CHASE LOG TRIP INFORMATION Log Type: Chase Log Location: Northeast Colorado Departed From: Littleton, CO Finished In: Littleton, CO Trip Miles: 575 States: CO, NE

SPC Day 1 Outlook

SPC Tornado Probability

SPC Hail Probability

SPC Wind Probability

Following up on last month’s very successful Nebraska chase, I ventured out of Denver early in the morning to position myself in the MODERATE RISK area of southwestern Nebraska.  As the day got off to a slow start, I found myself spending a lot of time in Ogallalla before heading back into Colorado to intercept a developing squalline.  When I arrived, I was treated to the most beautiful storm clouds I had ever seen.  As the storm pushed eastward, it kicked along a wall of dust that creatednear zero visability.  Repositioning myself just off Hwy 385, I watched as a very weak gustnado spun up directly across the highway from me.  Debris began to fly overhead as winds were clocked by my roof-mounted weather station over 60mph.

This trip began early Monday morning, leaving Denver and shooting up I-76 into Southwestern Nebraska where a MODERATE RISH had been outlined.  It took a good bit of the day before storms began to fire.  The first storms fired way off to my west in North Central Colorado and Central Wyoming.  My impatience got the best of me, so after killing off several long hot hours in Ogallalla, Nebraska, I jumped back on the Interstate to intercept a tornado warned storm in Northeastern Colorado.

When I crossed over the CO/NE border, I began to see the mammatus clouds from the incoming storm.  A weak tornado, brief tornado had been spotted just north of the border in Nebraska.  That storm had drifted south into Northeast Colorado where I was positioning myself.  I jumped off 76 and onto Hwy. 385 where I drove about 3 miles before pulling aside to shoot video of the incoming storm.  Leading in the storm was a beautifully photogenic shelf cloud.

After gawking for nearly 10 minutes as the storm (now going linear) began to roll in.  At the base of the shelf cloud, you could see the massive amount of dust being kicked up.  In time laspe, it’s incredible to watch this storm as it pushed hard from the west.

My curiosity moved me another mile south as the leading edge of the storm began to roll in.  Winds quickly began gusting over 40mph as I fought the flying tumbleweed and dust for position on the highway.  I eventually pulled onto a dirt road and allowed the storm to pass over head.

In the next few minutes, I would sit through the most incredible chasing event up to this point.  A weak gustnado tornado spun up directly across the highway within the blowing dust.  By this time, I had positioned myself between my driver side door and the body of my car, holding my Sony DV-Camera tightly in hand as I was getting sandblasted by winds that were gusting over 60mph.  At one point, my roof-mounted anemometer clocked a wind gust at 64mph.

After the gustnado episode, I continued to enjoy the shower of dirt as the storm continued on!  At times, it looked as if the storm was dying out, then another 60 plus wind gust would prelude several more minutes of strong winds.  In the middle of one of the windier points, several pieces of debris rocketed by overhead.  In the above video stills, you can barely make out the black blobs.  Both were pieces of wood that careened by in the 60mph winds.  One piece bounced off m car which gave me heads-up to the debris.  In the video, you can barely hear the sound of one of the debris pieces smashing into the passenger side of my car, putting a small dent and scratch just below the backseat window.  A couple minutes after it started, a large box-like object (seen in the left still) slammed into the car and rolled across the street before disappearing into the dust.

The storm weakened and finally moved on into Kansas and Nebraska causing all sorts of wind damage.  I headed home, taking Hwy 385 south into Wray, then jumping on Hwy 34 West to 76 where I returned home.

CHASE LOG TRIP INFORMATION Log Type: Chase Log Location: Central Nebraska Departed From: Littleton, CO Finished In: Littleton, CO Trip Miles: 852 States: CO, NE

SPC Day 1 Outlook

SPC Tornado Probability

SPC Hail Probability

SPC Wind Probability

Another first in terms of chase partner.  My good friend Mary tagged along for this spur-of-the-moment chase trip.  She happened to be visiting from out of town and came along with me so she could see me at least once while she was out.  This chase turned out to be a great one due to the pair of tornadoes we spotted within 10 minutes of each other in Custer County.  Neither tornado lasted more than a couple mintues each, but the first one kicked up enough dirt to give it a wedge-shape to it.  That tornado quickly disappated and later gave way to the second, more photogenic tornado.

