For the second day in a row, tornadoes exploded across northwest Kansas in just about the same areas as the previous day. I again documented a handful of tornadoes, including the massive wedge tornado that formed just north of Quinter, Kansas on I-70.
Posts Tagged ‘may’
Chase Report: May 23, 2008
May 23, 2008
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Chase Report: May 22, 2008
This day was a roller coaster of emotions that started out with excitement, turned to disbelief and disappointment, and ended up celebratory.
May 22, 2008
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Chase Report: May 29, 2004
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Today was a career day that nearly doubled the tornadoes I saw back on May 12. An unbelievable day which kicked off from Denver at 5:30am. I drove into Salina and conversed with fellow chasers including Roger Hill about the day’s prospects. After a Wendy’s lunch, I elected to head south and meet my chasing buddy, Blake Naftel in Park City, Kansas where we chilled out at a QT Gas Station just off I-135 til storms began to go. We were quickly separated in some confusion after intercepting our first storm which never produced. Afterwards, I would go on to see over a dozen tornadoes from roughly around Argonia, Kansas east to I-35.
Tornado #1 – Looking west from 2 miles south of Argonia, Kansas
Tornado #2 – Touched down to my west as I was repositioning to the north. No images.
Tornado #3 – Looking west from 2 miles north of Argonia
Tornado #4 – As tornado #3 continued to churn away, the first of two satellite tornadoes developed. This one to the right of the bigger tornado.
Tornado #5 – As tornado #3 continued to churn away, the first of two satellite tornadoes developed. This one to the left as tornado #3 began to rope out.
Tornado #6 – Looking west from 1 mile east of Argonia on Hwy 160. [VIDEO] 
Tornado #7 – A weak satellite tornado touches down to the left of the wedge and spins in front of the main tornado.
Tornado #8 – A narrow funnel touches down almost directly on top of Hwy 160 for a few seconds before lifting.
The Devil’s Dance – Conway Springs, Kansas [VIDEO]
This is the most incredible tornado event I have ever witnessed to date. The dance this storm does which produces several tornadoes over a short span of time. I was sitting due south of Conway Springs, Kansas on Hwy 160 looking north. These tornadoes went on to do damage in the Conway Springs area. I believe I was at least 4 miles south of these tornadoes. There is some debate on how to count these tornadoes and it varies from chaser-to-chaser. I counted 4 separate tornadoes and I think my video can justify my reasoning even as there was a constant area of circulation overhead during the entire course of this event.
Tornado #9
Tornado #10
Tornado #11
Tornado #12
Tornado #13 – Touched down to my west as I was moving north along Hwy 81 out of Wellington.
Tornadoes #14 and #15 touched down shortly after dark as I was hanging around the Belle Plain, Kansas area near the Turnpike. No images of either of those.
When the day finally came to a close, I went to enjoy a juicy burger at a truck stop in Newton, Kansas. I spent a good chunk of my dinner time uploading video and chatting to the staff about the day’s events. They gave me my entire meal on the house and I thank them graciously for it. My Conway Springs tornado landed on the Weather Channel marking my very first nationally aired tornado video.
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May 29, 2004
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Chase Report: May 12, 2004
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Omigod! I can’t even begin to describe which will likely become a historical storm. Starting shortly after 7 and going well passed dark, I ended up wrapping up the day with at least seven different tornadoes. The South-End Charlie served us well as it developed meso after meso, cycling through about every 15 minutes and dropping a tornado not long after that. The first two tornadoes were the most photogenic; the forth and fifth were smaller tornadoes with a decent bit of dust swirling beneath their funnels; the sixth tornado dropped and had Amos and I racing south to get out of its way, it passed within 500 yards of my vehicle when it crossed the road. Number seven came after I called it a night and was heading back to the Interstate. I ended up meeting Storm Chaser Warren Faidley for this night-time tornado, lit up only by lightning. A world of things made this the best chase to date, and what will likely be a day like none I will ever see again! Whistling hail almost as big as softballs crashed down during tornado #2 sounding like meteors hitting the ground. RFDs and inflow tossed us about most of the evening. Nearly 3 hours of non-stop tornatic action made this one for the record books. I have nearly doubled my life count of tornadoes in less than 3 hours!!!
Tornado #1 – Near Medicine Lodge, Kansas @ 00:10z [VIDEO]
Tornado #2 – West of Attica, Kansas on Hwy 160; Brief dust swirl on the ground beneath rotating base. No images.
Tornado #3 – Attica, Kansas [VIDEO]
This tornado was definately one of the more notable tornadoes of 2004. While filming, several very large hailstones fell in the area around us which could be heard at several points in the video. While I personally only witnessed baseball sized stones, there were a few stones that were as big in diameter as a dollar-bill.
Tornado #4 – Southwest of Harper, Kansas just south of Hwy 160. [VIDEO]
Tornado #5 – Southwest of Harper, Kansas just south of Hwy 160. Just east of where tornado #4 touched down.
Tornado #6 – Between Harper, KS and Anthony, KS on K-2 @ 01:25z [VIDEO]
This tornado was the event of the day as Amos and I had stopped in our respective vehicles at the intersection of Hwy 160 and K-2 (3 miles south of Harper) to film the tornado at this stage…
With the tornado nearly stationary at this point, Amos and I elected to jump south on K-2 to get ahead of it. What I think was an RFD from another storm pushed this tornado into warp speed as it quickly began to race east at us. With us committed to our southern route, Amos and I made a run for our lives as this tornado closed to within a couple hundred yards of us. Within moments, what we thought would be an easy drive turned into the highway from hell as the tornado moved in on us making driving very difficult. I was following as closely to Amos’s truck as one wants to do at the speeds we were driving. Debris was being pulled into the tornado across the highway in front of us. I managed to maintain control of my sedan while filming behind me as the tornado hit a part of the high school only 30 seconds after we passed. When we finally emerged from the inflow, we found a spot about a mile south of the tornado to catch our breaths and film as the tornado again stalled its forward speed and eventually dissapate right at K-2. This tornado was eventually rated an F-2.
Tornado #7 – West of Anthony, Kansas looking northeast from K-14; I believe this tornado was rated F-4.
Preliminary Damage Paths
Damage Assessment from Storm Chase Scott Currens of Tornado #6 and another tornado which we would miss after blasting south.
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May 12, 2004
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