COVER: The first of ten tornados dips from a Kansas sky on May 26, 1991.Photograph by Tim Marshall.

Storm Track is a non-profit publication intended for the scientist and amateur alikewho share an avid interest in the acquisition and advancement of knowledge concerningsevere or unusual weather phenomena. It is published bi-monthly in Lewisville, Texas.David Hoadley founded the publication in 1977 and STORMTRACK has continued to grow andimprove ever since. Gene Rhoden designed the current cover. David Hoadley stillcontributes drawns and sketches. Current, we have about 650 subscribers!

Anyone can submit an article or letter to STORMTRACK. Articles should be single-spacedand contain proper english. Right justified margins are preferred or the editor canretype the text. High contrast photographs reproduce best. Diagrams should be clearand legible, subject to photo-reduction. All articles will be edited.

Subscription rates are: U.S. First Class mail $12/year, Canada $14/year, andEngland/Japan $20/year. Each November issue will have a color cover and one issue willcontain additional pages of text. Individual issues are $2/copy. Back issues areavailable by year, or the complete 16 year set (1978-1993) can be purchased for $105.To subscribe or renew, send a check or money order PAYABLE ONLY to Tim Marshall, 1336Brazos Blvd, Lewisville, Texas 75067.

STORM TRACK CLASSIFIEDS

Sell or swap your wares. Only 25c per word (20 word minimum = $5, 160 word maximum =$40) . Quarter page ads are $70, half page ads are F130, and whole page ads are $250.Send your request for the next issue by March 1, 1994.

"LAST CHANCE CHASE VIDEO." Experience the thrills of two chasers as they document thedevelopment of a small Eastern Colorado thundershower into a supercell with a largewedge tornado. The tornado footage, from wedge to rope stages, drew raves at the recentSevere Storm Conference in St. Louis. Tornado historian Tom Grazulis calls this thebest tornado video of 1993--perhaps the most professionally filmed wedge tornado ever!"The Last Chance Chase" is used for spotter training by the NWS in Goodland, and is anabsolute must for anyone who is captivated by severe weather. Included on this two-hour, Hi-8 quality production are Doppler radar loops of the storm and additional chasehighlights. Send 527.90, postpaid, to William Reid, 5920 Pat Avenue, Woodland Hills, CA91367 ... (See article in last STORMTRACK)

TORNADOGENESIS PC tornado simulator! Ropes to wedges on your screen! $27.95 to: A.N.E.5232 Saratoga Ct. NW, Albuquerque, NM 87120. -R. Scott FitzGerald.

WHIRLWIND TOURS -- Adventures for the Weather Enthusiast! Travel Tornado Alley thisSpring with an experienced storm chaser. Featured on NBC's I-Witness Video and anupcoming National Geographic Special. Two-week tours, $1600, ground transportation andlodging included. For more information, send SASE to: Marty Feely, 707 W. TimberdellRoad, Norman, Oklahoma 73072.

Screenwriter Jim Reed is writing a one-hour TV special entitled STORM CHASERS: RIDINGTHE WILD WIND. Reed, who is a trained spotter and chaser himself, invites weatherenthusiasts and fellow chasers to contact him at 316-262-3887, or write Tornado AlleyProductions, 400 West Central, Suite 1909, Wichita, KS 67203.

NO CHASERS ALLOWED?

I. COMMENTARY

Imagine no chasers allowed in any National Weather Service. Gone are the days when you could talkwith your weather service friends and compare notes on an upcoming or past severe weathersituation. Gone are the "free" products you used to get. You would have to use an expensivelaptop computer and download weather information from an expensive weather data retailer all thetime. Guess what? This may be reality unless EVERYONE shows a bit more courtesy.

I've been hearing some rumors for quite some time that a few chasers are not behaving themselveswhile visiting the National Weather Service. Unfortunately, these rumors became reality when Ireceived a letter from the Amarillo office (see enclosed). It seems like a few chasers arespoiling it for the rest of us. I think most chasers realize that if we want a P25 (surfaceweather map), we ask for it. If we want the raw SAO's (surface observations), we ask for it. Ifthere are many chasers in our group, only one requests the weather information. Chasers shouldnever sit down at the AFOS terminal and begin typing into the computer, unless they have specificpermission to do so.

Most chasers I know are courteous. Many chasers actually help the weather service by reportingwhat they have seen, and by sending them videos and slides for spotter training. It's incredibleto me that some people actually take others' food and beverage out of the weather servicerefrigerators. Just think of the weather services reaction if such chasers actually brought thema box of donuts and a six pack of beverage. If the situation doesn't improve, don't be surprisedto find a sign on the door of the weather service saying chasers are not allowed.

II. CHASER NEWS

MASA: Milwaukee Area Skywarn Association, 1537 South 81st Street, Milwaukee, WI 53214. Anyone can join.Write for details.

Mark your calendar! The 1994 ANNUAL STORM CHASER PARTY will be held on Sunday, May 22, 1994 at the editors'house unless there is a slight risk or better for the plains states. The alternate date is the followingSunday, May 29, 1994. If that day has a slight risk or better too, there will be no chase party! It's comeone, come all, beginning at 1pm. You must bring your own food, drink, and most favorite tornado video! Call214-317-7910 after May 20th, for party updates via a recorded message.

HIP HIP HOORAY! STORMTRACK finally broke even financially in 1993 (a first! ) thanks to the additionalrevenue from advertising. Many of you have asked that the magazine be expanded by having additional pagesof text or improved with color photographs. Having 22 numbered pages in each issue (instead of 14) wouldraise the subscription price by $6/year (without any additional advertising) . Color photographs on eachcover would also be an additional $6/year. Such additions would actually double our subscription price.Thus, in order to keep STORMTRACK as inexpensive as possible, we'll stay with the current format (unless Iwin the Texas lottery! ) --the editor.

