Reports & Pictures - Chase Day 31

[Paul Sherman]

Not my most favourite set-up with a Cold Front scenario which quickly goes linear but we take what is thrown at us. Started the day in Columbus with a Chase Target of O'Neill (Nebraska) which would later in the day have a few brief spin ups. Headed North after lunch to the Cold Front which was bubbling nicely, Storm motions were going to be the main problem today so played the waiting game on the dominant cell which went up about 60 miles to our South West. After getting it within range and it becoming tornado warned we ventured south and were greeted with a nice Supercell which at the time had a confirmed Tornado on it 12 miles North West of O'neill, from our vantage point it was buried behind a massive dust column so could have been in their who knows

- Tornadic Storm just to our South West near O'Neill (Nebraska)

Followed this east and North where is put down another Tornado East of Spencer, this time we were to it's south and again did not see any circulation (Maybe Rain wrapped) We had to let that storm go as we could not cross the Missouri river into South Dakota unless we went 25 miles east. So another waiting game for more cells lined up SW-NE.

- Next Storm to our west

- This also became Tornado Warned

Finally crossed into South Dakota near Neobroria and ended the day in Yankton (South Dakota) where we got some panoramic Gust front shots as the storms had now all become outflow dominant.

Long journey back to DFW :lol:

[grab my graupel]

Cracking pictures! Great work guys

[SteveB]

Some lovely cloud structure in those photos.

[Harry]

Some of those rain shafts in that first pic (off to the right) look suspiciously like funnels, including a wedge

You can see why people in the States get confused when an EF4/5 wedge approaches and they dismiss it as rain!

[Supercell 89]

Not my most favourite set-up with a Cold Front scenario which quickly goes linear but we take what is thrown at us. Started the day in Columbus with a Chase Target of O'Neill (Nebraska) which would later in the day have a few brief spin ups. Headed North after lunch to the Cold Front which was bubbling nicely, Storm motions were going to be the main problem today so played the waiting game on the dominant cell which went up about 60 miles to our South West. After getting it within range and it becoming tornado warned we ventured south and were greeted with a nice Supercell which at the time had a confirmed Tornado on it 12 miles North West of O'neill, from our vantage point it was buried behind a massive dust column so could have been in their who knows

- Tornadic Storm just to our South West near O'Neill (Nebraska)

Followed this east and North where is put down another Tornado East of Spencer, this time we were to it's south and again did not see any circulation (Maybe Rain wrapped) We had to let that storm go as we could not cross the Missouri river into South Dakota unless we went 25 miles east. So another waiting game for more cells lined up SW-NE.

- Next Storm to our west

- This also became Tornado Warned

Finally crossed into South Dakota near Neobroria and ended the day in Yankton (South Dakota) where we got some panoramic Gust front shots as the storms had now all become outflow dominant.

Long journey back to DFW :lol:

Some awesome shots there Paul, looks like a fairly angry set of storms particularly the first one.

Edited May 31, 2011 by Supercell 89

[Lauren]

Those are some angry looking skies.

Can you sneak some home in your suitcase please?

[Snowangel-MK]

Nice end to tour 3 .....safe journey home guys - and good luck to all on tour 4

[Roger J Smith]

Team is heading back to DFW, correct?

Looks active around 5-8 pm between Norman OK and DFW. The front that blasted through overnight is stalling out south of OKC.

[Arron]

Yeah heading back Roger, doubt we'll get that far today though. Aiming for Norman, OK and go out for food and a few beers for John's 33rd birthday!

[sunny scunny]

wow some excellent shots

[nsrobins]

Have a wild party guys but I have to agree with Roger - could be a back-door event in the next three hours.

Really rich moisture and ample CAPE prompt RUC to break-out cells Lawton/Altus.

Is it worth breaking off the celebrations? Umm . . .

[Arron]

Just a bit too far away, will be around 8:45pm when we get to Norman but we'll keep an eye on things, maybe a light show

[ZONE 51]

Excellent photos- my fav being the first one, just my scene that!

[ian cameron]

Guys sounds like you have had an AWSOME time cannot believe its been ten days since coming home well have a well deserved beer or 8 and the best of luck to tour 4 hope it stays as active for you as tour 3 was the pics and videos have been amazing so thanks guys for letting us glimpse at what you have all seen well back to work now

[Tom Lynch]

Well done tour three

Thanks for the entertainment especially Oklahoma and Arkansas days. I ended up burning the midnight oil. Following the tour is the next best thing to be out there actually doing it. I guess you had a gruelling final drive but I'm afraid that goes with the territory.

Yall might sleep better on the plane.

