far enough ahead and the tornado crossed just a
mile behind us. The intense RFD and rain curtains quickly obscured the tornado
as it headed across open country and into SW Comanche Co.. We were left trying
to chase a tornado through very difficult country(please refer to Clark Co. map if
you don't believe me). Unfortunately, this would be the last visual contact we had with the tornado.

We continued into Comanche Co. as the circulation was near Buttermilk KS. Later
as we maneuvered across the dirt roads of W. Comanche Co., we passed through either tornado or RFD damage to a farmstead near Buttermilk. We called it a chase as the supercell looked like it was becoming outflow dominant. Rotation continued
into Woods and Alfalfa Co. OK after dark. We headed on to Pratt KS to the north to
meet up with the Weather Channel to dub off video. We were treated to a dramatic
mammatus and lightning show as we headed away from this very large supercell.
Brian finally was able to reach us, and saw the tornado too but from the south looking north about 3-4 miles. He too lost the tornado as the RFD and rain curtains
wrapped around the tornado. I had to take care of business in Wichita on Tuesday
so we stayed in Pratt for the night. 

Tornadoes....2
Quick Time Video....Tornado Intensifies South of Sitka KS (Scene 1)
                               Tornado Accelerates S-SE at 50 mph (Scene 2)
                               Tornado Passes 1/2 Mile North of Van (Scene 3)
                              

Tuesday, June 1......No Chasing, Just Business To Tend To...

Today was a day to regroup and prepare for the next trough which was expected
to move into the Western High Plains on Wednesday. I had to take care of work
related issues in Wichita so this was working out well. Brian Stertz was taking off
work so he was planning to meet me in Wichita along with Pat McMahon. Things
were shaping up for an extended period of severe weather/tornadoes. The target
zone for Wednesday was either going to be W.Kansas or E.Colorado so not too
far of a drive from Wichita.

By late afternoon, severe storms erupted just to the east of Tulsa and a few became tornadic. I was not able to chase these supercells in my own backyard!! The storm that developed over Wagoner Co. was the major supercell that resulted in lots of damage around Fort Gibson Lake and eventually in eastern sections of Muskogee.

Wednesday, June 2......Yuma Co. Colorado Supercell

All of the forecast models were pointing to W.Kansas as the bulls eye for today's
most serious storms. Once again, the cap was expected to hold tight until 4pm.
This would allow for the instability to build up and release violently as a mid-level
disturbance/shortwave approached from the southwest. A surface low was just
developing during the morning hours near Colorado Springs, and the dry line
was establishing southward into E.New Mexico. Later forecast models indicated that the supercells would develop in E.Colorado and then move into W.Kansas
by dark. This seemed reasonable with the position of the surface low/dry line. We
all convened in Wichita around noon and left for the open plains of W.Kansas. A
moderate risk of severe storms was outlooked by the Storm Prediction Center for
SE/EC Colorado, WC/SW Kansas, and the Texas Panhandle. Supercells with a few
strong tornadoes were expected across the moderate risk area. We figured that
this was going to be a "late show" so we had time on our side. Pat drove his car to
Garden City KS and he left it there. He joined Brian and I in the van and we tried
to figure out where initial development would fire. More and more, it looked like
the eastern border counties of Colorado would be a "holding" spot. We continued
west to the Colorado border near Syracuse KS.

We became fairly concerned that the Texas Panhandle area exploded with the
first supercells. Several times we have been burned by the convection south of the
target area "robbing" all of the unstable air/inflow available to storms to the north.
Dew points were not recovering quite as rapidly as we hoped, so things were not
looking too optimistic during the late afternoon. By 4pm, 2 cells developed well
into Colorado near Las Animas and south of Limon. We knew that one of these
cells would be the one to organize/strengthen ,so we watched radar closely as
we continued north on KS-27 from Syracuse. The storm further north had the best
structure so we decided to focus our attention to this storm. Moisture was the day's
biggest problem, but the forecast models showed that moisture would deepen with time. Patience usually pays off but not always!! We watched the storm well
to our northwest cycle several times as it raced to the north-northeast. The speed of the storm concerned us, especially since it showed no signs of eastward move-
ment. We had a great viewpoint of the storm at a distance of 100+ miles, but we
would have liked to have been a lot closer. We had lots of distance to close on the storm. We were heading due north and the storm was tracking n-ne at 50 mph. An
intercept point for this storm was going to be nearly 1 hour+ later near Burlington
CO.

We made it to Goodland and I-70 fairly quickly, but the storm "beat" us to I-70 and
was 45 miles to our west. The chase was looking bleak to the say the least!! A
severe t-storm warning was issued for W.Kit Carson Co. Colorado as the storm was moving towards the town of Flagler. We hoped that the storm would at least
slow down some, but it did not look like this was going to happen. We figured
that it was worth a shot, so we headed west on I-70 to Burlington CO. The storm
continued n-ne and radar was indicating descent mid-level shear near Flagler.
We planned to head north from Burlington and intercept the storm in Yuma Co.
as it was turning slightly northeast. By the time we reached Burlington, we could see the rain-free base to our northwest. The storm looked moisture "starved" as
the base was fairly high. The storm continued to slowly gain strength as a new
severe t-storm warning was issued for Yuma Co.. Hail up to golfball sized was
mentioned in the warning bulletin. Radar indicated that rotation was also on the
increase. The storm did not look too healthy from a visual standpoint though. The
cap and a lack of moisture still seemed to be the big problem. The storm started
to weaken as the storm appeared to be moving further away from the low-level
moisture along I-70.

We grew concerned even more-if that was possible. New storms were firing in
the Lamar CO area(SE Colorado). These storms were definitely in deeper and
more favorable moisture ahead of the dry line. The storm moving away to our north showed very little promise of getting organized, so we started to head south
and let the storms near Lamar approach us. Radar did show one cell to the west
of the weakening storm over Washington Co.. This storm was tracking more northeast and looked as if it would possibly merge with the Yuma Co. struggling
storm. We were just south of I-70 when Pat looked out the back window and could
not believe his eyes. The Yuma Co. storm had just exploded and merged with the
Washington Co. storm. The supercell had a massive overshooting dome and a
large back-sheared anvil. Radar confirmed this merge/explosion. We pulled over
and quickly plotted another intercept. The storm was slowing down and becoming
anchored(which was good). On the other hand, we were 35 miles to the south
(which was bad). We reached the Yuma Co. line and the NWS -Goodland issued
a tornado warning for Yuma Co. Things were looking up- finally!!

The storm was still fairly high based, but well pronounced inflow bands were now
jutting into the updraft bowl 20 miles to our northwest. Striations ringed the updraft
region as the storm's rotation became deeper as it passed just south of the town of
Yuma. Radar was showing great rotation at mid-levels and was starting to show
that rotation was increasing at low-levels. The wall cloud started to work down at
this time. We were south of Wray when an updated tornado warning was issued
for Yuma Co.(a very large county). The storms rotation was tracking towards Wray
and the storm was now moving  e-ne at 30 mph. The deeper moisture was just
now reaching the storm!! We pulled over in awe as the storm was becoming one
of those famous Colorado "flying saucer" supercells. Baseball sized hail pounded
the area north of Wray as the storm attempted to tighten up the circulation. Several
other chasers watched this jaw-dropping storm pass very close to Wray. Still no
tornadoes appeared to be imminent, even though storm rotation was obvious to
even the general public!!