Don't wait until the last minute to find your chase partner. Put your name and address with a briefbiography in our ROSTER section. Don't call me in May saying you have no chase partner. Prepare now! Youhave until March 1, 1994 to put your name in the next issue and it's free!

III. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

VINCE MILLER poses an interesting question: "After reading Bill Reid's article in the lastSTORMTRACK, I wondered how unusual it is for significant western high plains storms tooccur in late July and August? Nobody has really been looking for them and there is a lotof wide-open spaces for them to still remain hidden. For example, no chasers were on theJune 15, 1990 storm in southwestern Nebraska which produced a 1.5 mile wide tornado. AsBill Reid pointed out in his article, Colorado's deadliest tornado occurred on August 10,1924 near Thurman. Southeastern Wyoming has been hit hard several times after July 15th.The Cheyenne tornado occurred on July 16, 1979, not to be outdone by the flash flood eventof August 1, 1986 (12 deaths). An F3 tornado occurred on August 2, 1986 in the MedicineWheel District of the Big Horn National Forest in far northern Wyoming."

BILL READ, MIC in WSFO-HOU writes: "We had another November tornado outbreak in theHouston area this year. Three separate supercells formed ahead of a cold front during themorning hours on November 16th. The most significant storm produced five tornadoes,including the one near downtown Houston. That tornado was the only one to hit anystructures and it caused 26 injuries due to flying debris. We rated it F1 hut feel it wason the low end of that scale. Once again, a number of windows popped out of a high riseoffice building. Can you imagine what at CAT 4 hurricane would do? Tornado 04 formed overLake Houston and was observed by the "dam" operator. There was no video as ceilings werelow and visibility was only fair. Most people who saw the downtown storm only did so as itwas upon them. Once again, the WSR-88D provided magnificent data and we were successful inour warning efforts."

CHRIS VINCENT enjoyed his first high plains storm chase experience and it was alsoeducational. "I was with Marty Feely for the period May 30 to June 5 and then followed himfor three more days and one day on my own. I met my goal on June 2nd when we intercepted asupercell storm just north of Springfield, CO and followed it or its "offspring" toLiberal, KS. For hetter or worse, it looks like I will be returning next season, sincethere is no way I can observed storms like that in Michigan."

IV. ROSTER

The ST Roster lists names, addresses, and brief biographies of those persons who are interestedin or willing to correspond with others about storms and storm chasing.

CHRIS VINCENT, 2350 Valley Dr., Ypsilanti, MI 48197, ph: 313-572-0953. I am 43, self taught withsome equipment. I would like to establish a contact in the south Denver to Pueblo, CO area.

BETSY ABRAMS AND MATT CROWTHER, 1315 Iverson St., Atlanta, GA 30307, ph: 404-588-9015. Ages 36and 38, respectively. Looking to share costs with one or two chasers. We have a cell phone,scanner, laptop computer, sling psychrometer, Cb radio, and a Ford Explorer. We are experiencedchasers that work as senior meteorologists with the WEATHER CHANNEL. Our chase range is you nameit. We ended up in Saskatchewan in 92."

CHARLIE NEESE, 44 Sta-Les Cove, 04, Jackson, TN 38305, ph: 901-668-8794. I'm a weekendweathercaster at the ABC affiliate in Jackson. I'm taking correspondence classes in BroadcastMeteorology at Mississippi State to further my weather skills. I would like to correspond withother chasers to learn more about forecasting tornadoes in the Plains. I'm also interested inhearing from any ST subscribers in Tennessee."

PAUL STEIN, 311 Toftrees Ave, 0340, State College, PA, 16803. I'm 25, a private meteorologist whowould love to go on my first storm chase(s) this April and May. I am looking for a moreexperienced chaser(s) to learn from, and would help pay for gas, food, and my own lodging. If youhave room, give me a call: 814-234-8557.

FUNNEL FUNNIES: Fast Storms of March

FOTO FUNNY

Folks in Knoxville, Tennessee sure knowwhere to get their tornadoes. They go tothe R.F.D. (Rear Flank Downdraft) shop.Photograph by Dave Ewoldt.

A Look At Hodographs, Helicity, and Supercells by Jon Davies

Just what is a hodograph' And what does it have to do with thunderstorm rotation or potential for tornadoes? Tim asked meto write this article to give interested storm enthusiasts a better idea of how wind profiles impact supercell thunderstormformation and forecasting tornadoes. He also asked me to try to explain things in general terms, without being too picky ortoo scientific. So, here goes...

One way to visualize a hodograph is to imagine yourself several miles up in the atmosphere looking down from a stationaryposition directly above the location from which a weather balloon is released. If a solid line were traced out by the balloonas it ascended, this "curvy/wavy line" you would see from your position looking directly down would essentially be the"hodograph", a pattern traced out by the balloon as it encountered different winds at different levels as it rose toward you. Ahodograph, then, is one way of representing graphically the vertical pattern or profile of winds measured from a specificlocation during a certain time.