All I can say about this day is I wish I had more time!  Had time not been an issue, I would’ve been in South Dakota instead.  However, next day engadgments kept me on a leash.  Although I missed the main show, I was treated in Central Nebraska.  After leaving around 6 in the morning, we spent a lot of the hot afternoon bouncing around the areas surrounding Broken Bow, Nebraska.  Once development finally kicked off, we were pretty quick to get into things.

The first tornado of the day was spotted and officially reported by myself southwest of Arnold, Nebraska off Rt.47.  In the video, you can see a massive cloud hanging from the wall cloud of the storm.  Although I can’t confirm this to be a wedge tornado, it certianly takes on the apparenence as the massive dust swirls beneath the cloud.  That tornado fizzled after a few minutes, but it definately got my chase partner, Mary and myself very excited.  The first two images show the look from a zoomed shot with my digital video camera.  The second shots are from afar from Mary’s work with the analog vid.

The second tornado was a more photogenic and easier to spot tornado that touched down several mintues after the first one lifted.  This stayed on the ground for just a couple of minutes before disappating into the very obvious low hanging clouds.

Those 10 minutes would be the last of the tornadoes for this trip, however the fun had only just begun.  After the tornatic storm pushed northeast, we picked up the second storm training behind it.  We then met up with a pair of local spotters and they forwarded my report to the NWS Office.  For the next 30 minutes or so, we stayed camped out west of a slowly developing and slow moving storm just south of the Rt.47/Rt.40 junction south of Arnold.  Nothing too exciting was going on (yet), but we were watching a very beautiful storm unfold before our eyes.

The beauty began to turn when several lowerings began to pretrude from the storm’s base.  Rotation was very apparent as the storm began to look a bit more organized at the lower levels.  I had left the digital camera to tape looking west when a wall cloud developed just to our north.  I made a quick dash back to the camera to film the wall cloud before it laughed at me and ducked away back into the clouds.  As the storm continued it’s northeastward march, it continued to pose for the cameras and us.  Although teasing, it never did drop tornadoes in our view.

After parting ways with the local spotters, we headed east on Rt.40 to near Callaway where we encountered another storm in the train of storms rolling through this area.  Tornado warning after tornado warning were in the midst of the multiple severe thunderstorm warnings going up for the area.  Storms seemingly all over the place made it hard to keep everything straight.  The third storm was going to push north of Callaway and north of us.  With the prediction that it would follow the path of its parents, we elected to hang around south of Callaway.  The image below was captured from the digital video camera.  Next to it it the zoomed out shot of the clouds behind the storm.  I like it cause it looked like a massive tornado is bearing down on the pickups.  No tornadoes with this storm, either!

As the storm pushed northeastward, it seemed to grow our direction.  Clouds above us were starting to grow turbulent and rotation was starting to develop in the clouds about a half a mile to our north.  I paid close attention to the skies and was ready to bolt at a moment’s notice.  Fortunately we were in no imminent danger and everything passed with no big events.  I seem to be developing a thing for time-laspe as I did a few minutes of steady shots as the turbulent clouds rolled overhead.  Gusty winds and the occasional hailstone was about it in terms of precipitation.

This storm became a nice daytime lightning show as it kicked off to the northeast.  We sat around for some time listening to the scanners in hopes of further development, but all hopes seemed to fade as most storms behind these were starting to mass into a rather ugly sqall line.  We shot some video before making getting nailed by round 1 of 2.  The first line kicked through around dusk with high winds over 50mph and some small hail.  When that line crashed through, we made a run for the interstate, catching a weakening round 2 in Lexington.

CHASE LOG TRIP INFORMATION Log Type: Chase Log Location: Texas Panhandle Departed From: Littleton, CO Finished In: Littleton, CO Trip Miles: 968 States: CO, NM, TX, OK

SPC Day 1 Outlook

SPC Tornado Probability

SPC Hail Probability

SPC Wind Probability

October of 2000 saw the last time I had seen a tornado… over two years later, my drought came to an end!  After trucking south on Hwy 287 into the Texas/Oklahoma Panhandle on what became my first HIGH RISK chase ever, I intercepted a storm near Startford, Texas that would drop a brief tornado behind some trees!  This was my first ever tornado captured on video!  At about the same time, a wedge tornado was on the ground behind a rain curtain near my location.  That same storm dropped a rainwrapped tornado just after dark south of Guymon, Oklahoma.  The weak power flash illuminated the second tornado of the day. Overhead wall clouds and other incredible moments highlighted my best chase to date!