We headed into Wray and then east on U.S. 34 towards the town of Laird. We had
to stop to photograph this LP beauty. Very laminar bands were cyclonically curved
around the updraft to anvil level. At the same time, several plates "collared" the
wall cloud. A true high-plains supercell. Tornado warnings continued with the
storm as a strong RFD punched into the updraft. Rain curtains swirled about the
circulation and we were beginning to think that there may have been a tornado
embedded in the rain. We could not confirm this, but this was looking feasible
as rapidly as the rain curtains were swirling. We watched the storm slowly head to
the northeast without producing a confirmed tornado. The storm appeared to be
at it's maximum intensity as it passed to the north and northeast of Wray and to the
north of Laird. Darkness set in as the storm continued to the northeast slowly. To
our northwest about 3-5 miles, a dust swirl(broad- but rotating) appeared under
a new updraft region northwest of Laird. We attempted to get closer to this swirl
but not too many road options were available. From our distance, it was hard to
discern if this was a weak tornado, or just an RFD induced dust column. At any rate, this storm was among the best looking storms I have ever seen. We headed
into Nebraska and shot video of the tremendous lightning show as it crossed the
extremely rural areas of Dundy Co. Nebraska.

After we got more than enough lightning video/pictures, we decided to call it a
night and headed into Goodland for the night. A huge whitetail deer decided to
make the trip a even more interesting one. The deer darted out in front of the van
and then stopped in the middle of the highway near St.Francis KS. I fortunately
saw the deer bound out of the bar ditch so he was able shut it down. I swerved
and just missed clipping the deer. Pat who was sleeping in the back was jolted
awake and equipment in the van was sent airborne. Not a good scene for several
pieces of equipment!! To cap the night off, we had dinner at a Goodland truck
stop or so we thought. Internal bickering among the staff and UNCOOKED food
made for frustrating(and later amusing) times for this chase group. Certainly the
worst meal we have ever had in our years of storm chasing. We were ready for
breakfast when we left that slop house!! After reviewing the weather data and
picking the next day's tornado threat area, we called it a night at 2am.

Tornadoes......0 (but one extremely photogenic supercell)

Thursday, June 3......Norton Co. Kansas Tornadic Supercell

I wish all chase days were like this one. We stayed the night in Goodland KS, got
a good night's sleep, and yes, finally had a good meal. The best part of stay was
that we were just 100 miles west of our target zone. Today, a surface low was to
remain nearly stationary over the Nebraska Panhandle. Overnight convection set
an outflow boundary across Kansas from south of Goodland to near Wichita. This
boundary eventually became the "true" warm front and focused the most serious
convection. A dry line/outflow boundary was expected to be in the Great Bend KS
area by late afternoon. Usually this double point area is the almost sure bet for
supercells, although today the cap would rule today's chase. A broad-brushed
slight risk was outlooked for much of the Central Plains, but the area of concern
was focused on C/N Kansas and S Nebraska. We knew we were in great shape today as the forecast models indicated that isolated supercells were likely to
develop in C Kansas. The RUC model (which usually nails most days of the event)
showed that a supercell would develop between Hays and Goodland after 4pm.
Since this storm was going to be very close to the double point, we figured that
this storm would be the one!! We left Goodland shortly after noon, and headed
east on I-70 to our target zone west of Hays KS. Today was much different than most usual chase days. We had our target zone pegged and simply had to wait
for the storm to explode into supercell structure. Normally, the target zone varies
during the day and we have to drive long and hard to get into position. As we
left Goodland, the dry line was mixing out and steadily progressing east. This
further solidified our chase plans for later. CAPES were on the extreme side, and
later, our chase would become that way too!!!

Much of the afternoon passed quietly by as we monitored satellite for developing
towers and the boundaries. The cap was again holding tightly over Kansas- a
good thing for intense times later. We decided to hold our position on I-70 and just
east of the dry line which became nearly stationary from just east of Oakley to the
Garden City KS area. The outflow boundary was very slowly working north across
Kansas during the afternoon. At 3 pm, the outflow boundary(warm front)/dry line
intersection was SW of Hays KS. Radar and satellite both showed this collision of
winds and air masses. Moisture convergence steadily increased at and northeast
of this double point. The stage was set for supercell development and the Storm
Prediction Center was monitoring W/C Kansas and SW/SC Nebraska for a tornado
watch within the hour. Dodge City radar indicated that the dry line was sharpening
up as convergence was showing up nicely. Cumulus clouds attempted to punch
up into the cap over the next half hour without much success. The best convective massing was in 2 areas. The first area was in the vicinity of the double point and
to our north and northeast up towards the Hill City area. Our location was almost
ideal as we could watch both areas and reach both areas quickly if necessary.
Our holding spot was on I-70 near the town of Grainfield(Gove Co.).

A tornado watch was issued for the areas mentioned earlier and we were in the
center of the watch box. The dry line and the outflow boundary/warm front were
both expected to pop within the hour- CAPEs were in the 5000-6000 j/kg range.
Explosive development was likely according to the watch text. The cap was still
holding so the clouds were reaching the capping inversion and dissipating. A few
towering cumulus were seen north of I-70 almost in the cumulus congestus stage.
Several isolated towers were also to our southwest on the dry line. Very quickly,
the towers to the southwest "vaporized" and the towers to the north became thicker. We continued to watch this process, and have seen this happen countless times before. We had to get north of the outflow boundary!! The cap was on the
increase south of I-70 and the towering cumulus was disappearing. Further north,
the cumulus congestus developed into a single tower that looked to be ready to
explode into a supercell. Brian watched this tower closely, while I monitored the
Hastings radar site. The tower exploded above the cap and radar confirmed a
developing storm in that area. We quickly bolted from our location and headed
north towards Hill City. Radar indicated that the storm was over W.Graham Co near the town of Morland. The chase was on!!! The storm was EXPLODING!!!

We made it to Hill City and the storm was still primarily all updraft. The storm was tracking n-ne at 30 mph and was about 8 miles northwest of Hill City. The storm
track function indicated that the storm was headed right for Lenora( S.Norton Co.).
We planned our intercept there too. Numerous other chasers (including the DOW
entourage) were northbound on U.S. 283 north of Hill City as were we. The storm
was crossing into Norton Co. when a severe  t-storm warning was issued for
Norton Co. We were in fat city!!! The storm had a very large vaulted area and a
pronounced inflow band was developing on the east side of the wall cloud. We
made it to the U.S. 283/KS 9 intersection and it was apparent that the circulation
was about 4 miles to our west near Lenora. U.S. 283 was closed to through traffic
(it's been closed for years-what's up with that!). Anyway, we had to stay close to
the developing circulation so we headed west to Lenora for a road option north.