One can plot up a rough hodograph by using the wind speed and direction information from several points or levels in thevertical. For example, if one has the observed wind data for several levels from a weather balloon sounding (such as,surface: 160 deg at 15 kts, 925mb: 190 deg at 35 kts, 850mb: 210 deg at 40 kts, 700mb: 220 deg at 35 kts, and 500mb: 240deg at 45 kts), each level can be plotted as a vector "arrow" drawn from the center (origin) of the hodograph diagramshowing a magnitude and direction of force (wind speed and direction) applied by the wind at that level. The tips of thevectors can then be connected by a line to form a rough hodograph:

For a number of years, meteorologists have recognizedthat supercell thunderstorms (storms that have a persistentrotating updraft) are associated with environments thatcontain a certain general type of wind profile. This windprofile is represented by a hodograph that loops or curvesclockwise, such as the hodograph at right. The reasonwhy this type of wind profile can induce rotation on athunderstorm updraft is not simple, and here we will onlytry to touch on visualizing the process in a general way.

In the hodograph example above, the wind at the groundis from a southeasterly direction, but as we ascendthrough 850mb (roughly 5000 ft

above sea level), the winds become stronger and come from an increasingly westerly direction. The wind at 700mb (roughly10,000 ft above sea level) is even more westerly, although speed drops off a little. With this type of wind profile, if we hadsome way of suspending or "floating" a giant football several thousand feet in diameter above the ground, we would see thefootball begin to spin and move northward, similar in some ways to a spiraling football thrown in a northerly direction by aquarterback. In other words, the forces applied to the football by the wind profile would cause it to spin, and in this way wecan therefore say that the wind profile contains some amount of "spin".

What might happen if a thunderstorm were to develop within this wind profile containing "spin" Let's visualize one of ourspinning footballs being pulled into an organized thunderstorm updraft. The football, initially spinning along a horizontalaxis, would probably be turned on its side and end up spinning along a vertical axis as it was accelerated upward into thestorm updraft. In other words, the "spin" would be "tilted" into the updraft, causing the updraft itself to begin rotating.

While this is far from a perfect analogy (air is a compressible "invisible" fluid, not solid like a football), it does allow us toput together a mental picture of how a thunderstorm updraft might begin to rotate as it "ingests" and tilts the "spin" present ina wind profile represented by a clockwise looping hodograph.

Apart from just looking at hodographs to see if they loop nicely, how might one go about assessing from hodograph tohodograph the amount of apparent potential for rotation in a given wind profile? Dr. Robert Davies-Jones at the NationalSevere Storms Laboratory has developed a computation that is useful for assessing the amount of "spin" available for tiltingto initiate rotation in an updraft. This computation is called helicity. Without getting into a technical physical discussion,helicity amounts to an area "underneath" or "enclosed to the right" of a hodograph shape, which we can measure forcomparing hodographs to see if one wind profile has more helicity than another.

One fly in the ointment here is that the amount of helicity depends on a storm's motion. The storm's movement "creates"additional wind from the storm's point of view, the same way driving your car with the windows down makes it "windy"inside the car, even on a calm day. Obviously, we don't know a storm's movement in advance of when it forms. However,because helicity is a fairly conservative quantity (meaning it doesn't vary that much with relatively small changes in thewind profile or storm motion), we can make an educated guess regarding storm motion and calculate a rough "potential"helicity for a wind profile based on this assumed storm motion.

There are a number of ways one can come at calculating an estimated storm motion for a given wind profile. One simpleway for a storm enthusiast to make a very rough but quick and workable guess is simply to average the values of winddirection and wind speed for the wind profile points you have available. With the hodograph/wind profile on the previouspage, we have data through mid- levels (500mb or roughly 18000 ft above sea level), and can average direction(160+190+210+220+240 divided by 5 = 204 deg) and speed (15+35+40+35+45 divided by 5 = 33 kts), coming up with arough guess of 205 deg at 33 kts. (It would be more reliable to have wind data at least up through 25,000 to 30,000 ft, or400 to 300mb.) Because supercells tend to move to the right of this mean wind due to strong and continuous updraftdevelopment on the storm's right (south) flank, it is good to add 20 or 30 degrees to the right of this averaged winddirection, and slow the speed of movement down some, say, to 75% of our averaged wind speed. Adding 30 degrees to ourmean wind, and slowing it down by 25% gives us 235 deg at 25 kts for our guess at storm motion for supercells that mightdevelop in our example wind environment.

Now, to allow us to compute a helicity value, we plot ourstorm motion guess as a vector arrow, starting at thecenter/origin of the hodograph diagram, as shown above.To enclose an area that represents helicity, draw twostraight lines from the tip of this vector: one to thebeginning of the hodograph (the point on the hodographthat represents the surface wind), and another to the pointon the hodograph that represents 700mb or roughly10,000 ft above sea level. This "pie-shaped" arearepresents an estimation of the helicity present in thewind profile covering the inflow layer of a potential storm(roughly the first two miles or three kilometers aboveground).

Remember to consider that locations in the high plains (such as Amarillo and Goodland) are between 2500 and 5000 ftabove sea level, in which case it would be best to look at helicity that extends somewhat above 700mb in order to bereasonably consistent in comparing the same general depth above the ground when looking at different hodographs.

To come up with a helicity value, all we need to do now is compute the area of our pie-shaped enclosure. Note that thehodograph diagram background we've used is made up of uneven "boxes" that result from directional lines (emanating fromthe diagram origin) that intersect the circles representing wind speed in knots. Although these boxes are not consistent insize, I've found (on average) that if one takes each box to represent roughly 30 m2/s2, and counts up the approximatenumber of boxes that make up the helicity "area", a storm enthusiast can make a very rough "ball park" estimate of thehelicity in the wind profile for an assumed storm motion. In the example on the previous page, I count the equivalent ofroughly 9 "boxes" in the pie-shaped area; 9 x 30 computes to a helicity value somewhere between 250 and 300 m2/s2. Ofcourse, the helicity area can be computed much more accurately by storm enthusiasts with some background intrigonometry and computers.

