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Storm Chase: April 24, 2008

I wasn't planning on chasing today, but it was one of those decisions that didn't rest easy in my stomach. I knew for sure that if I were to forego chasing, an outbreak would occur. After lunch, I spoke with Gabe Garfield, and after some discussion, we decided to head up to Kansas for the afternoon. Besides, Gabe owned a Toyota Prius, so wasting money on gas was only a secondary concern. We recruited Buckey for our impromptu chase. The synoptic pattern at 12Z could be summed up as follows...

...longwave trough situated over the western continental U.S...

...decent SSW-erly 850 mb jet (a bit more backed would have been good) with good moisture return...

...nicely backed surface winds with Td's in the low 60's...

...and the DDC sounding sported a nicely curved hodograph, but notice the strong cap. Skies were partly cloudy - how it should be before a classic chase! Everything besides the cap pointed towards a successful chase, but the cap was forecast to weaken, so we were not too concerned. Plus, there was plenty of insolation throughout western Oklahoma and Kansas. "This is gonna be a good day...I can feel it..." said Gabe, looking at the sky. Considering this comment was coming from a veteran chaser and native Oklahoman, I felt more at ease.

After a brief stop at KFC, we targeted just north of the OK/KS border north of Alva, OK.

By 18Z, the surface low was developing nicely, and we watched for a dryline surge to occur.

The Lamont, OK wind profiler showed nice veering winds.

The dryline could be seen setting up on the OK/TX panhandle border.

However, by 2045 Z, there was still not a cloud in the sky. We were hoping for a Cu field to form, but the cap was still holding its own.

The 2100 Z surface obs show the dryline beginning to mix east...under clear skies. However, we still maintained faith in the late afternoon. Plus, the RUC forecast for 00Z of CAPE, 0-3 km SRH, and convective precip show a rather potent situation...





We idled through the afternoon, getting excited over what looked like a tiny Cu field beginning to develop, which marked the advance of the dryline, but it got squashed by some invisible force. As it turned out, this invisible force was subsidence.

Although the cap had eroded from the daytime heating, the culprit of the day was large-scale subsidence as indicated in water vapor imagery. It turned out to be a wonderful day for golf. Later that night, when we stopped at a Pizza Hut for dinner, Gabe was told by someone that a historical skew-T search matched today's event with several other major outbreaks in the past. Given the high shear and CAPE, we were certain that today was going to be a good one, but alas, the pieces of the puzzle did not align perfectly. It is remarkable to see how even with all other conditions being perfect, if there is just one that is not met, a potentially major outbreak may never materialize.

When we decided to throw in the towel on the day, we took a detour through Greensburg, KS to survey the damage of the first EF-5 tornado that occured almost exactly a year ago. As we drove into town, we were thrown into a snapshot in history. The catastrophic damage caused by the tornado was still evident in full force - telephone poles splintered, metal beams bent near the ground, buildings obliterated, and trees stripped of their limbs, leaving behind just the trunks strugging to survive a new season.









There was an entire residential area with large holes in the ground where homes once stood.

As our group of chasers stood next to the foundation of one of the destroyed homes, I was overcome with sadness and humility...humility for the power of Mother Nature that I strive to understand in my research every day.

I walked away from the chatter of the group to stand alone by one of the gnarled trees. There were no words beyond silence that could have possibly evoked the images that were before me. I pondered what life must have been like during those fateful moments. I had visions of a mile-wide tornado barreling into the town from the southwest, tearing apart the lives of all the Greensburg residents in a matter of seconds. The above photo was taken facing southwest - a year later.

By my feet lay a sign of life - perhaps a part of a toy that belonged to a child that once inhabited the home that was now nothing more than a concrete slab.

In a nearby tree, pieces of metal and wood became shrapnel in this war zone, impaling the trunk with such force that they could not be removed by hand.



A wood plank also managed to lodge itself into the trunk. There was no way anyone could have survived these projectiles.

This was the north flank of a tree trunk with bark that was peeled back by the tremendous force of the wind. Again, the bark was not moveable by hand.

Pieces of clothing could be seen hanging from tree limbs.



Other trees had entire sheets of metal mangled and wrapped around the limbs.

The worst part was seeing personal items like shoes and books sitting by the rubble of a house. One could only hope that the residents survived.



The force of the wind was so great that even steel bars were bent like a pretzel.







Yet, even after such a catastrophe, it was good to see new tree buds growing this first season after the tornado - an unmistakeable and relieving sign of life.

Before leaving Greensburg, we paid respects to what once was the world's largest hand-dug well that was destroyed by the tornado.

To see a large 180-degree panorama of a residential area in Greensburg, click on the following image:

Also, to see a 360-degree Quicktime panorama, Click Here.