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Western Oklahoma - 6 April 2001
The Friday before Friday April 6, one of my co-workers at the Oklahoma Climatological Survey was im'ing with Justin Lane at the National Weather Service office in Norma, and Justin called April 6 a potential "tornado armageddon". I was a little doubtful, but I became somwewhat excited, and as the 6th approached and things came together, I was very excited!
The SPC issued a High Risk in the western Oklahoma and Kansas area, and supercells were expected ahead of the main squall line. It was a cloudy, but muggy day as Dusty picked me up at 12:30 and we picked up Kyle Mozley at Sarkeys. There we teamed up with Aaron, Chris, and Laura. Between the two cars, we had a ham radio, video camera, weather radio, and the portable tv that I had just bought (which came in handy later!). After finally getting out of Norman, we headed up I-35 towards Tonkawa, and then went west on US 60. Winds were strong from the south, giving Dusty an incredible crosswind as we headed west. At 3:00 we stopped in Lamont, where I called back to my boss, Mark Shafer, who told us to keep going west. The NWS and Mesonet were having a bad day, but from the products that he could pull up, things hadn't started just yet, but we needed to go west to intercept. He told us the panhandle looked like it was clearing.
After that we passed our first dead cow on the side of the road. It was sad, but almost comical with its legs sticking up in the air. Later as we crossed the Glass Mountains (mere hills from where I come from), we almost hit a bird trying to cross the road against the 40 mph crosswind. A couple of minutes after that we saw our second dead cow as we started breaking the persistent cloud deck and notice tiny little cumulus clouds trying to rise against the cap. We noted that spot and headed west toward civilization to call back to Norman and get the latest data. The weather radio reported that there was a tornado watch in extreme Western Oklahoma, which was encouraging. Finally we arrived at Mooreland, just east of Woodward, where both Mark and Javier told us that things were happening, and Javier saw some clearing along the OK/TX border. We decided to head SW after Woodward toward the Gage/Ellis County area in search of supercellular development ahead of the squall line. We didn't want to venture into Texas to allow the storms to build. We also lacked a eastern road as an escape route. We decided to take US 283 south, with paralled the border, and we would then use US 60/SH 51 as our eastern escape route.
On US 283, Dusty almost hit a dog as it chased a tumbleweed across the road. We were the only cars on the entire stretch of road and the dog had to run out ahead of us! At the intersection of US 283 and US 60/SH 51, we noticed a few chasers on the side of the road. We pulled over and saw a whole bunch of people from OU! Ironically, Dusty's roommate, Nathan, was there, along with his girlfriend and a few other people. We struggled to get pictures as the 40 mph wind gusted even higher. However, off to the west, we could see the squall line beginning to approach. No supercells formed though. The others drove toward the west on US 60, while Kyle decided we should try to go east toward Arnett, and then south. After doing this and pulling off, we decided to backtrack back north to Arnett, as the squall line was headed east at speeds in excess of 65 mph with cell movement toward the NNE. (Dusty has a report that at one time the storms were moving at 95 mph in the Texas panhandle!)
Just to the east of Arnett, we could see a very large portion of the line, and could see a couple parts of it trying to rotate. As the storms quickly approached us, the sky turned an ominous green color. We camped in Arnett for awhile as we saw the storm lower in a few places. It was trying to produce a tornado, but couldn't. One odd thing we noticed is that the storm had little in the way of lightning and thunder. I only remember a few strokes. This was true throughout the chase. As the precipitation began, we sped east in the direction of Harmon and Vici. We had a hard time outrunning the line, for it was going 65 mph and we were only doing 70. Time slowed down as the action intensified. We were constantly listening to the radio, and they reported a couple of tornado warnings for the exact area where we were.
We pulled off the side of the road a couple of times to snap pictures and look for rotation. At one stop, I pointed out to Kyle a suspicious wedge-like shape to the south. What we saw was a funnel cloud and may have briefly been a tornado. (There was a reported tornado about 10 miles or so to the south. We were at a high spot, so we're not exactly sure what we saw) As quickly as it formed, it jumped back into the sky. To the south, we saw some impressive RFD's (rear flank downdrafts). Kyle noted that we seemed to be in a lower precipitation area and decided to let the line pass as, for it was becoming increasingly hard to outrun it. As it passed, golf-ball sized hail fell around us and heavy rain obscured our visiblity. We then drove through Vici and saw the damage the winds had done. Tree limbs were everywhere, and we almost hit a piece of sheetmetal as it was blown across the road. We learned later that the Baptist church in Vici lost its steeple from the 60 mph plus winds. As we tried to keep up with the line and punch the precipitation core from its backside, we kept an eye toward the southeast. The storm kept on trying to rotate, but couldn't come together.
We knew that we were in the right spot, for we passed a spotter for the radio station as he was on the air. Along the way, I was able to pick up a radar image on my tv, and that the radio station we were listening to was broadcasting. The radio reported that the storms were slowing down and weakening a little. In Seiling, we took US 270/281/SH 3 to the southeast as we continued to follow the line. We had to back off a couple times for visibility from the rain slowed us. At 8:30, as it got dark, we saw a textbook shelf cloud to our SE. Shortly after that, Dusty was forced to pull of the road as 60 mph RFD winds pummeled us. After they passed, darkness stopped the chase. The storms then moved off to the east, where they died as they hit a stronger cap.
At Pizza Hut in Watonga, we reviewed Chris's video, and Kyle pointed out the "beaver tail" of the storm back in Arnett as it tried to produce a tornado. After a filling meal (where we ordered way too much pizza), we headed back to Norman. It was a great chase and I was really glad Kyle was there to guide us. We were in the only area that had tornado warnings issued and we saw a possible tornado. The NWS hasn't confirmed anything yet. We were also disappointed with the lack of supercells, but all week forecasters had struggled with the cloud forecast, and there was too many to allow vertical development ahead of the line. We were impressed by both the nonconvective winds and the winds from the storm, which had blown two trains off the tracks in Canadian, Texas. From about 7:00-8:30, it was an intense chase, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Kyle's expertise and great contacts with Mark and Javier kept us afoot of what was happening, and the data they gave us was invaluable. Many storms along the line had severe thunderstorm warnings, but we were at the place where two tornado warnings were issued. Although the day didn't live up to its supercell expectations, the squall line created good sized hail, strong winds, and a couple of possible tornadoes. (map) The experience was intense and draining, and I slept very well that night!
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