Jump to content
Snow?
Local
Radar
Cold?
IGNORED

Photographic and video highlights from Tour 4


Tom Lynch

Recommended Posts

Posted
  • Location: Cumbria UK
  • Weather Preferences: Cloud 9
  • Location: Cumbria UK

I will some time later today post a few video hightlights and I am sure that I took some photos during the trip.

Edited by Tom Lynch
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Posted
  • Location: Cumbria UK
  • Weather Preferences: Cloud 9
  • Location: Cumbria UK

It was nice to have a day where the storms moved so slowly we could have chased on foot.

 

It became know as the four state storm because it initiated in Colorado and we crossed through and interlaced the state lines of Texas, new Mexico and Oklahoma, at times stood with a foot in each state.

 

 

 

We enjoyed this day

 

Tom

Edited by Tom Lynch
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Posted
  • Location: Cumbria UK
  • Weather Preferences: Cloud 9
  • Location: Cumbria UK

EL Reno day

 

This day really needs a title all of its own. The start of the day was driving through Moore and seeing what a large tornado can do in a built up area. The warnings came out fairly early and were very clear. A PDS was issued and lots of people were very aware about what todays storms could bring.  The atmosphere had a different feel to it and we knew that we had to be pretty alert when things kicked off.

 

We sat in El Reno waiting for the first storms to initiate and they did out to our west but towers were going up all around our location.  You could see things were starting to happen.

 

 

We moved a little way north to watch and see how things were going to pan out. Things were happening quiet fast and we could see that the cell south of the I40 looked to be the one to keep our eyes on.

 

 

Paul watched intently and said that they were moving SE and said that we needed to get south of El Reno pretty quickly.  I am so glad that we did that before the panic button was pressed. Otherwise we would have been struggling with all the I40 traffic as well.

 

 

We moved well south of the I40 in Highway 81 and found a place to stop amongst lots of other vehicles, not just chasers , I might add. At this point the cell was about 10 miles west of El Reno and structure was starting get defined.  The warnings on the local radio indicating the tornado could be rain wrapped.

 

 

I put this next video on so that you can hear the warnings being put out on the local radio. There were pretty good.

 

 

By now the tornado was on the ground in and around the El Reno airport which was somewhere around 6/7 miles to our NW

 

 

it hit a lot of properties south of the airport on Airport RD unfortunately causing 3 fatalities.  We did not post pictures at the time as a matter of respect . I put them now because of a plea of help from one of the farmers. The see themselves as being forgotten because the tornado hit rural areas. They needed help to clear the fields of debris.

 

post-2466-0-31180000-1372023884_thumb.jp

 

post-2466-0-64275300-1372023928_thumb.jp

 

We now started to see the tornado which was approximately 5/6 miles to our NW it was at this time moving in our direction.

 

 

As it gets nearer we can clearly see the tornado and you can see the various power flashes

 

 

Paul decides that we need to move further south and a good decision indeed because as I film from the car you can see the tornado which by now is about a mile wide just to our north west at a rough guess I would say it was about a mile way.

 

 

It took part of a house near to where we sat, cant remember seeing the house though, was kinda busy I guess 

 

post-2466-0-91023400-1372026845_thumb.jp

 

We move a couple of miles further south along Highway 81 and stop to film.  At this point the tornado passes over the location where we sat and is now turning towards the north.  If you are looking for the tornado , what you are seeing as it flashes is not lightning they are power flashes, as takes out someone's power supply.  You can see all the cars heading south down highway 81 away from the tornado

 

 

A lot of the next bit was spent concentrating on the road network and so little time for video.  We had to wend our way through a few areas of rotation so had to grab the camera once or twice.

 

 

We then had to head north on 81 through the bears cage towards the I 40.  We saw Mike Betts car along the way, thrown 200 yards.

 

The lighting bolts were ferocious and banging down all around us, power cables hung down across the highway as we passed where the tornado crossed the road.

 

We also passed a car which we were told was that of another chaser , he had been taken from the car but the hazard lights an alarm were still sounding

 

 

All in all a sad day, when we heard about the number of people that lost their lives, including Team Twistex.  We are reminded that we are all so mortal.

 

Tom

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...