When we look at helicity, we're looking at a key factor in the potential for supercells. The possibility of tornadoes is onlyimplied because of their association with supercells. As experienced storm chasers know, probably less than 50% of allsupercells produce tornadoes. Supercell-related tornado development is not really understood yet, and depends onadditional factors such as downdraft orientation and mid-level wind strength, as well as localized factors that are difficult ifnot impossible to measure with science's current capabilities. However, with that said, when helicity is considered incombination with instability, stronger combinations of helicity and instability imply stronger potential for supercells, whichin turn often implies more potential for tornadoes.Concerning helicity guidelines, work by Dr. Davies-Jones and Don Burgess indicates that tornado-producing supercells tendto be associated with helicity values greater than roughly 150. However, as work by Bob Johns and John Hart at theNational Severe Storms Forecast Center shows, the degree of instability is also important to consider. If instability is quitestrong, isolated supercells that form when helicity values are only around 150 can produce strong or violent tornadoes. Atthe opposite end of the spectrum, very large helicity values (400 to 500 and greater) don't necessarily mean that tornadoeswill occur: among other considerations, remember that at least some instability is needed to support thunderstorms to beginwith, or else helicity values are essentially meaningless.

A problem for storm enthusiasts (and forecasters) when using helicity is that wind profiles change during the day; morningsoundings are usually not very representative of afternoon conditions. Most of us don't have real-time access to data fromthe new network of profilers in the central U. S. that measures wind profiles remotely and continuously by using Dopplerprinciples. However, one source of information that I've found useful is the so-called "FD winds aloft" forecast data basedon the National Weather Service's NGM forecast model. For Accu-Data users, this information is available using thefollowing commands:

"MED FDUS11 KWBC 12z" and "MED FDUS12 KWBC 12z" accesses 6 hr forecast winds from a.m. (12z) data"MED FDUS13 KWBC 12z" and "MED FDUS14 KWBC 12z" accesses 12hr forecast winds from a.m. (12z) data"MED FDUS15 KWBC 12z" and "MED FDUS16 KWBC 12z" accesses 24hr forecast winds from a.m. (12z) data

Using "00z" instead of "12z" accesses data from the p.m. (00z) model run. These winds are usually available by 10:30 a.m.or p.m. CDT (9:30 a.m. or p.m. CST).

One can plot up rough hodographs using this forecast information combined with an expected estimated surface wind (theFD forecast doesn't output surface winds). If the model data is forecasting or handling a weather system well, thisinformation often turns out to be quite workable for assessing upcoming wind profiles over an area. At the top of the nextpage is a forecast hodograph from May 9th last year which saw several strong tornadoes in north-central Texas. For contrast,a forecast hodograph the next day associated with non-tornadic severe weather from the same system over the MississippiValley is also shown:

6 hr forecast 12 hr forecast

Note that the hodograph and helicity for the 5/9/93 case is quite similar to our earlier example. You can use the above datato check yourself on hodograph plotting, estimating storm motion and helicity.The blank hodograph diagram below is shown so you can make copies for your own experimentation this spring. Or, youcan make your own with a ruler and protractor.

Although the above material is not easy to absorb, this discussion will hopefully help weather enthusiasts have a bettersense of how wind profiles are a key factor contributing to supercell thunderstorm development. And maybe it will help ona chase day forecast or two. Have fun!!

NORTHERN PLAINS SUPERCELLS By Dave Floyd

June 7, 1993 was a GREAT day. Over 610 miles logged in 10 hours, and two tornadoes on video.. not bad for a Monday. Looking back, it was the chase highlight of the year for myself andthe rest of our chase team as we didn't see much action during the annual May trip to theSouthern Plains.

Actually, June 7th almost seemed too easy. Several days prior, the models indicated apotential severe weather event Monday or Tuesday over South Dakota and Minnesota. I woke upMonday morning to a high risk across southwestern Minnesota. Fortunately, I planned to leavework early. Other members of my chase team included Bob Adams, Scott Woelm and Craig Wolsky.Scott had to do some fast talking at work, but eventually all of us worked out a solution tobegin chasing by early afternoon. My vehicle was ready to roll: camcorder, camera, computer,cellular phone, maps and radios were all in place. The car was all gassed up.

I couldn't concentrate on my work Monday morning. Meteorology Operations at work was buzzingwith severe weather talk. Jim Foerster was the senior forecaster. He knew I was geared up fora chase, and he briefed me on every new piece of data as it arrived. The morning maps lookedawesome. A surface low over South Dakota was progged to deepen to 985mb, 45 knot 850mb windsblew from the southeast, and a 110 knot southerly diffluent jet was poised overhead at 300mb.By 11:00am, I made the decision to leave work at noon and head to the Sioux Falls, SouthDakota area with Craig. Scott and Bob went in a second vehicle and wouldn't be far behind.

Technology was with us. While Craig was driving west on I-90 to Sioux Falls, I was in theback seat pulling live radar and graphics via cellular phone. Bob and Scott were right behindus in constant communication. We heard a tornado watch was issued, and storms were firingwest and northwest of Sioux Falls. We were still 45 minutes away, but it was only 3:30 pm. Aswe neared Sioux Falls, local radio and NOAA were relaying numerous tornado warnings. We beganfocusing our attention at a dark region along the horizon where a cell was intensifying. InMinnesota, we don't have the luxury of a dryline and good visibilities. The tornadoes are often obscured in haze and low stratus. A dark spot on the horizon is typically all you'll getfor a clue to storm location since you often can't see building towers or anvil materialthrough the low overcast and haze. We headed for the storm, noticing that inflow wasgreat..30-40 knots from the southeast. We knew we were getting close.