We almost passed right by our road north and unfortunately it was unimproved.
The road went where we wanted it to go, but unimproved roads are notorious
for becoming slick as ice when rained on(as we found out later!!). Since it was take this road or bust, we slowly progressed up the road. Weird things were happening with regards to the storm. A downside was that the storm had not yet
consolidated into a single updraft/circulation stage. The main circulation was
just to our east, and a separate circulation was just to our northwest. Visually this was how the storm was structured. We were between the 2 circulations midway so
we had a good look should anything develop. One thing was for certain there was lots of shear at low levels. Horizontal vorticity tubes swirled overhead and several
even became tilted into the vertical. Once the vorticity tubes reached the vertical
axis, they swirled violently and then spin out-similar to an eddy but a little more
pronounced. Numerous times the storm appeared to pulse. Strong rotation would
trade off  between circulations, although the eastern circulation appeared to be the more dominant one. We watched this process over the next half hour-still uncertain what the storm was going to do.

We decided to get on an east/west road as it was now appearing the supercell was tracking more northeasterly now. Very near the intersection of Norton Co.
Road 281 and 10 S Road, we pulled over to view a ropy funnel snake towards the
ground about 4-5 miles to our north. This funnel "believe it or not" was located
between the 2 circulations on some type of vorticity axis. The funnel stretched out
to the west in classic form, but we could not see any connection to the ground from
our vantage point. This funnel lasted almost 5 minutes before completely roping/
twisting out. Hopefully this was not a sign of things to come. We decided to head east on an even muddier road in hopes of keeping up with dual circulations. At
times, large hail (golfball sized and some slightly larger) was seen on the road.
The largest quantity of this large hail was on the north-south road east of the closed U.S. 283 highway. The location was 5 miles south-southeast of Norton.
We could see that the storm was growing in size and looked like it might be in the
process of consolidating. All along we thought that once the 2 updrafts/circulations
merged, something major was bound to happen.  We were right on the money with that prediction. The major setback was that the main circulation needed to
get a hot/dry westerly RFD before it could become a dangerous storm.

Our vantage point could not have been better. The dual circulations continued to
strengthen and the cell merger was underway. Circulation #1 was located less
than 1 mile tour south; meanwhile, circulation#2 was violently rotating right over
the city of Norton. A very interesting thing happened over the next 10 minutes.
Circulation #1 seemingly anchored about 3 miles east of Norton along U.S. 36.
The circulation(#2) over Norton progressed eastward at 30-35 mph. Eventually,
the 2 circulations blended together into one consolidated/violently rotating wall
cloud. Right before the merger took place, a small whirling dervish F0 tornado
touched down in a field less than 1/2 mile to our north. The tornado had cyclonic
and anitcyclonic rotation as it tracked across the open field about 1/4-1/2 mile.
the width was less than 50 yards and it dissipated into a grove of trees just to the
north of U.S. 36. I called this in to the NWS as I knew this was just the start of a
cyclic tornado process. The RFD(now the tornado producing hot/dry type) was
starting to punch into the consolidated circulation. Almost immediately, the rain
curtains ( I have seen countless of times before a major tornado) swirled around
the base of the wall cloud. Tornado time was soon...very soon!!

To the north of U.S. 36 and west of KS 383, rotation became very violent. Several
vortices rotated around the outer wall of the mesocyclone which was 2 miles to
our north. We decided that we had better get in position for a road option north, so
we left our spot knowing that a major tornado was imminent. The vortices grew in
number as the wall cloud tightened up. A broad multiple vortex tornado was now
on the ground about 4 miles west-northwest of Calvert KS. With time, a large
cone started to form while smaller vortices continued to swirl, touch down briefly,
and then dissipate. Rain curtains obscured the early development stages of the
condensation cone. We moved further east for a better vantage point on U.S.36.
Brian looked at the Kansas map book for our road options, while both Pat and I
continued to roll video. We were now stopped at a railroad crossing just to the
southwest of Calvert and the tornado was tracking slowly east-northeast. Brian
plotted the tornado track and it was going to pass very near the town of Almena.
We packed up and moved out. We reached KS 336 (the road to Almena) as did
the local/state law enforcement. The tornado was intensifying and the tornado
was now a large "stove-pipe" tornado. We took some video on tripod of the slowly
advancing tornado. Forward speed was in the 15-20 mph range so it was a great
tornado to chase. We wanted to try to get ahead of the tornado so we headed
towards Almena. Now the real excitement/calamity begins!!

To our west, a large tornado was roaring across open country and now looked like it was going to pass to the north of Almena. We reached a road called Township
that passes just west of Almena. Initially the road was paved and looked to be like
the perfect road to get ahead of the tornado. In textbook sequence, we passed through a wall of rain,then increasing hail(some up to baseball sized), and then
wispy rain driven by 60-70 mph winds. The tornado "outline" was 2-3 miles to the northwest. We were in the bear's cage. Time to rock!! The pavement abruptly ended on the west side of Almena. Brian adjusted his speed accordingly as the
RFD winds were now blasting out of the west at 70 mph+. The road was very soft
and slick so the winds had an easy time shoving us towards the east shoulder.
Although the tornado was approaching the road to our north, we thought we could
get ahead of the tornado. A strong gust of wind changed our plans quickly and
abruptly. The front tire caught the edge of the rain soaked shoulder and that was
all she wrote. The shoulder dropped quickly to an 8 foot grade and the van slid
down the embankment. Fortunately, the mud caught the wheels and kept the van from possibly rolling. At the time the van went off the road, the forward speed was
slowed to about 20 mph so it was more of a slide than a violent crash landing.
All 3 of us were buckled in so fortunately just the equipment went flying around.
A resident just down the road saw the whole episode- I will explain that later!

Anyway the van was stuck and not too stable. Brian exited the van stunned and
equally as mad now that our chasing was grounded!! He had to exit the van as
fast as he could as the van was rocking in the 70-80 mph RFD winds. Pat and I
got away from the van and continued our video as the tornado had still not
crossed the road. Brian extricated himself "lunar module" style and got away from
the van too. Yet another swirling rain curtain band(complete with dime sized hail)
pelted us as the tornado crossed the road 2 miles to our north. We captured great video as the very slow tornado passed to our north. I was concerned about a
right movement to the tornado towards us. However, the tornado maintained a slow pace to the northeast. Pat and I continued our video and ran up the hill to
keep the video going. Brian headed down the road to call in a wrecker from town
to get us pulled out. Over the next 15 minutes, numerous vehicles from Almena
and Norton passed by our grounded van. Several of the resident's stopped and
looked the situation over, and tried to figure a way to safely pull the van up and
out of the steep embankment. A very special thanks for those that did!!

