My Storm Chase Experience

Originally posted on ZoomRadar

Have you ever watched one of those storm chasing shows or just watched a video of someone chasing after a tornado and thought to yourself, that looks like something I want to do? Well, so did I, and over the past couple weeks I finally fulfilled that dream. For those of you who feel the same way or were just always curious about what a storm chasing experience may be like, this blog post is for you. I will detail what you can expect out of a typical two week storm chase, though it is of note that experiences with storms vary drastically because not only do synoptic conditions normally need to be conducive for the storms to form, but you also have to be in that right place at the right time. The typical United States tornado is estimated to be on the ground for only five minutes so timing is critical, as you will see.

DAY 1

The storm chase I went on began in Starkville, MS, the home of Mississippi State University, where I currently attend graduate school. The chase I went on was part of a summer course through the university so it also involved helping in the prediction process of trying to choose the area each day that storms would erupt over. My trip departed on May 9th en route to Houston, TX where we would spend our first night in hopes of seeing storms the next day in southern Texas.

DAY 2

The next morning we awoke and got on the road early to head to an area just south of San Antonio, TX where we thought storms would have the best chance of turning severe and potentially dropping tornadoes. As we entered the San Antonio area shortly before noon, a tornado watch was issued for all of southern Texas south of the San Antonio area and tornado warnings began popping up instantly. We then began heading south out of San Antonio after our first target, which was a storm heading towards Three Rivers, TX. Just to show you how much luck is involved in timing sometimes, I will go into a bit of detail here. As we approached this storm we decided it would be to our advantage to stop for a quick bathroom break as once we got on this storm, there was a train of tornado warned storms approaching and it was likely we would not stop chasing for some time. Unfortunately, the only restroom nearby was closed for repairs and so we were forced to press onward towards our storm and delay the bathroom break until later. Not wasting that extra couple minutes at the bathrooms ended up working out for us. We exited the highway and pulled off to the side of the road just in time to watch our storm begin to rapidly form multiple funnel clouds that would appear and rotate for a few moments before deteriorating. Finally after a few minutes, one of these funnels kept growing closer and closer to the ground until a ground circulation could be seen throwing up tree branches and dirt. It was our first tornado of the trip and for many of us, the first tornado we had ever witnessed!

Small tornado briefly touching down near Three Rivers, TX.

The tornado lasted only briefly and due to its short path and very little damage in a sparsely populated area, this tornado was never confirmed by the National Weather Service. Once this tornado was overtaken by the rear flank downdraft, we watched the storm from this location for a few more minutes before repositioning back in front of the storm so we could have another chance at witnessing a tornado from this cell. At this new spot we waited around watching the storm for ten minutes before deciding to call it and move to the next storm which would move just a few miles to the south of this storm. However, just as we were about to drive off we noticed very faintly in the distance what appeared to be a tornado on the ground. We all exited the van and began snapping photos. Yet again this was a very brief tornado that once again was never confirmed by the National Weather Service but it was still our second tornado of the trip on just our first day of chasing.

A second small tornado briefly touching down near Three Rivers, TX.

We watched this supercell go by us and we moved our concentration to the next supercell approaching us after this. This storm was tornado warned just like our first storm but we witnessed no tornado from this cell despite a very nice rotating wall cloud that we observed at one point. We let this storm pass us and prepared for our third supercell of the day which yet again was only a few more miles to our south.

A rotating wall cloud near Three Rivers, TX.

However, as this cell approached it began to form into a line of storms as it combined itself with another nearby supercell. Having seen a couple tornadoes that day we decided to let this storm hit us so we could all experience some potential severe wind and hail. The image below shows the storm as it approached with a beautiful shelf cloud on its leading edge. The storm struck us moments after this photo producing wind gusts to around 50 mph and only some pea size hail, falling just below severe criteria at our location.

A beautiful shelf cloud on an approaching storm near Beeville, TX.

After this storm it was time to call our first chase day over and head to our hotel for the night in Victoria, TX. On our way to the hotel we passed through Beeville, TX, which was just a couple miles from where we witnessed our last storm. The town was experiencing some flooding issues from the rain and hail which had just went through. Below is an image showing the streets turned to streams that we witnessed. Luckily, none of the water was so deep that it caused road closures but it sure was fun watching people drive through it.