Cheers to all.

Tom

[Coast]

Video footage of a Tornado forming over the Massachusetts river:

This is the terrifying moment a tornado funnel formed over the Connecticut river in Springfield, the third largest city in Massachusetts.

The storm was captured by a camera on the roof of a local television station as it moved across the city of more than 150,000, whipping up debris. Four people are reported to have been killed by the twister, a weather formation more common in the South and Midwest of the United States. Massachusetts had not experienced a tornado since 2008.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/8551741/Tornado-forms-over-Connecticut-river-in-Springfield-Massachusetts.html

The extreme weather that roared through New England Wednesday had been forecast for days. But the tornado that touched down in Springfield descended stealthily and suddenly, forming over the Connecticut River as horrified commuters sat in rush hour traffic on nearby Memorial Bridge. “They’re the worst kinds of storms, always have been, always will be,’’ said Harvey Leonard, Channel 5’s chief meteorologist. “There’s only so much you can do with actual warnings of a tornado.’’ The storms’ wrath highlights the imprecision of a forecasting system that is stunning in its ability to predict and track storms, but unable to pinpoint precisely where or when a tornado will touch down.

“Until a tornado drops from the clouds, it’s a thunderstorm,’’ said Peter Judge, spokesman for the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency. “If you watch this stuff on TV, it’s amazing how technology has grown to the point where they are able to predict, once it’s established itself, which direction, what speed, what communities are in harm’s way. But the problem is for that first community that it drops down on.’’ Although meteorologists are still assessing the damage to confirm the path and strength of the tornadoes that struck Western and Central Massachusetts, the preliminary investigation suggests that a tornado first touched down in Westfield about 4:15 p.m., said Robert Thompson, the National Weather Service meteorologist in charge of the investigation. The tornado then touched down in Springfield, Monson and Sturbridge. A second and possibly a third then struck Westfield and Springfield and Sturbridge again.

“This was not a surprise by any means that we were getting heavy-duty weather,’’ said Bill Babcock, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Taunton. A tornado watch had been issued for most of the state by 1 p.m. By 4:18 p.m., a severe thunderstorm warning posed the possibility of a tornado in Springfield and Chicopee. But the tornado warning did not come for Springfield until 4:30 p.m., just two minutes before it touched down there.

“My warning was looking out the window and seeing it coming to our building,’’ said Tom Walsh, the communications director for Springfield’s mayor, Domenic J. Sarno, who watched the funnel cloud forming from a City Hall window where aides were monitoring the news. “The minute I saw the debris, I immediately recognized what it was and ran through City Hall to get down into the basement.’’

On Fox25 News, chief meteorologist Kevin Lemanowicz had just done a cut-in about 4:26 p.m. noting the storm could bring a tornado. “We could see it in Doppler radar before there was a tornado warning,’’ he said. But the tornado warnings are issued by the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center and are not issued until a tornado can be confirmed. “It’s a ‘nowcast situation,’ rather than a forecast situation,’’ Lemanowicz said. “All you can do is watch everything develop and warn people in the path of the storms that do come up.’’

Meteorologists say they are limited in their ability to precisely predict tornadoes, even with today’s sophisticated radar systems. They say their radar capability from Eastern Massachusetts is somewhat limited as far out as Springfield. “Springfield is far enough away that the lowest the radar sees is about 5,000 feet above the ground,’’ said Babcock, noting that meteorologists lose some detail on storms closer to the ground.

“That is a limitation that you’re not going to get with a radar in Eastern Massachusetts because radar essentially goes in a straight line, but the earth’s surface is curved,’’ he added. Regardless, specialists said, tornado warnings are not issued much farther in advance than the 10 minutes’ notice that Governor Deval Patrick said Springfield got. “Ten minutes is actually a pretty good warning,’’ said Channel 5 staff meteorologist Mike semolinaum. “The national average is 11 minutes’ warning time. The goal is to try to get it to 20 minutes.’’

The warnings are not aimed at giving homeowners time to go inside and save their treasures. “Sometimes people get a tornado warning and run back upstairs when they should be down in the basement,’’ semolinaum said. “We’re giving you enough warning to save your life.’’ The warnings can give other towns in the path of a tornado up to an hour of advance warning, Leonard said. Leonard weighed in on the region’s unusually powerful tornadoes from his vacation in Israel, where he finds himself explaining to other travelers that tornadoes are not unknown in Massachusetts. The Bay State actually averages three tornadoes a year, and the Worcester tornado of 1953 was one of the 20 deadliest tornadoes in the United States, he said.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2011/06/03/a_twister_poses_big_challenge_for_meteorologists/