16 Jun 2014
June 16th was one of those once in a life time events. We crept up on the most picturesque tornado I’ve ever seen. Revealing itself from behind the rain curtains this classic funnel leisurely made its way through the fields just north west of Burwell, Nebraska.
It was different to see a tornado on this side of the supercell (NW side) as it is usually hidden by a rain/hail core. Most tornadoes are viewed from the South West side of the supercell. This supercell’s mesocyclone was cycling at the time. Throwing out tornadoes all around it and it just so happened to see this cycle as the rain curtains cleared. Seeing a tornado in its sheer beauty like this is an unforgettable experience.
June 17th – Our day started out in North Sioux City, South Dakota. We were trying to make our way towards the Coleridge/Laurel area. With not many options to cross the river and stay safe due to the major flooding and storms in the area, we had no choice to stay north of the Missouri river until Yankton then head south for an intercept. Also with road closures we eventually made our way to Laurel where we would witness the birth of a wedge tornado with multiple sub vortices. This large wedge tornado sat just north of Laurel for approximately one hour almost stationary!
The only time we could see this tornado and its sub vortices was when the lightning lit up the sky or during power flashes. Power flashes are when power lines or houses etc are damaged which causes the electricity to light up the surrounding area. Luckily enough only damage was reported to some farm sheds, crops and machinery.
We were running pretty low on fuel at this stage and needed to find a gas station that was open, so we headed out of Laurel in search of fuel. After some time we found a gas station where it was a pleasure to briefly meet Matt Phelps, another chaser who shares the same passion as ours. He is a tour guide with Extreme Tornado Tours, just one of the tour companies that offer storm chasing holidays. After getting some gas we were off again, this time to witness the monstrous structure of the supercell and the fascinating lightning show.
June 18th – Driving near Blair, Nebraska we had seen damage by wind driven hail up to 4” in size. There were trees that had been stripped bare of their leaves; such a weird sight to see.
June 29th – I met the one and only Randy “outlaw’ Hicks! A veteran in storm chasing and well respected in the chasing community. Also was a pleasure to meet his chasing partner Lisa McGeough. We spent the day chasing with them in Nebraska and Iowa. This time we actually drove through the town of Blair and saw the devastation of the wind driven hail. Not far out of Blair we came across the formation of a wall cloud, and a few brief funnels. We followed this storm through some un-chaseable countryside, only getting a visual when on top of each hill. After making the decision to call it a day, we spotted a nice cell firing up behind the original one we were following. Within minutes it was tornado warned and went for an intercept. You can hear in the video the old style tornado sirens. Placing ourselves in the ‘hook’ and looking up at this beast of a mesocyclone was amazing! The hook echo weather radar signature is a classic feature of tornado producing supercell. The signature being produced by precipitation held aloft that wraps around the mid-level mesocyclone. Unfortunately no tornado was produced, just a few brief funnels.
You can follow Randy here – https://www.facebook.com/TheOutlawChasers