Flash flooding in Beeville, TX.

Once at our hotel and settled in for the night it was clear mother nature wanted to give us one more show before we went to sleep. Many of us headed to the hotel lobby where we watched a storm packing some very blustery winds and more pea and dime size hail come through. This time enough hail fell to put a light coating across the ground. Our first day of chasing was over and it ended up being more than any of us could have hoped for. Now we just had to hope that the rest of the trip would stay just as exciting as this first day was.

Pea to dime size hail that fell in Victoria, TX.

Below are the storm reports for our first day of chasing with the 12Z Day 1 Outlook from the SPC. If you see the area where the most storm reports came in for the day that is exactly where we chased. We could not have picked a better spot for the day!

DAY 3

After such a successful first day of chasing we were brought back to the reality of storm chasing the next day. We woke up hopeful that storms would fire to the north and east of our current location so we traveled in that direction and did what many storm chasers do to pass time while they wait for storms to fire up, play around at a park. Unfortunately, the atmosphere was just not unstable enough on this day to produce any good storms and so we called it a day around dinnertime and began to head northwest to our hotel destination for the night in Brady, TX. On the way we did get to drive through a small supercell which blew up over the San Antonio area. When we got on the north side of the city we exited our van to take pictures, which turned out to be a great learning moment for many of us. The storm was so nice and crisp it was easy to see new updrafts forming and old updrafts being blown towards the east. It could not have been a better textbook example of how a supercell works. After this we continued to Brady, TX, or as we will know it from now on, the city of the beetles. One of the many things you will learn during storm chasing is that half of the experience is visiting these places you have never been. Some places you may never want to visit again and others are hidden gems on the Great Plains that you will be sure to visit if you ever happen to be in that area again.

Day 4

From Brady, TX we progressed to the home of the UFO conspiracy theories, Roswell, NM. On the way we got to drive through some of America’s largest wind farms and witness the transition to the desert southwest. Once in Roswell it was obvious the town was infatuated with their UFOs and aliens. Everything from the McDonald’s playhouse to the street lights were extraterrestrial themed. This day yet again provided us with little opportunity to see storms but we did drive just to the west of Roswell to watch a dying supercell as the sun began to set.

DAY 5

Part of the fun of storm chasing as I mentioned is visiting nearby sites which you may never have the chance to visit otherwise. Knowing that storms would not fire up until the afternoon, we took advantage of our morning hours and headed to Carlsbad Caverns. The caverns were absolutely amazing and I recommend the visit to anyone who happens to be passing through the area.

Carlsbad Caverns

After exiting the caverns we grabbed a quick lunch and began to head north back towards Roswell to intercept a line of storms which was forming off the mountains to the west. We stopped multiple times along the storms path to take photos of the structure of the storm as shown below.

Nice shelf cloud with hail falling beneath it north of Artesia, NM.

As the sun got closer to setting we decided to let this storm hit us just north of Artesia, NM. The storm was severe thunderstorm warned and this time the warning was justified. As we sat watching the storm get closer and closer, hail began to fall out of the sky reaching the size of nickles to quarters before becoming a wind driven pea size hail. A nearby airport would confirm that winds hit 62 mph just two miles to our south and when the storm was done the ground was covered in hail making it look like wintertime in New Mexico.

Hail covering the ground near Artesia, NM.

Hail covering the ground near Artesia, NM.

DAY 6

The next morning we left Roswell, NM to head toward Alpine, TX. Unfortunately a late morning MCS would wipe out most of the instability from this area fulfilling our concerns at our morning briefing. Nonetheless, we did intercept one storm which was severe thunderstorm warned but only got to witness some small pea size hail. The day was an overall bust, but it was at least something as the next few days proved to hold little excitement as far as the weather would go.

Approaching line of storms just north of Alpine, TX.

DAY 7

We left Alpine, TX to head north toward an almost guaranteed storm chase spot every year, Amarillo, TX. Despite having no storms to look forward to for the day we made the most of it. Many of us got to witness our first glimpses of dust devils which formed over many of the plant free fields that afternoon thanks to some intense solar heating of the ground. Once in Amarillo we began our feast of what may have been some of the best food I have ever had in my life. I highly recommend asking locals where the best places to eat in this city are and then going out and giving them a shot because the food was tremendous.