Back to the tornado, over the next 30 minutes the tornado seemingly anchored or
drifted very slowly northeast. The tornado was quite a sight and the storm cloud above was equally impressive. My batteries ran out just as the tornado completed the rope out stage about 5 miles north-northeast of Almena. Another beautiful LP
storm exploded to our northwest along the Kansas/Nebraska border. This storm actually tracked e-se and was quite photogenic. Our camera's batteries were out
and the still camera's were somewhere in the van, so unfortunately we could not get any pictures of this isolated wonder!! Brian was back up with the van and he told us the story about our fateful grounding the resident witnessed. The resident
indicated that we were going down the road okay as we passed him. He said that
he saw the van shift to the east as a strong gust hit the van. The van then went
into a slow/controlled slide to the shoulder. He said he thought we were going to
roll but he said the van went down the ravine more headlong than broadside- he
said that's what kept us upright. He indicated that once the tire caught the soft shoulder, it was all over from there. We waited for several hours for the wrecker to
show up from Norton. Meanwhile alternative plans were being devised to pull the
van up from the embankment. The van was stuck in mud so it was not hung up on anything fortunately. We knew that we had to get this done before darkness set in,
so 3 local resident's (I wish I had remembered their names to thank them in this
story) attached towing chains, one up front and one in back to stabilize the van.
This method worked great and soon the muddy van was pulled up to the road.
Brian was extremely relieved as no damage was done thanks to the mud that caught us on the way down. He now has a new found respect for the combination
of dirt roads and storm chasing!!

After the crazy chase and close call we called it a night and stayed in Norton. We
barely made Pizza Hut before it closed, but we sat down and had storm chaser
de-compression!! Pizza and beer- what a welcome dinner. Time to prepare for
the next day's chase. We returned to the hotel just as tornadic supercells were
exploding across C.Nebraska. Our thinking was that Nebraska was the play on
Friday. What a chase to remember and forget at the same time!!!

Tornadoes......3

Friday, June 4......NC Nebraska Tornadic Supercells

After an eventful chase yesterday, we were wondering if that chase was going to
be duplicated today-only further north in Nebraska. Today, much of Nebraska was
outlooked with a moderate risk of severe storms and tornadoes. We had to take
care of some logistical problems during the morning, but we were in prime shape to chase full bore again by afternoon. Once again, the cap would keep most of the
afternoon hours quiet which worked well in our favor. The surface low overnight
moved into NE Colorado, and the dry line was on the Colorado/Nebraska state
line. Several outflow boundaries were over Nebraska, with the more dominant boundary extending from near Broken Bow to west of Norfolk NE. Today the cap
was increasing across the C.Plains, so development would be late and in an area
where convergence would help weaken the cap. For most of the day, we targeted
the area around N.Platte as today's bulls eye. From Kearney NE east, the cap was
way too strong to allow any sustained convection. From Kearney westward to the
Wyoming border, the cap was slightly weaker and there was the greater potential
for storms to erupt in this area. CAPEs today were once again on the extreme side (6000 j/kg)so rapid severe storm development was likely once the cap weakened.
We made it back into Nebraska by early afternoon so now once again we played the waiting game.

At a truck stop complex at Elm Creek, we pulled over and called up weather data.
As all truck stops should have, the Weather Channel was on several monitors in the food plaza. If this isn't a chasers dream, I don't know what is!! Weather Channel
and plug ins for a laptop computer. Hopefully the rest of the country will catch on
to this!! Anyway, Brian was chasing with me today. Pat was in his car that we had to pick up in Garden City during the morning. When we called up the data, the cap
appeared to be on the chase "ruining" side. The only areas that looked to be able
to break the cap were the Nebraska Panhandle and over SC/SW South Dakota and NC Nebraska. Over the Panhandle, very fast 500 flow was entering this area
and a strong easterly upslope situation was developing. Over NC Nebraska, the
overnight convection left a strong outflow boundary from south of Mullen to the
north of Broken Bow to north of Grand Island. Winds were also easterly here, and
convergence was increasing along the outflow boundary. Today was a tough call
day, but one thing was for certain- we had to make a commitment soon. We saw
many other chasers at the truck stop- all with different target areas and chase plans!! We decided to head west on I-80 to our original target area. No storms had
developed yet, although the Storm Prediction Center was highlighting/favoring
the Nebraska Panhandle. We figured we could not go wrong with heading west to
North Platte. A tornado watch was quickly issued for the Nebraska Panhandle and
SW South Dakota as we left the truck stop. We were still concerned that the dry
line might actually become a factor so we decided that heading west was still the
best thing to do.

One guaranteed area that both Brian and I agreed upon was that there would be
tornadoes and probably strong ones in the Nebraska Panhandle heading n-ne.
The only problem was that they were likely to move at 40-50 mph across areas
where there are just not that many roads. Nonetheless, this area remained as a
possible target if the dry line did not pop. We made it to North Platte around 5pm.
To our northwest about 100-150 miles, several isolated and highly- sheared supercells were racing n-ne through the Nebraska Panhandle already. No way
that we would catch these. We had to resort to the hopes that the dry line on the Nebraska/Colorado border would allow convergence to help break the strong cap. The surface low was starting to wrap up over NE Colorado, so winds across
much of W.Nebraska were becoming east and northeast and strengthening. A
few strongly capped showers and weak t-storms developed across SW Nebraska
and far NE Colorado in the vicinity of the dry line. We watched these storms very
closely as they tracked n-ne towards I-80.  Since we were at hotel row in N.Platte,
we debated as to whether or not we should reserve a room to stay tonight. We
were still uncertain what type of chase was ahead so we decided not to commit
to North Platte for overnight lodging. Radar was becoming more interesting as
peak heating was being reached. Several small but developing storms were in
NE Colorado in Yuma Co. Other storms were also trying to organize along the
dry line further north in Perkins and Chase Counties in Nebraska. Further to the
northwest, several tornadic supercells were heading towards South Dakota from
the Nebraska Panhandle. We could see one of the cells to the distant northwest
of North Platte.

With time, the storms over far SW Nebraska organized into legitimate storms, but
were still far from supercell structure. Small to moderate hail was showing up on the storm attribute displays off the Goodland NEXRAD. The cap and lack of deep
moisture was keeping the storms from fully exploding into a supercell. With time
on our side, we decided to be patient and let the atmosphere do it's thing. Peak
heating often changes the whole picture-only today development was going to be
a much slower turnabout (thanks to the strong cap!). We remained stationed in the
North Platte area until 2 storms started to indicate that they were going to break
through the cap. Storm #1 was small but highly sheared and was located near
Imperial(Chase Co.); Storm #2 was also fairly small and was moving n-ne into
Nebraska from Sedgwick Co. Colorado. Neither of the 2 storms were severe yet,
although the Chase Co. storm did have a fairly substantial hail core. We headed
west on I-80 to Ogallala(Keith Co.) in an effort to get close to where the 2 storms
were tracking.