In less than 10 minutes, we were topping a small hill heading west. "Tornado, Wedge Tornado"came crackling between vehicles over the radio. (Actually, the commentary was more colorful). Sure enough, a large, mature tornado was rolling across the mostly . open farm fields. Weheaded north in pursuit at a safe, but shall we say "brisk" speed. Radar reports indicatedthe storm was moving at 35 knots. To me, it was north at 50 knots! We kept up with the stormfor at least 15 minutes, staying parallel with it at a distance of about 6-8 miles. We didn'thave time to get closer. The tornado remained about 1/3 of a mile wide, definitely in the"strong category". A large swath of dry rear flank downdraft air began to wrap around thestorm, easily seen on our video. After 20 minutes, the first tornado turned northwest andoccluded, and a second tornado formed several miles in front of us. We pursued it, but treesand small hills kept obscuring our view as we scrambled to get back to I-29 and head north.

By 5:15 pm we had bagged two tornadoes. What was the rest of the evening going to bring? Notto be greedy, but I wanted more! Well, let's just say we chased until sundown, but no morevortices for this crew. We had a lot of fun chasing the rest of the evening, but at 8:45 pmit was time to go home. Still, three camcorders captured the event, and the next several dayswere spent retelling the same stories over and over to friends and co-workers.

June 7th was a successful chase day. The dynamics were strong, and they performed well forus. We basically drove from the Twin Cities directly to the correct cell north of SiouxFalls with minimal delay. (Some skill .. some luck) . We got two tornadoes on video, andbest of all, we made it back home safe, we had fun and we learned a little more about howMother Nature works. Even without the tornadoes it would have been a good day..not a GREATday..but a good day!

Closing in on wedge tornado -- taken from video

17TH SLS CONFERENCE: FILM AND SLIDE FESTIVAL by Tim Marshall

The American Meteorological Society 17th Conference on Severe Local Storms was held thefirst week in October, 1993 at the Regal Riverfront Hotel in St. Louis, MO. One of thehighlights of the conference was the film and slide festival, actually held on two nights.Several hundred people attended including many chasers. The moderator was Dr. Bill McCaul.The following summarizes the evening activities.

Dr. Robert Schlesinger started off the night with storm slides from Madison, Wisconsinincluding a downburst over Lake Mendota. Ron Przyblinski of the National Weather Servicein St. Louis followed with slides of the Woodward, OK tornado on May 26, 1991. Bill Readof the National Weather Service in Houston presented video clips of the November 21, 1992tornadoes near Katy, TX. Roy Britt had amazing tornado video shot on November 22, 1992along the Ohio River. Tom Grazulis wowed the audience with Bill Reids' Last Chance,Colorado wedge and the Fritch, TX tornado. Dr. Joe Golden and Dr. Howie "Cb" Bluesteinshared slides from their recent successes in chasing waterspouts off the coast of theFlorida Keys. Howie also showed his phenomenal Red Rock, OK wedge captured on April 26,1991 as well as the tornadoes near Kremlin, OK on April 12, 1991. What can I say. The manhas incredible skill and luck.

Jon Davies presented his "Behemoth of Beloit, KS" bagged June 15, 1992. Jon also was quitesuccessful on May 5, 1993 in the Oklahoma panhandle, a day he'll never forget! Greg Stumpfacquired tornado footage from Lazbuddie, TX showing merry-go-round vortices. He also setto his own music a number of chases involving the Cimmaron County, OK tornado on May 11,1991, a swishy Colorado landspout on June 26, 1992, the Argonia-Wichita, KS tornadoes onApril 26, 1991, a dirt-filled tornado near Laverne, OK on May 15, 1991, and theClearwater, KS tornado on May 16, 1991. Brian Smith followed with aerial photography ofthe tornado damage at Andover, KS, and Tampa, FL.

Bill Barlow "bagged a beaut" near Red Rock, OK tornado, and was on the same road as Dr.Bluestein. Peter Neilly had scooped various tornadoes from the summers of 1992 and 1993.Grant Goodge had astounding lightning video taken from his garage atop a mountain ridge inthe Appalachians. Bart Hagemeyer pelted viewers with his accounts of the Orlandohailstorms in March, 1992. Mike Leduc 3-D'd the crowed with a tornadic storm in Ontario,Canada on May 31, 1985. Paul Sirvatka had damage shots from the Plainfield, IL tornado.

ONE OF THE WORST by Brad Harold

Toledo's newspaper, The Blade, stated that "It was one of the worst tornado disasters in thearea in more than 25 years. It was a miracle no one was killed." On Sunday, July 12th, atleast eight tornadoes ripped through northern Ohio, with damage tracks as long as 80 miles.SELS did have our area in a slight risk, but it wasn't until my NOAA weather radio went offuntil I began paying more attention to the weather.

The morning sky was overcast and there were low visibilities due to fog and someprecipitation. I heard about a squall-line over southeastern Wisconsin and northeast Illinoismoving very quickly to the east-northeast. The line was progged to reach our area by mid-afternoon. A Severe Thunderstorm Watch was issued at 5pm for most of northern Ohio. By thetime the watch box was in effect, the line of storms was already in Toledo's area of warningresponsibility. At 5:05 pm, the weather service office in Cleveland notified the weatheroffice in Toledo that a storm with a top of 60,000 feet was moving into the area. The level 5echo extended to 42,000 feet with the level 6 echo to 35,000 feet! The storm already hadproduced a tornado in Fulton County at 4: 52 pm.