A small dust devil near Lynn, TX.

DAY 8

We stayed in Amarillo the next day taking advantage of their great food one more time and even enjoying watching some people try to take on a 72 ounce steak challenge. If you have ever been in or around Amarillo you know what I am referring to. No storms were expected to erupt in our area again today so we decided to visit a couple places of interest nearby. The first was the Palo Duro Canyon, the second largest canyon in the United States. It was pretty amazing to watch the flat terrain of the Plains open up to this giant canyon in the ground and you can even drive down into it. The second place of interest we stopped is famously known as Cadillac Ranch and as some of you may have known or guessed, it is in fact old Cadillacs artistically placed in a row in the middle of a field. If you can appreciate sights like this, storm chasing will surely never be boring for you.

Great view of Palo Duro Canyon.

Cadillac Ranch!

DAY 9

The next day we began to head north as the main focus for our chances of storms over the next three days would be across the Kansas area. We made a quick stop in Liberal, KS to visit the Land of Oz. This is the town that is supposedly where Dorothy lived from the Wizard of Oz and there is even exhibits set up with a tour guide who will lead you around and reenact parts of the movie. You can even go inside a full size model of Dorothy’s home as we did in the image below.

Dorothy's bedroom from the Wizard of Oz in her model house located at the Land of Oz in Liberal, KS.

On our way to our hotel in Garden City, KS, a small line of storms began firing up to our west and so we decided to check it out. Despite not being severe thunderstorm warned, these storms brought plenty of excitement. The atmosphere at the surface and near the surface was very dry resulting in virga or rainfall that is visibly evaporating before it hits the ground. This was causing cold pools of air to form in the atmosphere and fall to the ground, creating downbursts of wind. This is where the main excitement came from. As these downbursts hit the ground they were kicking up all sorts of dirt as they produced 40 to 50 mph winds. The most exciting part though, was sometimes as this air hit the ground it would create some rotation as it interacted with the surface winds and lead to short lived gustnadoes. This was certainly more than we expected to see when we starting venturing out to see this small line of storms and brought us hope for what we may see in the next two days across Kansas.

Rain evaporating before it hits the ground (Virga).

Dust being kicked up from downburst winds.

More dust being kicked up from downburst winds and two gustnadoes on the leading edge (left side) of the downburst.

Day 10

The next day we stayed around Garden City in hopes that the cap would break and we could see a few afternoon thunderstorms. The atmosphere would hold strong though and no storms would erupt on our second to last day of chasing. Fortunately while waiting in a park in Garden City we discovered the Lee Richardson Zoo. This zoo is a must if you happen to be in the area storm chasing and are waiting for storms to get going. Not only does the zoo feature animals from monkeys and giraffes to lions and elephants, but it is absolutely free to pedestrians. It was an excellent find for an afternoon with no storm activity. Once we realized the storms were not going to fire we headed to Pratt, KS to position ourselves for our last day of chasing.

Day 11

Our last day of chasing had arrived and we were all hoping to end it the way we started, with some tornadoes. Despite the SPC issuing the highest risk for tornadoes to our north across northern parts of Kansas and southern Nebraska, we decided to stick with our forecast for the best chance of seeing tornadoes across the southern portions of Kansas. We sat and waited in a park in Hutchinson, KS until a little after 3 pm when a Severe Thunderstorm Watch was issued for our area. Storms began to fire to our west around this time and we got on the road heading toward these newly severe thunderstorm warned storms. We stopped a few times to watch the storms and take pictures from a distance. The mammatus clouds were some of the best we had ever seen so we knew these storms were most likely going to mean business.

Great mammatus clouds just west of Hutchinson, KS.

Viewing the storms, we saw they were most likely going to develop into a line following the dry line towards the southwest. Therefore, we got into position to let part of the storm hit us to see what it was made of. Fellow storm chasers went screaming by us coming from inside the storm yelling “tennis balls”, referring to the size of the hail just ahead, and a few seconds after ping pong size hail began to fall at our location near Arlington, KS. Additionally, just as we were getting back into the van to avoid getting hit by this hail, we saw a large gustnado just as it began to die out towards our southwest. We decided to get out of there and traveled further to the south and east and decided to let the storm have another crack at us here. This time we let the storm hit us fully and hit us it did. The hail got a little larger than ping pong ball size and a few approached the half dollar mark at its maximum and lasted for about five minutes.

