After nightfall on the evening of May 23, 2008, numerous long-track supercell thunderstorm
After nightfall on the evening of May 23, 2008, numerous long-track supercell thunderstorms developed over south-central Kansas, rapidly becoming tornadic. One of these cells produced an ominously well-defined hook echo on radar, headed straight for the tornado ravaged town of Greensburg, Kansas, with another tornadic cell to the east near Medicine Lodge. While the Greensburg cell did initially produce a tornado that impacted Protection, Kansas, luckily that tornado lifted before the cell reached Greensburg and the meso moved over the previously stricken town producing only minor damage.
Meanwhile the eastern cell (which had started west of Medicine Lodge) was headed north-northeast towards Pratt, Kansas. This cyclic cell produced a strong tornado which crossed highway 54 just to the east of Pratt, causing two fatalities. As the cell moved on, it turned towards the northeast, paralleling highway K61 towards Hutchinson, Kansas. As the cell approached the city, spotters frequently reported a large tornado on the ground.
At this time, our chase team (Michael Laca, Jim Leonard, Ray Walker, Eric Baker, Max Hagen and Mike Ratliff) was headed east on highway 50, on an intercept path, that brought us into South Hutchinson a few minutes before midnight, just as the cell arrived. We observed a strong rotational couplet on radar and, as we stopped on the side of the highway, could see a large wall cloud illuminated by the frequent lightning. At this point, sirens began blaring loudly throughout Hutchinson and we decided to move off the highway. We exited on S. Main Street and proceeded north, stopping briefly in the parking lot of a motel where, in the light of increasingly intense lightning, we spotted a very broad conical funnel just to the southwest of highway 50, with an intense precipitation core close behind. With the core rapidly approaching, we continued a few more blocks north and found some minimal shelter in a self-serve car wash. Once inside, the core quickly overtook us producing intense rainfall and winds gusting to 60-65 mph, while sirens wailed eerily in the background. Luckily for Hutchinson, the funnel likely remained aloft, since no significant damage was observed.
On May 25th, our chase team surveyed the tornadic damage path from this cell, just to the east of Pratt, Kansas. Tragically, the fatalities had occurred when the tornado threw a car and its two occupants into an open field about ¼ mile to the north of the road. The mangled remains of the vehicle were still out in the field when we surveyed the area. Based on the severity of the tree damage we observed, and the distance the vehicle was thrown, our team estimated that the tornado was at least a high EF3, possibly EF4, at the time it crossed highway 54.
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Added: 1 month ago
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On the afternoon of May 24, 2008 an isolated supercell thunderstorm developed over north-c
On the afternoon of May 24, 2008 an isolated supercell thunderstorm developed over north-central Oklahoma, to the northwest of Oklahoma City, and quickly became tornadic as it moved slowly east-northeastward. The cyclic cell became a prolific tornado producer and, over a four hour period, generated no less than 15 individual tornadoes... possibly more.
After already observing numerous tornadoes from this cyclic supercell our chase team (Michael Laca and Max Hagen) observed a large funnel develop just to our south, which quickly grew into a large wide cone. After a few minutes, this tornado lifted as the overall circulation became wrapped in dense precipitation while approaching the road directly in front of us.
As we slowly trailed behind the now very large circulation, the hail core began to overtake us and we noted several stones between golf ball and baseball size bouncing off the ground. As we continued slowly east, the parent mesocyclonic circulation became nearly stationary over highway 74 and extended fully to the ground as a large rain-wrapped wedge, less than ¼ mile east of our position.
With the hail core continuing to advance, and a large tornadic circulation directly in front of us, we were forced to turn northward and found some limited shelter alongside a gas station in Douglas, Oklahoma as the hail became more intense. Luckily we escaped with no damage to our car.
Once the hail let up, we decided to head back towards I-35 and drop south to get a good vantage point as the cell continued to advance.
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Added: 1 month ago
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On the afternoon of May 24, 2008 an isolated supercell thunderstorm developed over north-c
On the afternoon of May 24, 2008 an isolated supercell thunderstorm developed over north-central Oklahoma, to the northwest of Oklahoma City, and quickly became tornadic as it moved slowly east-northeastward. The cyclic cell became a prolific tornado producer and, over a four hour period, generated no less than 15 individual tornadoes... possibly more.
After already observing numerous tornadoes, the hail core from this cyclic supercell overtook our chase team (Michael Laca and Max Hagen) and we were forced to find shelter in the town of Douglas, Oklahoma. Once the hail let up, we decided to head back towards I-35 and drop south to get a good vantage point as the cell continued to advance.
We stopped on the west side of I-35 between Perry and Orlando and to our amazement the large, rain-wrapped wedge was still on the ground to our southwest.
As we watched, the tornado became more diffuse and within a few minutes had lifted into a large rotating base. Shortly after this, a new satellite tornado formed to the left of, and behind, the larger circulation. This tornado lasted for a few minutes before dissipating. The other half of our chase team (Jim Leonard, Ray Walker and Eric Baker) who were in another location, photographed this tornado and another one, which was very close, but apparently obscured from our view by the parent circulation.
A few minutes later another small needle-like funnel appeared and touched down briefly.
Just before the main circulation crossed I-35, a new funnel formed and lowered toward the ground with a quick swirl of condensation appearing at the surface. The circulation became quickly rain-wrapped, but reports on the radio indicate that debris was observed as the circulation crossed the interstate, moving east-northeast toward Perry, Oklahoma.
