CHASE REPORTS
MAY 12th 2004
Severe weather was forecast for today in southern Kansas, and we believed that the storms would have the potential for producing tornadoes.
Our target area was along Oklahoma/Kansas border in the vicinity just south of Dodge City, so we headed east on 160 to where two storms were developing.
The northern storm initially looked the stronger but the southern storm was intensifying and had the better road options. We decided that this would be our better target.
As we viewed the skies 12 miles east of COLDWATER, we began to witness 2' hail, so we continued east as the storm continued to develop.
As we continued the chase in HARPER COUNTY, Charles Edwards spotted a tornado just south of MEDICINE LODGE. The tornado had an 'elephant trunk' appearance and was very photogenic. It was on the ground for a good few minutes which enabled us to find an ideal location to pull over and photograph it.
After it roped out we continued east and witnessed a second tornado just SW of ATTICA. It was small and only lasted for a few seconds.
We approached ATTICA as the storm intenified further, and we began to get pounded by golf ball and tennis ball sized hail. We knew that we could soon lose the windscreen so we decided to seek shelter in the town. As we came into town the tornado sirens were wailing as we fortunately found shelter under a car port.
We got out to witness the hail as George Kourounis and Charles looked for some samples. As we headed across the street, Charles noticed a funnel coming down to the south of town which we soon realised was heading our way!.
We had to scramble west to get out of it's path, as other vehicles followed. We got to safety to witness the tornado tearing across a field just outside the town. It was a violent white funnel which was kicking up red dust. We viewed the tornado until it had roped out.
We continued the chase as the storms continued until well after dark, finally pulling over to watch a spectacular cloud to cloud lightning display just south of the town of ANTHONY.
To our surprise In the distance we noticed our fourth tornado of the day approx 8 miles away that was continually illuminated by the lightning.
It was now quite late so once the tornado had roped out, we decided to call the chase.
Four tornadoes, large hail and spectacular lightning...another great chase day!.
Our target area was along Oklahoma/Kansas border in the vicinity just south of Dodge City, so we headed east on 160 to where two storms were developing.
The northern storm initially looked the stronger but the southern storm was intensifying and had the better road options. We decided that this would be our better target.
As we viewed the skies 12 miles east of COLDWATER, we began to witness 2' hail, so we continued east as the storm continued to develop.
As we continued the chase in HARPER COUNTY, Charles Edwards spotted a tornado just south of MEDICINE LODGE. The tornado had an 'elephant trunk' appearance and was very photogenic. It was on the ground for a good few minutes which enabled us to find an ideal location to pull over and photograph it.
After it roped out we continued east and witnessed a second tornado just SW of ATTICA. It was small and only lasted for a few seconds.
We approached ATTICA as the storm intenified further, and we began to get pounded by golf ball and tennis ball sized hail. We knew that we could soon lose the windscreen so we decided to seek shelter in the town. As we came into town the tornado sirens were wailing as we fortunately found shelter under a car port.
We got out to witness the hail as George Kourounis and Charles looked for some samples. As we headed across the street, Charles noticed a funnel coming down to the south of town which we soon realised was heading our way!.
We had to scramble west to get out of it's path, as other vehicles followed. We got to safety to witness the tornado tearing across a field just outside the town. It was a violent white funnel which was kicking up red dust. We viewed the tornado until it had roped out.
We continued the chase as the storms continued until well after dark, finally pulling over to watch a spectacular cloud to cloud lightning display just south of the town of ANTHONY.
To our surprise In the distance we noticed our fourth tornado of the day approx 8 miles away that was continually illuminated by the lightning.
It was now quite late so once the tornado had roped out, we decided to call the chase.
Four tornadoes, large hail and spectacular lightning...another great chase day!.