This was one of the more interesting days of chasing this season. It was a typical day at work with no real storms to look forward to, so I didn't pay much attention to the weather except for the possibility of storms if the cap could break earlier that evening. This is the earlier morning report from the SPC. No where does it even hint to a possible chance for tornadoes...period! Only the chance for wind and hail as the below images indicate.
DAY 1 CONVECTIVE OUTLOOK
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK1121 AM CDT SAT JUN 18 2011
VALID 181630Z - 191200Z
...THERE IS A SLGT RISK OF SVR TSTMS FROM THE CENTRAL HIGH
PLAINS...ACROSS THE MID MS VALLEY...INTO THE SOUTHEAST STATES...
...SYNOPSIS...
WHILE THE PRIMARY UPPER TROUGH REMAINS OVER THE WRN U.S...DOWNSTREAM
THE RIDGE HAS FLATTENED WITH A BAND OF STRONGER MID LEVEL FLOW
EXTENDING EWD THRU THE SCENTRAL STATES. THE PRIMARY SURFACE
BOUNDARIES OF INTEREST WITH RESPECT TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TODAY
EXTEND FROM THE COLD POOL GENERATED BOUNDARIES NOW CROSSING TN
VALLEY WWD ALONG MO/AR BORDER TO A LOW OVER NCENTRAL OK. ALSO A
FEATURE OF INTEREST IS THE MCV THAT DEVELOPED OVERNIGHT CURRENTLY
MOVING EWD ACROSS CENTRAL IL.
...ERN KS/MO...
THE SURFACE BOUNDARIES THAT EXTEND WWD ALONG MO/AR BORDER WILL BELIKELY FOCUS OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT BY LATE THIS
AFTERNOON AS CAP WEAKENS AND MLCAPES CLIMB AS HIGH AS 4000 J/KG.
WHILE THE CINH WILL BE AN ISSUE UNTIL LATE THIS AFTERNOON...WHEN
STORMS ARE ABLE TO INITIATE ALONG BOUNDARY THEY SHOULD QUICKLY
BECOME SEVERE GIVEN THE POTENT THERMODYNAMICS.
WITH THE LOW LEVEL JET INCREASING THIS EVENING TO 40KT SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD DEVELOP UPSCALE LEADING TO ONE OR MORE MCS/S
AGAIN TONIGHT FROM ERN KS ACROSS MO. IN ADDITION TO VERY LARGE HAIL
IN THE INITIAL STAGES OF INITIATION...DAMAGING WINDS WILL BE ON THE
INCREASE...PRIMARILY AFTER 00Z WHEN THE SHEAR IMPROVES AND COLD POOL
DEVELOPMENT OCCURS. POSSIBLY SIGNIFICANT WIND DAMAGE COULD OCCUR
THIS EVENING PARTS OF ERN KS AND MO.
Figuring there might be a chance to shoot some much needed lightning shots later that evening if the cells could fire, I left work at 5 and went home to jump into the pool to cool off. By 5:46, I glanced up to the sky seeing what I knew to be the blow off anvil of some storm to the northwest. I glanced at my mobile radar on the phone and noticed a single mature supercell along the kansas/oklahoma border near I-35.
I went in to get dinner with the family when my friend Kyle Thorson called me on the phone from Osage State Park 15 miles to our nothwest. He inquired if the storm was something to worry about. At that time, the weather radio went off indicating a TORNADO WARNING for Osage County. I told him the message and to get campers to a safe shelter ASAP.
Finishing off dinner, I barely had timme to gather my live stream equiptment and head out the door. My son Chance came along and we proceeded north on 75 towards Copan, Oklahoma which was 15 miles to our north. I kept an eye to the west seeing the monster of a cell fill the sky. Passing through Dewey, OK, I caught sight of the tornado to my west. It was on the ground for a couple of minutes and began to dissolve before I could get my camera into position. Luckly, Kyle caught the tornado on video and film seen below.
From my vantage point to the west, this is what I saw. (below)
Although the last four shots taken look to be tornadic, they were scud and low lying base clouds not attached to the wall cloud.
All in all, it was a terrific chase in my own backyard. The lightning that night was incredible to watch!
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