After the circulation crossed I-35, the core overtook us once again and we experienced intense rain, marble to quarter-sized hail, and winds gusting to 60-65mph as the cell weakened.
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Added: 1 month ago
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After two prior intercepts during the afternoon, storm chasers Michael Laca, Jim Leonard,
After two prior intercepts during the afternoon, storm chasers Michael Laca, Jim Leonard, Linda Kitchen, Kathy Velasquez, Ray Walker, Eric Baker and Max Hagen moved south along Higway 283 in Trego County, Kansas to a position two miles south of WaKeeny. A strong rotational couplet was evident on radar as an intesifying supercell thunderstorm approached from the south-southwest after sunset.
As the cell neared, a distinct wall cloud developed and as our chaser convoy turned west off of 283, a large, partially rain-wrapped, cone descended and headed rapidly north-northeast. The funnel briefly condensed all the way to the ground as it crossed the road about ¼ mile in front of us.
Immediately after the funnel passed, the rain and hail core rapidly followed and trying to make a three point turn on a very narrow dirt road, lined with chase vehicles, delayed things just long enough for the core to overtake us. Blinding rain, quarter-sized hail and winds gusting to 60-65 mph made driving back north along 283, towards WaKeeny, extremely treacherous.
As we found out later, the parent circulation that produced the tornado we had witnessed, approached highway 283 just south of I-70 and a new intermittent tornadic damage track began near there. A corrugated metal shed was completely destroyed (seen at the end of this clip). The new tornadic circulation moved northeastward through the eastern sections of WaKeeny with isolated damage.
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Added: 1 month ago
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After driving south on highway 283 towards Ness City, storm chasers Michael Laca, Jim Leon
After driving south on highway 283 towards Ness City, storm chasers Michael Laca, Jim Leonard, Ray Walker, Eric Baker, Max Hagen and Mike Ratliff turned west on highway 96 with an ominous supercell thunderstorm approaching from the southwest. After passing the DOW (Doppler On Wheels), we got to a position on the west-end of a long chaser lineup (closest to the storm), but after seeing violent rotation about to overtake us, we retreated a bit eastward as the meso edged closer to Ness City.
During this time we also observed some incredibly close and intense staccato lightning strikes. As the cell approached we moved farther east, back into Ness City (with tornado sirens blaring), and decided to head back north along 283 as the meso moved off to the north-northeast, in the direction of Brownell, Kansas.
As we caught up to the meso, we observed a large area of strong rotation directly in front of us, with several satellite vorticies developing along the periphery, to the right of the road. One of these satellite vorticies quickly evolved into a full tube.
Towards the end of this clip the TIV (Tornado Intercept Vehicle), from the Discovery Channel's television series 'Storm Chasers', makes a cameo appearance.
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Added: 1 month ago
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Storm chasers Michael Laca, Jim Leonard, Linda Kitchen, Kathy Velasquez, Ray Walker, Eric
Storm chasers Michael Laca, Jim Leonard, Linda Kitchen, Kathy Velasquez, Ray Walker, Eric Baker, Max Hagen and Mike Ratliff intercepted a cyclic supercell thunderstorm that produced a classic 'elephant trunk' tornado in Lane County, Kansas to the west-northwest of Dighton. The full life-cycle of the tornado is captured within this clip.
This cell was part of a complex of tornadic thunderstorms that also produced the widely photographed Quinter, Kansas tornadic family, as it moved northward from this location.
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Added: 1 month ago
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Storm chasers Michael Laca, Jim Leonard and Ray Walker intercepted a multi-cellular comple
Storm chasers Michael Laca, Jim Leonard and Ray Walker intercepted a multi-cellular complex of supercell thunderstorms near Olton, Texas (northwest of Lubbock), on the afternoon of May 6, 2008. The initial storm (southwest of Olton) was relatively small but developed classic LP supercell features including a highly tilted mesocyclone, beautifully backlit by the sun.
The second storm evolved into a large HP supercell that prodcued a small and very brief funnel south of Olton and large hail in the fields to the north of the town.
The last storm approached Olton from the south with Level 2 radar data indicating a strong rotational couplet and four inch hail. As the storm neared Olton an extremely ominous, and rapidly moving hail shaft/microburst developed and moved northward across the town.
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Added: 1 month ago
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This is a sample of my Hurricane Wilma storm chase video. The footage was taken during the
This is a sample of my Hurricane Wilma storm chase video. The footage was taken during the peak of the storm on the Southwest Florida coast in Belle Meade, near Marco Island. Peak winds occur after the lull, associated with the passage of the storm's eye, and are near 100mph with gusts to 120mph.
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Added: 2 years ago
Views: 137,188
This is my Hurricane Hugo chase video. The footage was taken during Hugo's landfall on the
This is my Hurricane Hugo chase video. The footage was taken during Hugo's landfall on the northeast tip of Puerto Rico at Luquillo. In my 25 years of hurricane chasing, this remains, overall, the best footage I have ever been fortunate enough to capture. Though I have been in stronger hurricanes, given that Hugo was a Category Four and the strongest portion of the eyewall passed directly over my location (during daylight hours), I had the rare opportunity to document the full force of an intense hurricane at a direct coastal location. Though significant damage begins about 8 minutes into the video, the peak winds occur between 10 through 21 minutes in, and are sustained near 135mph with gusts to 160-170mph. An anemometer on the island of Culebra (just offshore Eastern Puerto Rico) reported a peak gust of 170mph when the same portion of the eyewall passed over that location a couple of hours prior to reaching Luquillo.
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Added: 1 year ago
Views: 128,805
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