We reached Ogallala when the first severe t-storm warning was issued for our
area- Chase and Perkins Counties in Nebraska. Large hail was mentioned in the
warning bulletin. We were still less than excited with the radar display however.
Both storms looked strongly capped and struggling underneath an increasing
mid level jet. No rotation was evident on radar, probably related to the n-ne
movement and south inflow wind vector. Storm #2 we could see to our w-sw
about 10 miles. The storm had a definite dry line storm appearance with a very
small core and twisting updraft tower. Mid level shear was apparent but low level shear was lacking(so far!). We watched both storms approach fairly quickly in
response to the increasing mid level winds. Storm #1 did a transformation over the next 30 minutes. The storm pulsed several times and a gust front was seen
on radar surging out ahead of the increasing storm. A new storm quickly formed
on storm#1 outflow to our se about 10 miles(or 6 miles sw of Paxton). This storm grew and punched the cap eventually as we watched from the west. We decided
that this was going to be the one, and we headed back east from Ogallala on I-80.

The storm approached Paxton(Keith Co.) rapidly, and a severe t-storm warning
was issued for E.Keith Co.. Hail up to golfball sized was expected with this storm.
Further to the southwest, Storm #1 was in the gust out phase, and created a dry
hot macroburst that was racing ne towards I-80. This heat burst actually acted like a mini-dry line and capped off the area south of I-80. Blowing dust was seen to our southwest racing ne. We headed through Paxton and were forced to track the
developing supercell by dirt roads(not again!!). Brian was driving so he was less
than thrilled to see that our only road options were dirt ones. We wandered up
the network of unmarked/unimproved roads in E.Keith Co. into Arthur Co.. Here to
the roads were of the dirt /ranch land variety. The De Lorme Nebraska Atlas once
again paid off for us as we canvassed the lonely roads in an effort to stay even
with the storm. This storm still looked dominated by the cap, and struggled to
organize into a full-fledged supercell. The rain free base remained fairly high, and
a wall cloud was never truly established. As this fairly skeletal storm weakened
and set out an outflow boundary, a new storm quickly took over to it's east in SW
McPherson Co.. This storm looked like a carbon copy of the Keith Co. storm with
one exception- this storm actually looked to be more surface based. This would
allow for a better organization of a lower level mesocyclone, and better chance of
a tornado. The McPherson Co. storm also tracked n-ne so we had to be mindful
of all road options(which were slim to none). We watched the storm grow to a
large exploding cb with a prominent vertical tower. Hail was now being reported
in McPherson Co., and with time, the hail sizes increased to tennis ball sized. We
finally made it to a paved road NE-92 and the updraft region was about 8 miles
to our east, and very near the Arthur/McPherson Co. line.

The highway was perfect for intercepting the updraft, but we had to drive through
the wrap around hail core that was immediately west of the updraft. Rotation was
very apparent now, and rain curtains were now developing underneath the wall
cloud. We pulled over once we punched through the small hailcore about 10 miles west of Tryon. When we got out of the vehicle, we knew right away that we were in great shape. The winds ,which were more southerly along I-80, were now
getting a more easterly component. As would be expected, the storms rotation
was also intensifying. The Tryon Fire Chief pulled over and watched the wall
cloud tighten up and increase. He had several spotter units to the north of Tryon
that were about to get nailed by the advancing/increasing hailcore. They were
also confirming that rotation was strengthening. One of the spotters reported a few
baseball sized hailstones on NE-97, before he bailed. We told the Fire Chief that
this storm was beginning to mean business, and told him to radio the Mullen Ne
spotters to watch out for this storm-very severe and strongly rotating. We headed
into Tryon to NE-97 our road option north. The wall cloud was very large and was
now getting striation bands around the collar. We were much more excited now!!

We pulled over several times to watch this wall cloud get it's act together. As the
storm moved further north, the winds were almost due east. Tornadoes now were
very likely as the winds were strengthening and gusty. Inflow looked ideal and
the inflow bands were very prominent now. We approached the Hooker Co. line
slightly ahead of the north edge of the wall cloud. Huge hail was intermittently
falling around us, and several hailstones were of the softball sized variety. We
were joined by the DOW entourage once again who were trying to get away from the hail so they could collect some radar data. We pulled over and verified that
the hail was softball sized and looked for even larger hail. The location of the huge
hail was 10 miles south of Mullen(Hooker Co.). The wall cloud started to track
more to the northeast. This was good for the tornado potential but was bad for our
intercept plans. We now had to punch the core and get out ahead of the large
wall cloud which was now obscured by rain and hail. We tracked through Mullen
with the DOW armada and headed east on NE-2 in efforts to get ahead of the
circulation that was approaching the highway. Rotation was strong and there were
several horizontal vorticity "tubes" writhing to the north and northeast of the wall
cloud.

We watched the circulation attempt to become rain-wrapped, but the rain curtains
did not fully block our view. As was the case yesterday in Norton Co. Kansas, we
realized that we had to be patient and stay with the storm. The DOW entourage
packed up and headed east, but we decided to stay and watch the wall cloud
tighten up. Just after the DOW group passed, a distinct funnel started to poke down from the wall cloud. The funnel lasted for about 3 minutes before tilting and
roping out. Rain curtains continued to swirl underneath the wall cloud. We had
only one road option and this was to continue east on NE-2. The wall cloud was
still moving northeast and crossed the road about 1-2 miles behind us. We pulled
over and joined the growing chaser audience along the highway. Although the
contrast was not good, eventually we could see a pronounced funnel to our north
about 2 miles. The funnel quickly touched down and remained nearly stationary
for about 5 minutes. The weak F0 tornado was just to the northwest of the small
town of Seneca in E. Hooker Co. We watched rain curtains gradually work around
the south side of the tornado, and our viewing of this tornado ended. We could
see everybody going now what!! Maps quickly came out of the vehicles as the
chasers (including us) scrambled to see if there were any road options. A small
tower to the east gained our attention. The tower was leaning heavily to the north,
but was also increasing quickly. It was apparent that the storm was in the right
airmass and was in the area of the 6000 j/kg CAPEs that the forecast models were
showing all day long. This storm exploded like no other!!

Eastward bound on NE-2, we plotted an intercept north of Thedford(Thomas Co.)
on U.S.83. A chaser convoy was now underway. The storm was well east of us
and was northwest of Thedford. In a span of 5 minutes, the storm went from a leaning tower of congestus (as opposed to the leaning tower of Pisa) to tornadic
supercell. This was the fastest growth/development we have ever seen. The storm
was growing/exploding so fast, that the storm tower was mushrooming back as
it punched into the stratosphere!! A very impressive sight and one of the more
violent updrafts we have seen!!! At low levels, striation bands o'plenty ringed the
developing tornado. Tornadogenesis did not take long at all. From the west, we
could see the RFD already scalloping out an area on the storm tower. Directly in
this vicinity, the wall cloud was starting to show a broad funnel. Unfortunately, we
were still 10 miles away. All of this action was in the span of 10 minutes. The
chaser convoy cruised through Thedford like a Burlington Northern freight train
and we headed north on U.S.83. The fairly large tornado was now solidly on the
ground in open country about 4-5 miles north of Thedford. The race was on to
catch up with the tornado which seemed to be moving n-ne at a rapid pace. The
width of the tornado remained constant as it paralleled U.S.83 about 3 miles west
of the highway. Everybody was treated to a beautiful view of the Saturn-ringed
wall cloud and the 200 yard wide(estimated)tornado. The sun had already set,
but there was still enough light to view the white tornado.

