05-31-07 STORM CHASE: CO/OK

Our crew consisting of myself, Karen Miller and the Twister Sisters film production team left Dodge City, KS just before noon, heading west on Highways 56 and 160 targeting extreme southeast CO. There was a decent tornado threat this day but more of a large hail and damaging wind threat more than tornadoes. As we progressed through Ulysses, KS, we encountered the Tornado Intercept Vehicle (TIV) and the research team from the Center for Severe Weather Research. We were able to converse with them and check out the TIV and DOWS trucks while waiting for storms to develop to our west. After 30-40 minutes in Ulysses, the first storm went up in southeast CO and we quickly gave chase on Highway 160 towards Walsh, OK. Upon reaching Walsh, we progressed south (not sure of the road) and intercepted a very slow moving storm that was moving southeast at around 10 mph. This storm produced an amazing mesocyclone and, consequently, an impressive funnel cloud for around 20 minutes before lifting. Lots of chaser convergence occurred on this storm at this time with several tour groups and numerous vehicles, basically in the middle of nowhere on dirt roads. It was quite the site. We were about to get cored by this storm as we reached the CO/OK border and eventually were forced to core the storm before coming out safely near Keyes, OK in the western Panhandle. We stopped here and waited for another storm to develop on the southern flank of the original supercell. This storm produced a couple of amazing wall clouds before becoming a large HP beast towards nightfall as we followed east on Highway 64/412/3. We knew the next day was going to be an active day further south, so our group drove to Amarillo, TX to spend the night.

One of the DOWS radar trucks as we were waiting and visiting with the team in Ulysses, KS.

Checking out the TIV in Ulysses, KS as we were waiting for storms to develop to our west.

Slow moving supercell east of Campo, CO with amazing spaceship like appearance and funnel starting to form.

Another shot of the supercell east of Campo, CO and the incredible funnel from this storm.

Close shot of the funnel cloud upon approaching our position. Amazing how wrapped up this funnel was at this time.

Matt Renner from Original Productions filming me in Keyes, OK while we waited for a more southern storm to intensify.

Wall cloud with strong RFD kicking up dust/dirt at the base south of Keyes, OK.

One of the more amazing, textbook wall clouds that I have ever seen. This was taken about 5 miles southeast of Keyes, OK.

Another shot of this amazing wall cloud near Keyes, OK. Notice the inflow coming in from the right.

The wall cloud became much larger and became this beast about 10 miles east-southeast of Keyes, OK.

More photos from this day can be found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/39991047@N02/sets/72157621795355980/

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