At 5:15pm, Rich Barnes at the Toledo weather office went upstairs to the observation room.Much to his surprise there was a wall cloud southwest of the airport. He shouted to us and wewent outside to get a better look. Winds were blowing out of the southwest with brilliantcloud-to-ground lightning bolts all around. Hailstones began falling, at first it was a few,but then they became more frequent. Suddenly, Rich felt his hair stand on end. He quicklystarted towards the door when a bolt of lightning struck nearby. Rich was fine, hut he didn'tgo outside for any more weather observations the rest of the day. Hail reached 1.25 inches indiameter and we had a peak wind gust of 56 knots (64 m.p.h.). The airport, including theweather service, lost power and our electric generator did not come on. At 5:19pm, passengerswere abandoning aircraft including the window clad waiting area at the airport. I waswondering if the situation could get any worse.

Then, tornado sirens blared minutes later. Eyewitnesses reported a tornado in Whitehouse,just southwest of Toledo. The tornado damaged some homes before striking Anthony Wayne HighSchool. F2 damage was reported. Skywarn reports were coming in faster and faster. Perrysburg,a southeast Toledo suburb, was the next community to be hit. The tornado had crossed theMaumee River and damaged several homes along River Road.

The next day, I went out to survey some of the tornado damage with some of the weatherservice personnel. Refer to the enclosed photographs. Our survey was cut short as we wereunder a moderate risk, so we headed back to the office just after 3pm. As soon as we got backto the weather office, a severe thunderstorm warning was issued. At 3:51pm a severethunderstorm watch was issued and at 4:35pm, the first tornado warning went into effect forHancock County.

On July 14th, it was another repeat performance. Most of Ohio was again in a moderate risk. Alow pressure center in southwest lower Michigan was progged to move along a cold front. Thefirst report of severe weather was a tornado sighting near Kendallville, IN at 3:10pm EDT,about 25 miles west of the Indiana/Ohio border. The tornado moved east at 30 mph and producedan eight mile long damage track. It caused over $5 million dollars in damages and 25injuries. Over 200 homes, 23 businesses, and two apartment buildings were damaged, the worstbeing F1. The newspaper reported some oddities like a gravestone weighing more than 1,500pounds was blown onto the next plot, however, two small urns with flowers were left standingon either side of where the stone was. One man reportedly leaped across the basement to grabthe ankles of his screaming wife to keep her from being sucked into the roaring vortex! Who'da thought that northwest Ohio was in tornado alley!

Wall cloud moving into Wood County, OH(Brad Herold)

Damage to Anthony Wayne High School (BradHerold)

Collapsed roof section on high school(Brad Herold)

Damaged home near high school (BradHerold)

Destroyed garage (Brad Herold) Buckled wallin house (BradHerold)

Chain link fenceat high school(Brad Herold)

Bolted sill plate in garage (Brad Herold)

Damaged homes on river road (Brad Herold)

HOW TO HITCHHIKE SUCCESSFULLY ON A CHASE by Dave Keller

Some chasers interpretation of the weather maps this Sunday afternoon took them tonorthwest Oklahoma whereas other chasers saw the temperature and moisture tongues pointthe way to Wichita, Kansas. Both interpretations yielded tornadic storms this day.Hopefully, my story will be a memorable lesson to all involved in the some times macabreworld of storm chasing.

Let us cut directly to 6pm in the evening. I am driving west on the "Potwin via CountyRoad" north and west of El Dorado, KS and the Kansas turnpike. Several storms, in a west-northwest east-southeast line are developing interesting rounded frisbee- like bases, withwall clouds that go crazy in about three minutes. The cores of these storms are somewhaton the thin side, and slope towards the northeast. This situation was analogous to May 19,1990, when a line of storms with similar "spaceship bases" floated in harmless formationover Oklahoma City. None of these spaceship storms produced tornadoes, nor did the May 18,1990 storms near Weller and Perryton, TX. I felt I needed a different storm. The compositeradar on TV showed the big Woodward storm, already tornadic. With my defeatist attitude, Iwas ready to leave. Perhaps some little cells south of Pratt would develop. As I wasdeparting the scene thinking about how long this possible detour would take, I saw TimMarshall who had pulled off the road onto a two wheeltrack access road that went into afield.

"Where's dinner", I cried. "I don't know, but I haven't eaten in a long time" Timresponds. We were both already resigned to the fact that these saucer based storms wouldnot make tornadoes. "I was heartbroken when the first storm just dissipated before myeyes", he says. Over the hill come a herd of cattle trying to listen in on our despair. Wespeculate on how the heard would look with a tornado in the background or better yet, A-1sauce on them.

It begins to rain, just hard enough for us to head to our cars. "I'll pull up beside you,and we'll talk window,.to window", I said. Little did I realize there was not enough roomto pull alongside Tim nor did I hear Tim screaming Nooooo like Mr. Bill. The next thing Inew, my car was in the bar ditch, leaving my right rear wheel six inches in the air. Tallgrass on each side of the road apron had obscured my view of the Grand Canyon of all barditches. I screamed toward the rainfilled sky, "I'm stuck in a ditch, and can't escape." Awall cloud forms and begins to rotate just to our west. Tim makes the comment "Need a ridestranger. Maybe a tornado will get your car out of the ditch." With that invitation, Ihitched a ride in Tim's car, and we drove five miles down the road to watch.