Timeline of Chase:

11:30p Wed – Left Work, Headed Home

12:15a Thu – Went to Bed

4:30a Thu – Woke Up (4.25 hours of sleep)

5:00a Thu – Left the House

2:30a Fri – Pulled in the Driveway (21.5 road hours)

3:00a Fri – Went to Bed

7:00a Fri – Woke Up (4.0 hours of sleep)

7:45a Fri – Went to Work

8:00p Fri – Got off Work (12.25 hour workday)

This chase proved that I can drive 1000 miles on 4 hours of sleep!  After closing up shop at work Wednesday night and sleeping away 4 hours, I hit the road for my first HIGH RISK chase day.  My target, Guymon, Oklahoma.  I drove into Castle Rock where I visited the Wal-Mart to pick up some things including digital video tapes for the first trip for my new digital video camera.  I also grabbed some road food and drinks as well as some extra film and batteries.

After the short stop and a quick breakfast, I took off for Lamar, Colorado where I would make my first road data stop at the local library.  Forecasts were looking good.  I printed out a couple of maps and began to do some hand analysis to pinpoint my exact location.  I determined that my timeline would give me ample time to get to where I needed to be without being hurried.

I headed down Hwy 287 out of Lamar and into the Oklahoma Panhandle.  I stopped in at another library in Boise City where I again collected some data and information.  About this time, convection had begun to fire in the Western parts of the Texas Panhandle.  I zipped south again, this time catching Hwy 385 into Dalhart, Texas where I caught the backside of a storm that was moving northeast along Hwy 54.

I followed the storm up Hwy 54 passed Brickel when I began to see walls of dust being kicked up behind me from the RFDs of the storm.  The storm was moving parallel to Hwy 54 about a mile or so north of the road.  About this time, reports of a wedge tornado on the ground were buzzing over my scanners.  I never received exact reports as to where this tornado was, but I would have to guess it was sheilded from my view by rain and dust.  I continued along the highway til I found myself a bit ahead of the storm.

I pulled off on a nearby dirt road several miles outside of Stratford.  Jim Leonard and his chase tour were in the area about the same time.  They stuck around for a bit, leaving several minutes before I did.  As they were watching the skies, a funnel cloud formed directly overhead.  I watched for a couple minutes as it spun itself out above us.  Several minutes after the chase tour left, I continued along Hwy 54 towards Stratford.

About a mile up the road, I began to divert attention back to the area I had just come from.  I pulled off into the dirt driveway of a nearby country club and began to watch a pair of low hanging clouds behind a couple trees.

At first it was difficult to tell what it was I was looking at.  The lighting conditions made the could formations very hard to see.  Using the digital zoom to get really close, I saw the obvious rotation.  Zooming out, I saw the dust swirl on the ground between the two trees.  With delight, I screamed; “We have a touchdown!  There is a tornado on the ground!”  I tried to contain my excitment as I had a pair of video cameras running and didn’t want to totally destroy my video with excitment.

While I was filming this tornado, I was completely unaware of the wedge tornado ongoing just to the west of this tornado. Since I was north looking south at the storm, rain had blocked my view of the wedge. While capturing video, I saw what I had missed.

The tornado didn’t last longer than a couple of minutes before spinning its way into the turbulent clouds above.  I stayed for a couple minutes as rotating clouds tried to dip from the storm, but nothing ever stirred.  I jumped back on the HIghway and ran along side the storm as it slowly poked northeast towards Texhoma.  I blazed through Stratford and Texhoma and headed toward Guymon.  The storm had slowed to the point where I found myself moving at will around it.  I opted to jump on 40 and try to get around the storm.  I ended up on Hwy 64 several miles west/northwest of Guymon, Oklahoma.  The storm was still kicking and slowly advancing towards me.