Darkness eventually set in so we lost the contrast we had earlier. At this time, the
tornado started the classic "Wizard of Oz" rope out stage. the tornado had already been on the ground 30 minutes before the rope stage started. We crossed the
Cherry Co. line and were now even with the tornado. The tornado roped out and stretched as encountered the outflow from the huge core to the north. The tornado
ended in classic fashion. Just as it went to a debris swirl stage, a new tornado
formed 3-4 miles east of the dissipating tornado. We watched the single vortex
tornado go into a multiple vortex structure. We had a dissipating tornado about 1 mile west of U.S.83 and a newly formed multiple vortex tornado about 2 miles east of the highway (to our east-northeast). Talk about a chaser's dream sequence.
Brian shot the new tornado with the DV camera while I continued to shoot footage
of the roping out tornado with the BETA camera. When the tornado went to multiple vortex stage, Brian and I switched cameras. Brian and I have never been in this position ever,and it was an unbelievable experience. The new tornado also
tracked n-ne parallel to the highway. As all good "dream "sequences must come to an end, the rain curtains rotated around the west side of the tornado and our view of the tornado came to an end. Darkness was also signaling the end of the
chase of this tornado. With no viable road options available, we decided that we may as well get ahead of the circulation and try to intercept it further north. The
problems with that was that the next road option east was Valentine- 35 miles
to our north. We would also have to drive through the intense core to get to Valentine.

Cherry Co. for those unfamiliar to Nebraska, is a county roughly the size of some
small states with very little population-except for along U.S. 20. We drove through
very intense rainfall and hail up to golfball sized for seemingly 20 miles. Tornado
warnings continued for E.Cherry Co. as the circulation was 15 miles southwest of
Wood Lake. We FINALLY reached Valentine, and we could see other supercells
to the north in South Dakota. Radio was broadcasting that the town and Indian
Reservation of Pine Ridge SD was hit by a violent tornado. This storm was tracking due east and by now was northwest of Valentine. Radio was indicating that a
large tornado was on the ground in Tripp Co. near the town of Winner. As we made it through town and away from the city lights, the lightning flashed nearly
continuously with the supercell in Tripp Co. SD. Each cloud to ground strike revealed the rain free base of the supercell that was a over 30 miles to the north.
Cloud to ground lightning closer to  the core lighted up something even more
interesting! A wedge tornado was illuminated by the lightning strikes and in cloud
lightning. At this time, radio reports were indicating that the sheriff's office was
reporting a large tornado tracking northeast from the Winner area. This tornado
will probably go down in the longest distance tornado both Brian and I have ever
seen!! Lightning continued to show this large tornado for about 5 miles before the
hills blocked our view. What an incredible day!!!

The circulation near Wood Lake was approaching Brown Co. to our southeast a
good 25 miles. Tornado warnings were extended into Brown Co. and the town of
Johnstown was mentioned in the path. Brian plotted up an intercept point, and
this would be near the town of Springview. Tornadoes were reported all across
E.Cherry Co.-even after we had to leave the tornado in SE Cherry Co.!! We raced
to get ahead of the large core that was working into Keya Paha Co. from Brown Co.
Very large hail was still being reported with the supercell. We were on NE-12
heading east when we were finally able to see the storm structure. The core still
obscured the updraft area, but we could see the vertical prominent storm tower
to our south. With time, we could also see a large arcus cloud really low to the ground to our south. We knew right away that this signaled the end of this storm.
We passed through Springview and stopped along U.S. 183 and decided to watch the arcus approach. Cold outflow quickly hit us and the winds gusted strongly from the west. We could see a some rotation to our north, but the cold outflow was weakening the storm. We called it a night and decided to stay in the
town of Ainsworth. While we checked in, the DOW entourage called in for rooms
at the Comfort Inn-Ainsworth. We were completely blitzed, but did watch the very good severe weather coverage on KELO-Sioux Falls. Ainsworth unfortunately rolls up after 10 pm so dinner was not an option!! We had to ask the nice people  at Comfort Inn for some milk so we could at least have some cereal. She knew
we had just been put through the wringer so she obliged and gave us some milk for cereal. Special thanks to Comfort Inn for that kind gesture!! The severe weather
raged on in South Dakota overnight. This was going to be very promising for an active day tomorrow!!!

Tornadoes......4

Saturday, June 5    NC Nebraska Tornadic Supercell- Again!!!

We slept hard but there were many things to accomplish today-especially now
that it was appearing the severe storm season (at least for a while ) was shutting
down. As is usually the case in June, the chase season often ends abruptly and
usually with an outbreak. It was appearing that today was one of those exciting
outbreak days. The Storm Prediction Center, as expected, outlooked much of
N/C Nebraska and S. South Dakota with a high risk of severe storms and violent/
damaging tornadoes were mentioned in the outlook. Overnight convection left
yet another series of outflow boundaries across Nebraska and South Dakota.The
major charge that was expected to set off today's explosive stack of dynamite was
an unseasonably deep cold 500 mb trough that was to finally move into the High Plains. The dry line was expected to punch northeast across C.Nebraska setting
the stage for violent supercells. Everything looked as though it was going to set
up for a major tornado outbreak-with one exception. The 850 jet was too far to the
east of the main setup area that we thought was going to be very close to our location in Ainsworth (if not a little further north in S.South Dakota). We were in great shape once again today. Now it was the waiting game to see if potential
would give way to actual!!

Since today was looking like a major tornado day, I decided that I needed my 35
mm camera for still pictures. My camera was being repaired and I told Canon to
ship the camera to FedEx in Grand Island. We were about 110 miles from Grand Island so picking the camera up and getting back to the target zone was not a
problem. We ate a quick breakfast and departed for Grand Island across the vast open rangeland of Rock and Loup Counties. Radar was indicating elevated warm
advection storms firing over EC  Nebraska to our south. We could see a boundary
to our south about 20-25 miles. Towering cu bubbled all along the boundary and
we could see several mature storms developing to the north of Grand Island. We
continued on to the south on NE-11 and were not planning to chase this early. The
storms (although elevated) looked fairly well developed for 10 am. We actually
caught up with the strongest of the storms (by luck) near St.Paul Nebraska. The
core was small, but hail approaching dime-quarter sized fell from the storm. We
were quite intrigued by this, and wondered what this storm would do when it gets further east into the low level jet.