Large gustnado near Arlington, KS.

Nearly half dollar size hail which fell near Arlington, KS.

Once the storm passed us we started seeing reports of small tornadoes appearing on our radar just minutes to our south. We knew we had to act fast so we got back on the road and traveled south and east quickly as tornado warnings began to be issued. As we approached the storm again we hoped we were not too late to see what may be the only tornado of the day in this area. Little did we know at that time but this would certainly not be the case. Approaching the storm we immediately saw a small tornado on the ground near Rago, KS and once we got in a good viewing area we pulled to the side of the road along with about twenty other storm chasers to take photos. We stayed with this tornado until it began to rope out about five minutes after we arrived. This tornado would go on to be confirmed as an EF0 causing only minor damage to trees and power lines.

EF0 tornado near Rago, KS.

EF0 tornado beginning to rope out near Rago, KS.

We continued moving to the south toward a new area of strong rotation and after only about five minutes of driving we saw the largest tornado of our trip. The twister looked huge compared to our tiny EF0s and would go on to confirm as an EF3 thanks to damage it did to a wind farm and wind measurements from these wind turbines, which I talked about in one of my previous posts. We watched this tornado from a couple different spots over about a 15 minute period. It was certainly the highlight of the trip.

EF3 tornado near Rago, KS.

EF3 tornado near Rago, KS with windmills seen on the ridge.

EF3 tornado near Rago, KS as it began to die down.

After this tornado began to weaken we decided to leave it in hopes of catching the next tornado towards the south near Harper, KS. This would be the last tornado of the day in this area but unfortunately, it did not hold together long enough for us to see it. We stopped along the side of the road just to the east of Harper only to find a strongly rotating storm that was no longer producing a tornado. However, the storm was furious at this point with multiple cloud to ground lightning strikes. As we stood outside the van taking photos of the storm, a lightning strike hit just about a half mile behind us and the resulting thunder rattled the ground sending us running back into the van for fear that the next strike may be closer yet. Upon piling back in the van we immediately smelled smoke and as we drove away towards the southeast, we found that the lightning strike which had scared us back into our van had actually lit a wheat field on fire.

One of the many cloud to ground lightning strikes as the storm approached.

Wheat field ablaze after being struck by lightning.

We stopped yet again to take pictures of the storm as we left it and then headed off to Perry, OK to spend our last night on the road. But, we were tempted one last time by the remarkable sights of mother nature and stopped to take photos of our distant storms as the sunset underneath them. A beautiful sight to end a wonderful trip!

View of the sunset underneath a line of storms located in Kansas from just beyond the Oklahoma state line.

Below is the Day 1 Outlook from the SPC for the day, with storm reports overlaid on the image. As you can see, the area with the greatest concentration of reports in southern Kansas was exactly where we were, confirming yet another of our forecasts for the trip.

Day 12

Due to the lack of storms scheduled for the next couple days we decided to call our trip over and head back to Starkville, MS. To sum it all up though, storm chasing can go from incredibly exciting to downright boring if you do not learn to appreciate the little things of storm chasing. You have to learn to enjoy the experiences you get by traveling to each new little town and find ways to enjoy the downtime when storms are not firing up. Television shows tend to only show you the exciting portions of storm chasing and while this is undoubtedly what people want to see, most of the time it is not what you will be seeing on your storm chase. However, if my two week adventure sounded like a blast to you, not only because of the storms, but because of all the other cool sights and experiences, well a storm chasing experience may be something you want to look into for yourself.  Though I must say, if you are not trained in storm chasing, please never try to do this by yourself as it can be very dangerous. It is also important to remember that every storm chase is different. Some storm chases may see many tornadoes or even strong, violent tornadoes while others may have a hard time even seeing a storm. Overall though, I highly recommend the experience and hope this post will help you with your decision to chase or not to chase sometime in the future.