This is where the excitment really peaked.  After bouncing back and forth for position along Hwy 64 between Unity and Guymon, I huddled along a roadside dirt lot along with a pair of chasers and several law enforcement officers as the storm moved in from the southwest.  A very visable wall cloud was evident as darkness began to fall and lightning took over the skies.  At one point, another tornad touched down, illuminated once by a dim power flash several miles to the southwest.  I was quick to notice and jump on this as I realized I had just seen another tornado.  Later reports confirmed a tornado touchdown in the area.

Things weren’t done yet.  This storm continued to show strong rotation as it neared Guymon.  The law enforcment officers, the chasers, and myself headed back towards Guymon, pitching camp at the Hwy 64/136 junction just north of town.  From there, we watched as the storm passed overhead.  Vivid lightning and small hail introduced the storm moments before a eerie silence and a terrifying sense of calm fell over us.  As my dashboard camera ran, I had my digital video camera pointing up at the rotating wall cloud that was spinning overhead.  The western side of the lowerings were sweeping by what seemed like meer feet to our east.  It was the most incredible thing I had ever seen!  The occasional buzzing of the scanners were about the only thing you could hear over the murmur of my radio equipment.  That and my occasional whisper regarding the events I was witnessing.  The silence did eventually give way to a barrage of RFDs with winds gusting well over 60mph.

Darkness had fallen and I was feeling my time crunch, so I bowed out from the chase and began my trek back home.  First issue at hand, gas.  After stopping along Hwy 64 to shoot some extremely vivid lightning, I hurried into Boise City as my gas began to run really low.  Problem; no power = no pumps.  After getting stopped by a cop (no tickets or nothing), I hurried along Hwy 56 into Clayton where I filled up and began my trek home.  Before arriving in Clayton, I watched as the skies went from totally overcast to toally clear with a bright moon lighting my way.  I enjoyed the view as I jumped on Hwy 87 back to I-25 and began my 3 hour trip home.

I pulled in the driveway very tired and very excited.  I gave in to my temptation to watch some of the video before I finally fell asleep.  Another 4 hours of sleep lead me into my 12 hour work day where I spent a great deal of it bragging about my encounters the day before.

I actually picked up this storm at its birth in Wheat Ridge.  I was grabbing dinner at Good Times when small hail began to fall.  I followed the developing storm along I-76 to 120th where I watched a repeat of Fort Morgan nail the northern side of Denver.  My original position was on a residential street off I-76 and 120th, but as the storm pushed slowly northeastward, I ended up about a mile east of my original location.

The biggest mess came as rush hour traffic along I-76 was brought to a standstill!  The overpass at 120th was completely filled with people taking cover from the massive hailstorm.  I took some time to shoot as I had nowhere I could go.  Emergency vehicles were everywhere as the storm began to push on.  Hail as deep as 4 inches piled up in the street and took nearly an hour to completely melt away.

Within 10 minutes, hail begins to accumulate on the highway creating an almost winter-like scene.  Hail gets to be as big as quarters at some points, but most of it falls in the size of marbles and nickles.  After several minutes of heavy hail, I decide to get out and make commentary, using my Kansas Road Map book as a shield for the barrage of ice.  I didn’t stay on the highway for long as I noticed a semi truck crusing down the highway at us.  I quickly ran around to the other side of the car before it sped by.  Poor James took the worst of it as it kicked all sorts of ice into the car.

After dumping nearly 2 inches of hail on the area, the storm passed on.  The aftermath left quite the mess just to the north of Fort Morgan.  I-76 saw very little in terms of this storm, but areas less than a mile away got clobbered.  We stuck around for a bit and shot some of the aftermath as neither of us had seen anything quite like this before.

The night was far from over.  Getting home was still in the plans, and Mother Nature hadn’t quieted down yet.  Reports from NWS of a possible large tornado on the ground near Shamrock lead us on a maze of dirt roads after dark.  Whoops!  Hail from that storm aling with heavy rains covered the roads in a mess of obstacles, including several inches of hail and water.  Scarey as it was, we both were laughing at ourselves as we let the cameras roll.  Sadly enough we lost battery power just before a second storm sideswiped us.  In an attempt to pull off and allow the storm to pass, we ended up getting blown nose first into a ditch.  Fortunately a fellow chaser on the same dirt road in the middle of nowhere at 10:30pm happened to be coming along.  With his SUV and a tow rope, he pulled us out of the rising water after we allowed the storm to pass.