The SPC did a phenomenal job with predicting this system, and getting the warnings out there. The graphical models had indicated this one would be a biggie for quite sometime.
Just as testament to how spot on the SPC was with their forecast, look at this graphic released today:
Saturday morning we woke up in Topeka KS and our initial target was Kearney, NE. We were going to make a play along the warm front that was draped across southern NE.
We were on our way out to NE when we got the word we just woke up slightly outside a PDS tornado watch. So we decided to hang out in KS..
PDS Watch # 165
We intercepted a supercell near Russell, KS. It was an HP mess and not much to look at. If there was a tornado in that mess, we couldn't see it.
We decided then to drop south to a nice string of pearls forming to the south. The cell we chose was one developing just outside of Greensburg, KS. We followed the cell for sometime.. Trying to keep up with it.
Unfortnately, we ended up finding the only trees in Kansas for just a minute, but when we went through the clearing.. This is what we saw:
We were further away than we would have liked to be, obviously.. haha
Here is the NWS information about this particular supercell:
www.crh.noaa.gov/ict/?n=april14th_ricetor
We dropped down to intercept another cell, we thought we MIGHT have had a tornado, but we lost daylight and couldn't tell anymore. After that, we decided to find a place to eat our steak dinner in Wichita and then we would head home.
We saw the supercell on radar and we were certain it was going to go much further south than where we were going to be eating. We were watching the coverage on the TV that was on at the bar, and noticed the TV met drew an arrow for the storm direction STRAIGHT for where we were eating. Note that this was a LARGE, EXTREMELY dangerous tornado that had been confirmed. We through some money down on the table and ran (yes, we all RAN) to the car so we could bolt west out of the way. We were in the core of the storm at that point. It was raining like crazy, and the wind was just insane... I have never been in winds that strong!!! You could hear the wind from inside the car and the car was shaking when we were stopped at a red light. Once we were finally to safety, we found a nice vantage point and watched the light show. There was one moment when we were sure that the lightning had illuminated the tornado, but again... we couldn't be sure, so it doesn't count. :)
I am so happy I got to chase in the Great Plains!!! I cannot WAIT to go back out there again.. it was an amazing experience
I would like to thank Wes and Brian for being awesome chase partners on this trip. We never got annoyed with each other. We had some good laughs! :)
I would also like to thank Jenn N from South Georgia... I remember stumbling on her blog one day and reading that SHE was a chaser from Georgia, too!! So I started following it.. reading.. and she was a real inspiration. Here was a real person not from the Plains who was a storm chaser. It gave me hope and belief that I could do it. She's an awesome gal, and I'm so glad to have her as my friend.
I'd also like to thank Jo, Spike, Ed, and Doug for being amazing friends. TVN is like a family to me. We are a tight knit group. I know I talked Jo, Ed, and Spike's ears off the whole trip. All of them have been such an awesome support system. I have never met any of them in person, but I truly do count them as friends.
Miles Traveled: 3300
What did we see: Rolling plains and prairie, ONE super awesome incredible WEDGE tornado, amazing storm structure, and lots of dirt roads <3
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