Arrived Pittsburg, Kansas: 5:30 P.M.
Total Time On Road: 3 Hours
Tornadoes: 01
Wallclouds: 01
Supercells: 02
Hail: None
Rain: None
My day started off thinking that most of today's tornadic storms would probably occur in western Missouri, and they would be moving very fast when they did develop. However, after keeping a close eye on my Nexrad weather radar computer at home, I noticed that storms were starting to fire in northeast Oklahoma, and then race north towards Montgomery County, Kansas.
I packed my chase gear into my car, and I headed towards an inital target of Walnut, Kansas. By the time I left Pittsburg, Kansas, a tornado warning had been issued for Montgomery and Neosho Counties in Kansas. A tornado had been reported to have touched down near Cherryvale, Kansas with this storm. Before I arrived in Walnut, the storm had weakened and all warnings for the storm had been cancelled.I wasn't going to give up so easy after going this far. I could still see another storm off to the soutwest of Walnut, and I drove west out of Walnut on Kansas Highway 146 to attempt to intercept this storm. Shortly after leaving Walnut, the National Weather Service in Wichita, Kansas had issued a Severe Thunderstorm Warning for the storm I was watching to my southwest.I found a tall hill to set up camp on, which is located 1/4 mile west of Udall Road on Kansas 146 Highway. I couldn't have asked for a better vantage point to witness what mother nature was about to unleash two miles west of this location. The Wichita National Weather Service shortly upgraded the Severe Thunderstorm Warning to a Tornado Warning for northwest Labette County and all of Neosho County.I could already see a wallcloud associated with this tornado warned storm, to my distant southwest. The storm was reported to be moving north around 50-60 MPH. I shot photos and video of the wallcloud and mini supercell as it raced to the north. When the wallcloud reached the vicinity of two miles west of my location, I witnessed for the first time in my life, a daytime tornado! The tornado started small with just a dusty debris cloud on the ground. By the time the tornado crossed Kansas Highway 146, it had grown in size and it was taking on a red color. The tornado continued northbound and I finally lost sight of it, as I was looking at it against the storm's downdraft.After the tornado moved out of my view, I proceeded to the area of Rooks Road and Kansas Highway 146. The tornado had crossed the highway just to the east of this location, and had just barely spared a house on the northeast corner of this intersecion.
Another house wasn't so lucky one mile south of this location. The tornado removed the roof and the north walls of this residence. The tornado also damaged a tin structure to the northwest of this house. Approximately 1/4 of a mile south of Rooks Road and Kansas Highway 146, on the east side of the road, the tornado had overturned a combine which had been located in a hay meadow at this location. The tornado also overturned two large round bales of hay at this location.
This was the only damage that I saw, as a result of this tornado. Overall, I just happened to be in the right place, at the right time. For a close-to-home storm chase, and being towards the end of November, I couldn't have asked for anymore than what this tornadic storm dished out.
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