The FedEx office/depot is at the Grand Island Airport so we fortunately avoid
the heavy Saturday traffic in town. The camera was repaired and we tested the
camera before blasting back north. Everything was working fine with the camera
so things were looking up. Now it was time to refocus on the day's chase. Much
of C.Nebraska looked to be out of the tornado threat by late morning. An overnight
hot/dry macroburst scoured much of the moisture out of this area, and acted to
cap off the atmosphere. The real threat areas looked to be over WC/NC Nebraska,
SW/SC South Dakota, and NW Iowa. In these areas, the airmass remained very
unstable and undisturbed by the macroburst. Dew points were in the mid 60's to
lower 70's, and several outflow boundaries pooled deep moisture in the vicinity
of N.Nebraska and S.South Dakota. The surface low continued to deepen over
WC Nebraska, and the upper trough was definitely on the move. Cheyenne WY
was in the unseasonably cold lower 40's and snow showers were reported in the
Laramie range west of Cheyenne. A very cold trough was set to slam into the
very unstable air by late afternoon/evening so it was time to figure out our target
area. A high risk of severe storms and tornadoes continued to be outlooked for much of Nebraska, S. South Dakota, and NW Iowa by the Storm Prediction Center.

We reviewed the weather data and were quite impressed with the large areas of
easterly surface winds over extreme N.Nebraska and S.South Dakota. An outflow
boundary remained very near the Nebraska/South Dakota border, and this area
was our area of focus. By early afternoon, we noticed some disturbing weather
data that was not too thrilling. The low level jet was located over W.Iowa and the
strongest mid-upper level jet core was located over W.Nebraska. Usually but not
always, most major tornado outbreaks occur when the two features are phased
together or overlap. Today, the two main violent tornado threat areas were over
NW Iowa where the low level jet and mid level jet were in balance, and S.South
Dakota where the east winds would create a very deep layer of shear. We were
more or less caught in the middle. We were in O'Neill Nebraska having lunch and
looking over the radar sites around 2pm. Supercells with great rotation were over
extreme NE Nebraska and NW Iowa, and these were rocketing to the n-ne. A few
severe storms were also developing quite rapidly over W.Nebraska in the area
of strong convergence around the surface low. The scoured out airmass over
C Nebraska appeared to be moving into O'Neill from the south, and the moisture
was pushed off to the east and north of O'Neill. We figured our target area out and
headed north towards the Lake Francis Case area in South Dakota. We ruled out
heading west since we knew the storms would be rocketing, and did not want to
have to play catch-up.

Tornado watches were quickly posted for much of the N.Plains by mid-afternoon.
Particularly dangerous situation tornado watch areas covered much of Southern
South Dakota, W/N Nebraska, NW Iowa, and SW Minnesota. We were in the dead center of one such watch area. We were fairly optimistic that eventually we would
be in the middle of something nasty, now it was time to play the waiting game!!
Tornadoes were being reported in NW Iowa and this made sense because these were the first storms to become established, and were in the best area for tornado
potential during the afternoon hours. Further west, the Nebraska Panhandle and
SW South Dakota were also erupting with several supercells. New storms were
developing in the WC Nebraska area and intensifying near North Platte. Satellite
imagery was indicating that the area around Valentine looked to be primed for the
next severe storm eruption. Several boundaries appeared to collide just to the
west of Valentine, and it looked like the moisture was wrapping back to the west
between Valentine and Rapid City. An interesting situation was developing in that
area. Deep moisture pulling westbound underneath the left front quadrant of a strong mid-level jet max- almost a sure bet for tornadoes of the larger kind.

By late afternoon, we had made it to the South Dakota border and we decided to
hold near the town of Burke in Gregory Co.. A new storm erupted back to the west
of O'Neill or 35 miles to our southeast. The storm organized quickly but also had
a leaning appearance as though the upper level winds were too strong. The cap
also looked as though it was restraining the storm as well. We watched the storm
become a full fledged supercell for about 30 minutes to our south. The storm was
racing almost due north and eventually the storm was sheared apart. The updraft
was too separated from the core to allow for further development. In a span of 15
minutes, the storm went from a fairly substantial supercell(with golfball hail) to a
sheared out blob of cirrus and weak towers. Not the right combination of severe
weather factors in this area-that's for sure. This concerned us greatly because the
airmass where the storm popped was advecting northward towards us. East to
northeast winds continued to become more and more gusty at our location so the
shear was certainly still favorable. The million dollar question was....would storms
fire here or would they develop southwest and move into the high shear?

We remained still very attentive to any cumulus development in our area, but we
started to grow increasingly concerned with the cluster of supercells racing to the
northeast from the North Platte area. This particular cluster was apparently the
result of an approaching vortmax and the cold pool aloft swinging into WC and
NW Nebraska. Very large hail and tremendous hooks on radar were showing up
nicely on the North Platte NEXRAD. Also, there was a developing arc of tornadic
supercells lining up ne-sw from northwest of Valentine NE back towards Chadron
NE. This arc was the hot zone for numerous tornadoes(some of which were large)
by early evening. An interesting but scary note: in the Pine Ridge SD area that
was devastated by a strong/violent tornado on Friday, the very same areas again were hit by a strong tornado today....this tornado picked up debris from Friday's major tornado and created a dangerous mixmaster of flying debris. We were
beginning to think that we would need to drop south into Nebraska to catch the
supercells between Mullen and North Platte. Hindsight wise, we probably should have committed to the tornadic supercells in Bennett and Shannon Counties SD
to our west about 100 miles.

The cap held strongly over SC South Dakota into the early evening, and now we
were faced with a critical decision. Do we hold our ground near Gregory or do we
blast south and catch the supercells moving up from the southwest? Sunset time
was going to make our decision for us. We had 2 hours before sunset so time was
not on our side to wait any longer. I was overly concerned that the cap would give way and the boundary would explode. Brian was eager to get south because he thought that we needed to be closer to the cold pool for the cap to break, or at the
very least intercept the ongoing supercells. Timing means everything in storm chasing, especially this year!! We decided to take off to the south and plotted a
possible intercept point for the strongest cell near Ainsworth. Kind of ironic, eh!!
(We stayed the night in Ainsworth the night before and 18 hours later, we would
be back to the day's starting point!!) We raced southward from the Gregory SD
area and we were in Springview in no time at all. The meanest of the cluster of
supercells was developing over S.Brown Co. Nebraska, or 25 miles s-sw of the
city of Ainsworth. Tornado potential with this storm appeared to be the greatest
of the cluster of supercells too. The storm would have an unimpeded inflow from
the east, and being the furthest east supercell, it would have a deep fetch of very
unstable air. Once again we were in fat city!! The question was how fat??

Our southward path was now slowing as we approached Ainsworth on U.S. 183.
The supercell was developing circulation on the southeast flank about 15 miles to
our southwest. Huge hail was being indicated on storm attributes off the North
Platte NEXRAD. We could see the growing vertical storm tower to our distant s-sw.
More impressive was the growth and thickening of the sharp anvil. The storm
tower was in the right place for continued intensification and tornado potential-
the southeast flank with strong east surface inflow. Our major concern was the
large hail core and the cold downdraft it would induce, especially with increasing
cooling aloft. We pulled over at the intersection of U.S. 183 and U.S. 20 with a
great view to the south. The storm cycled constantly on radar, but one trend was
becoming more evident- rotation was definitely on the increase. The storm and
updraft region were coming directly for us. We held our position and monitored
radar closely. Strong circulation was showing up on radar about 15 miles due south of Ainsworth over open country. We were convinced that a tornado was
imminent there but road options would not be favorable to intercept without going
right into the monster hail. With this in mind, we held our position about 4 miles
east of Ainsworth. We could not believe that there still was not a tornado warning
issued. Radar was showing a classic hook and a very mean hail core. If there
was ever going to be a supercell warning, this would be the one!!!