Other chasers, viewing our storm to the south, say that a wonderfully thick, quilt- likecumuliform backsheared anvil grew with sudden ferocity. Tim and E only saw the furryunderneath, where this nearly unnatural phenomena "the tornado" spun down to the ground.The Storm Gods tried over and over again, 10 times in all, to lift my car from the ditch.There were cones, ropes, elephant trunks, multi-vortices and all forms in between. Theyall missed my car. Either that or my RAINEX worked better than I thought.

Tim drove me back to a service station in Wichita where at midnight, I had no trouble atall finding a towing service that could winch me out of the ditch. About 4 a.m, and $75poorer, I headed my abused vehicle home.

EL DORADO, KS MEGASUPERCELL: MAY 26, 1991 by Tim Marshall

I called off the chase picnic as soon as SELS (Severe Local Storms Unit) upgraded theirconvective outlook from a slight to moderate risk of severe storms. If ever there was a daywhere the morning outlook changed, it was May 26th. At 12Z SELS said: "Low level moist layerand very steep lapse rates will contribute to lifted indices between -8 and -11 across theTX/OK panhandles and western KS this afternoon with the dryline providing the focus forsevere development. Farther north... strongest low level directional shear across portions ofNebraska and South Dakota and Wyoming. Isolated supercells could also produce tornadoactivity southward along dryline as stronger mid.-level winds move through the outlook area.Activity will likely spread across central and eastern Nebraska and South Dakota ...tonight."

At 15Z SELS said: "Stronger low level jet than progged in TX/OK panhandles coupled with shortwave moving into the high plains from NM and good low level convergence on surface boundaryacross KS... redevelopment of severe storms by mid afternoon into much of KS seems assured.Isolated supercells likely both on dryline and east-west KS boundary with tornadoespossible."

Gee, with words like ASSURED and LIKELY, it seemed like I'd be fishin' in a stock pond. The11 am surface data indicated there was an east-west stationary front across southern Kansaswith almost a 20 degree temperature drop from Ponca City, OK to Hutchinson, KS. Winds werelight and variable north of the front and southerly south of the front. There also was anorth-south wind shift line extending from Dodge City, KS southward to Wichita Falls, TXwhich represented the western edge of the deeper moisture. Dewpoints were near 70 degreeseast of this line over most of Oklahoma and the dewpoint axis intersected the front nearWichita, KS. I liked both the dryline- front intersection in northwest Oklahoma and theWichita area where high dewpoint air would be forced to rise over the front. I placed myforecast ellipse parallel and ahead of the front extending from Orienta, OK to El Dorado, KS.I also marked an "X" with a circle around it near Medicine Lodge, KS and posted the map on myfront door for any chasers who didn't get my recorded phone message stating the chase partywas cancelled! (Little did I realize some chasers thought this was a joke -sorry Marty) . Atnoon, I knew the only way to get to Kansas from Dallas in a hurry was I-35.

With cruise control and a bag lunch, I headed to Kansas. (The nice thing about going on achase by yourself is that if you bust, no one will know! That is unless you meet anotherchaser on the road, and then you'll need to make up some excuse like you were visiting yourgrandmother, etc.) Not everything about today looked promising. Negative features includedwarming aloft which would strengthen the cap, and weakening surface winds, some even weresouthwesterly. Passing through Oklahoma City around 3pm, I heard the latest thunderstormoutlook: "The best chances for severe storm development will be in the northwest counties,closest to the Kansas border." Hmm, I considered driving northwest to Woodward, hut the skytold me to go further north. There was a cluster of towering cumulus distant north whereasall the other cumulus were flat. Anyway, I still could exit at Rt. 64 and head west throughEnid if I had to. After a quick pit stop in Guthrie, I continued north on I-35 towardWichita.

At 4 p.m., while approaching Rt. 64, I saw a storm anvil distant north. I was now underneaththe cluster of towering cumulus that were highly sheared to the northeast. Then, I heard thata tornado watch box was issued for Kansas only. There was no doubt now I'd be heading forKansas. At 4:30 pm, a severe thunderstorm warning was issued for the isolated storm to mynorth just as I reached the Kansas border. I commented on my tape recorder, "Nice backshear,frothing cirrus, dome subsiding." Then, another new tower rose up in back of the main cloudtower. At 4:39 pm, the new tower reached anvil level and two minutes later there was a largeovershooting top. What buoyancy, I thought. The dome extended several thousand feet above theanvil and was as wide as the main cloud tower. I fumbled around the car trying to take stillphotographs, shoot video, tape record quick soundbites, and drive!

As I approached Wichita at 5 p.m., the storm had moved east to near Towanda. A tornadowarning was issued when a spotter sighted a funnel cloud. As if on command, the Interstateturned northeast at Wichita toward the back edge of the storm. It was eerie photographingthis LP storm while passing twisted metal and broken trees due to the storm which occurredon April 26, 1991. At 5:30 pm, I finally caught up with the storm and as you guessed it,the storm collapsed right in front of ne. I felt betrayed. Now what do I do? I didn't wantto just turn around and go home and I didn't even have a grandmother in Kansas. So Iwaited and listened to the radio.

About 40 minutes later, much to my surprise, three small Cb's developed to the northwest.The calm winds at my location went southeast at 20 gusting to 25 mph and I was back inbusiness! I headed north on Rt. 77 from El Dorado and turned west on a secluded paved roadand parked on a small dirt apron that lead to some farmers field. Ah...just me and thestorm. Within minutes, all three storm towers had cloud striations at mid-levelsindicating rotation; the northeastern most storm even had a stair-stepped rain free base.

