|
Jamie and I started out the day in Wichita, where we headed south,
and then
west on 412 to Enid, OK. In Enid, we saw that the rain was still
falling
hard. We grabbed a radar shot, as well as a satellite shot to see
where the
edge of the cloudbank was at. At that point we decided to head west
to
Woodward, where the clouds seems to break. On the way, we grabbed
radar
pictures every 20 minutes with Swift. It was nice to just have the
pictures
at that interval, as we were in a "scan mode" still. We
saw a few cells on
radar down near AMA, but knew we couldn't make it there. Once past
Woodward, we had problems getting data. We proceeded up 412, on
a path to
283. We got one radar shot of a nice healthy storm in Ochiltree
and
Lipscomb county TExas. Apparently (from a conversation with an Oklahoma
state trooper (Oops!!)) there had been about 10 other chasers that
were
using 412 at accelerated speeds... Anyways, we got to 283 and headed
south
to near Shaddock, OK. There, we ran into the Valpo chase team. We
got
another radar shot and the storm, now tornado warned with a classic
V
signature, was to our WSW. There was a nice bowl shaped lowering
for quite
some time. Aparently there had been some spin-ups under the lowering,
however we didn't see them. The storm was a beauty. Perfect inflow
band,
and a nice anvil being lifted off to the NE. As the cell moved (slowly)
closer, it became completely wrapped in rain. It also decreased
in
intensity very rapidly. One of the members of the Shattock Fire
department
came over to talk and they were hoping for some rain, as they needed
it
badly. Just south of town we saw the University of California-Pennsylvania
chase team as well.
Apparently Shattock is the center for a severe weather center for
Western
OK, and the panhandle of TX. They have a couple vehicles in their
fire/rescue department dedicated just to storm spotting.
Having looked at this awesome storm, we were ready to call it a
night and
head for a hotel. From the morning, we had planned to head into
OKC for
Friday. However, as they do, things change. We called Bob C. and
he filled
us in on what was going on to our west. A nice big beast was NNE
of Borger,
TX, with a TOR. We decided to head to Pampa to stay the night. The
lightning show was nothingshort of amazing. Absolutely fabulous
show. We
could see the updraft tower and the vault of the storm, all illuminated
by
lightning. *one note: If you're going to do lightning photography
next to
the road with your lights off, get all the way off the !#$%#-ing
road!!!
We nearly hit someone who was standing in the road with his tripod.
Not to
mention hitting a small bird, almost hitting a pair of turkeys,
a cow, and
two deer.... Careful if you take 33 everybody!
Once into town, it was aparent that the chase armada had beat us
there. We
couldn't find the phone #'s of any of the hotels on the way, so
we started
door-to-door. One place that had a room available was well, not
fit for
humans... We got to the Best Western, and they had no rooms left,
there
last 9 rooms had just been reserved for a "Tempest Tours",
but we could have
them if they didn't get there by 10:30pm. One quick call to Bill
and they
were just north of town watching the show, and I let them know they
only had
about 30 minutes. I hope you guys made it!
Not being able to find a hotel, and starving, as we had not had
anything to
eat in a long time, we gave in to heading down to where I am typing
this
right now, in lovely AMA.
I've got a great connection right now (33.7k), but the SPC's site
appears to
be down. Looking from DuPage, appears to be a moderate out for Friday.
Grabbed some data, but my brain is jello, so I'm going to look in
the
morning.
Many thanks to Bob C for letting us know about the storm to our
NW, and
helping us skirt it to the south, into Pampa.
Overall, was a great day. Saw just a great storm in the panhandle,
and then
a lightning show like no other, near Pampa. Looks to be another
great day
tomorrow.
|