The storm cycled once again as the storm approached Ainsworth. The supercell's
first circulation started to occlude, and a new stronger circulation developed to
it's northeast or 5 miles to our south. We knew that large and possibly huge hail
was ready to pound us, so we moved a little east on U.S. 20. The circulation was
tracking right for us. We pulled over at a grain storage facility just northwest of the
small town of Long Pine. We had a feeling that we were in prime position to get
nailed by large hail, but then again we would also be in great shape to view the
now developing wall cloud. In a matter of minutes, long "cigar" clouds raced n-s
to our west and the whole circulation tightened incredibly to our south about 2-3
miles. Loud banging was heard and we knew right away what that was. Tennis
ball to baseball sized hail was now intermittently falling around us. The bang was
the hail bouncing of the tin on the grain facility. The hail increased and then abruptly ended. Things were now getting more interesting. The east winds switched abruptly to the northeast and became unusually gusty. In the sense of gusty, I mean 40 mph and then calm, and then back to 40 mph. The airmasses mixing overhead at our location was unbelievable. Brian once again noted writhing horizontal vorticity tubes overhead just like yesterday before the tornado set down. We were now underneath the north edge of the wall cloud!!

Very quickly, rain curtains appeared and started to rotate underneath the wall
cloud. We were able to see through the curtains though. In a span of 2 minutes,
a funnel cloud formed dead center in the wall cloud. This funnel was working
down towards the ground about a mile to our south. The vortex tightened up and
a tornado appeared on the ground about 1 mile s-se of our location(very near the
town of Long Pine). The tornado started out small-about 70 yards wide. As the
circulation above us tightened up further, the tornado widened to about 100 to
150 yards wide. A fairly substantial dirt debris cloud was lifted as the tornado
tracked to the e-ne at 30 mph. As the tornado tracked more to our southeast, the
coldest air I have ever been in and seen a tornado was on top of us. The drop
in temperature was a good 15-20 degrees and temperatures fell into the lower
60's. The tornado continued, however, thanks to the strong easterly inflow. We
followed the tornado as it tracked to the east and paralleled U.S. 20. We were
within a 1/2-1 mile distance from the tornado for it's lifespan of about 10 minutes.
The tornado roped out but refused to completely die. The funnel was directly
above our heads, but the dust whirl continued on the ground about 1/2 mile to
our south. We were hoping the tornado would cross the road in front of us and
get into a more open area. Unfortunately, the tornado stayed immediately south
of the road and eventually wound down. In classic style, a new circulation soon
appeared as the other weakened. This circulation was about 3-5 miles to the n-ne of the dissipating tornado.

From our vantage point to the south of the rapidly developing tornado, the storm
rotation appeared much stronger than before. The tornado that was going to form underneath this circulation was definitely going to be stronger and larger. We
headed east on U.S. 20 and you would have thought the Pope was coming!!!
Nearly 200 chasers and local residents lined the highway watching the new
tornado develop. We wanted to get away from this newly formed city of chasers,
especially when the tornado was lifting n-ne at a good clip. One thing for certain,
we did not want to be playing catch up behind a chaser caravan! The DOW unit
and several other chasers continued east to Newport. Brian was driving so I was
able to shoot video as we raced east. The tornado became quite strong and much
wider than the previous tornado as it passed well northwest of Bassett. Our plans
were to reach Newport and then head north to get ahead of the tornado moving
n-ne at 40 mph. We figured that once the tornado moved north into the boundary,
the possibility of a large tornado would increase. The tornado had decreased
in size and intensity, but was still on the ground about 6-8 miles to our west. One
thing that really stuck out was the cold/ wet downdraft that was working into the
circulation. This did bode well for further tornado potential.

We charged on staying even with the circulation racing off to the north. The storm
structure was beautiful even though the storm was gradually weakening. A large
inflow band poked into the striated rotating updraft. The barrel shaped updraft
was striated almost to anvil level. Incredible anvil zips and cloud to ground lightning was seen to our north at the leading edge of the monstrous updraft. The
rear flank downdraft had become saturated from a rain/hail core to the southwest
so the tornado potential was decreasing quickly. One would not have thought so
by looking at radar and the storm from a distance. Inflow was not a problem, but
cold/wet outflow was!! We watched the storm closely from NE-137, but the storm
could not re-organize like it had earlier. We reached NE-12 near Brocksburg and
the hailcore was moving in quickly. We did not want to lose a windshield so we
headed east on NE-12. More or less, this storm had become just a giant hailstorm
with weak-moderate circulation. We pulled over a safe distance from the large advancing core. Several local residents pulled up and asked us if we thought
it was safe to continue west. A big negative on that one!!! Most were curious how
we knew so much about where the huge hail was. Storm structure pretty well told
the story!!! We gave them weather briefings and most turned back around. One
guy offered us lodging in his storm cellar if things go too hairy! Nice gesture but
we knew the tornado threat was diminishing.

Originally we thought that once the tornado got closer to the boundary, the storm
might shift more to an easterly track. We figured the easterly track would cause
the storm to produce large tornadoes-especially with the 30 mph east winds we
experienced earlier in Gregory Co. SD. Later, as we watched the storm gradually wind down, we knew right away what the main problems were. Way too much
cold air aloft(cold wet outflow) and not enough of an easterly track(lower storm
relative helicities) reduced the tornado potential. If the storms had turned more easterly, we were convinced that there would have been several long tracked/
violent tornadoes. A more westerly and dry RFD would have only enhanced the
severity of the tornadoes as well. One other factor that may have played a part in
the storms becoming more outflow dominant was the position of the 850 jet. The
850 jet was moderate in Nebraska 30-40 mph, but the overall balance was not
there. We learn more and more each time we chase, and today was a big day for
learning new storm/tornado forecasting challenges. We called it a day a little after
sunset. We planned to stay over closer to Sioux City just in case Sunday was going to be interesting in Iowa. We met a large group of chasers from all parts of
the U.S. at a convenience store in Spencer NE. Lots of stories and a lot of tired
chasers here!! Since we were pretty wiped out, we decided to stay at the Super8
in O'Neill. Tomorrow did not look like anything special so this was a good choice!
We called a day after doing several loops of travel. Looks like things will finally
shut down at least for a while......

Tornadoes......2

May 30 - June 5 Storm Chasing Totals

Total Tornadoes....12

Kansas....6
Nebraska....6

Miles Driven....in excess of 10,000 miles