Dave Keller raced past at 6:30pm, slammed on his brakes, and backed up to say hello.Suddenly, it began to rain and Dave shouted that he'd pull his vehicle alongside mine.Dave didn't realize that I was on a one vehicle apron with steep, grass covered barditches on both sides of me. Before I had a chance to stop him, he drove his car rightinto the ditch and did a good job too! Suddenly, I had a chase partner.

Dave left his car in the ditch as a sacrifice to the storm gods and we proceeded south onRt. 77 to get out of the rain. Just after 7pm, we turned west off the highway onto a dirtroad to get a better view. Wow, the storms had merged into one massive base. A wall cloudformed and began rotating almost immediately. Small pencil-shaped funnels dipped from thewall cloud. This was incredible as only one hour earlier there were no storms and a bluesky! At 7:12 pm, the rain and hail tapered off and we exited the vehicle. I left the taperecorder on:

Tim: Alright, we have a rotating wall cloud here. Take lots of photographs. Wow. This isone of the best storm structures I've seen.Dave: Do you see the scud down by the telephone poles? It's worth keeping an eye on.Tim: Yep. Look at this tail cloud coming in from the north.Dave: Oh, the wind is picking up. It's coming to a definite focal point. I'm getting mytripod out. Setting up the cameras. We have a funnel, possible tornado. Alright, we aregoing to have ourselves a tornado here. Here we go!Tim: Alright, tornado! Very nice tornado! Taking pictures.Tim: What a boss storm, look at this thing go!Dave: I like it.Tim: I coming to Kansas every year.

Suddenly, a large cone-shaped funnel formed to our northwest and dipped toward the ground.The funnel hesitated slightly, condensed briefly to the ground, then retreated into thewall cloud for a few minutes until the vortex began roping out. The funnel stretched andtilted when it reached the ground again, this time churning up lots of dirt. The omminousblue tornado sharply contrasted with the peaceful green field in front of us. As thetornado dissipated, a new wall cloud formed southeast of the old one (just to our north)and began rotating violently.

Tim: We are going to have another tornado. No doubt about it.Dave: This is gonna be close.Tim: Holy C'moly look at that baby go!Dave: The wind is picking up. I here the trees. Oh, look at that rising motion inside thewall cloud. That's hefty.Tim: There goes Mr. Funnel -a shooting vortex down. Instantaneous tornado!

At 7:25 pm, a subvortex formed briefly and dissipated. Cloud-to-ground lightning wasintense, so we had to retreat to the car. We followed the wall cloud eastward and watchedit occlude again producing a small funnel, but no more tornadoes. Then, the storm didsomething I'd never seen before. Over the next 30 minutes, the storm developed a southeastflank with a pair of wall clouds in addition to the wall cloud the parent updraft. Daveand I now watched three wall clouds, trying to guess which one would produce next. As wedrove into the city of El Dorado, there were hundreds of people parked along the roadwatching the sky. It seemed like the entire city was there for "tornfest". We decided toavoid the traffic and head east on I-35. As we pulled up to the toll booth, we laughed atthe sign stating the weather conditions ahead were "NORMAL". Only in Kansas!

The middle wall cloud was just ahead of us over the road and was rotating faster than theother two. We stopped just before the west end of the bridge on El Dorado Lake when afunnel extended from the wall cloud. Suddenly, a white froth rose from the water surfacenear '.he east end of the bridge and met the descending funnel.

TIM: Lots of rotation. It's really organizing very nicely.DAVE: Well Tim you made the right choice.TIM: Just having the right luck. Is that motion or what?DAVE: Here we are in the front row. Time is 8:04 pm.TIM: It's on the ground. Look at the churning on the other side of the lake. It's justacross the bridge from us (about 1/2 mile away).

We had a waterspout in south-central Kansas! The vortex made landfall on the east end ofthe lake and condensed to the ground a few minutes later as it stretched and titled. At8:09 pm, Dave shouts "tornado southeast". The southernmost wall cloud also produced atornado on the east side of the lake. A dirt howl formed briefly underneath this funnel.For a few minutes, we had two tornadoes on the ground simultaneously. Then, the stormunderwent another transition. The southern wall cloud became dominant and moved to thenortheast producing another tornado (#5) We followed the tornado northeast and watched twomore tornadoes (#6) and (#7) develop at 8:15 pm. The tornadoes remained at opposite endsof the wall cloud circulation (not subvortices) and lasted about two minutes. Thecirculation then organized and produced a multi-vortex tornado (#8) at 8:22 pm with aseparate tornado to the south (#9) at 8:25 pm. Tornadoes #4 through #9 appeared to havebeen produced by the same updraft and overall circulation, whereas the first threetornadoes had separate wall clouds.

Visibility was reduced due to darkness and rain began moving in from the northwest. Therain curtains parted at 8:29 pm, just as a large V-shaped tornado (#10) developed.Lightning illuminated the tornado and a few tornado-to-ground discharges were observed.Rain and hail finally closed in on us ending our chances of seeing any additionaltornadoes, which I am sure there were. It was interesting to note that tornadoes #3through #10 were observed from the northwest without any rain, although we had fairlystrong north winds. In retrospect, I can only imagine my frustration if I chose not tochase and found myself at home just watching the Weather Channel.

SURFACE WEATHER MAPS

LP storm near Augusta, KS at 5:15 pm (TimMarshall)

Inflow bands, RFB, and anvil at 7:10 pm(Tim Marshall)

Funnel north of El Dorado at 7:30 pm (TimMarshall)

Elephant trunk tornado at 8:10 pm (TimMarshall)