Saturday, September 16, 2006 Bust Chase Through Northern Kansas And Southern Nebraska.

Departed Pittsburg, Kansas: 11:00 A.M.
Arrived Pittsburg, Kansas: 12:00 A.M.
Total Time On Road: 13 Hours

Tornadoes: 00
Wall Clouds: 00
Supercells: 00
Hail: None
Flooding: None

Today's chase is what all chasers hate to see, and that is a busted chase. Severe thunderstorms and a possible tornado outbreak was forecasted for Eastern Nebraska, and Northeast Kansas. A better chance for severe weather was forecasted for Eastern Nebraska. I decided I wanted to get as far north as possible, so I would have a better shot at bagging the big one.
I headed north on U.S. 69 highway, and then made my way west through Lawrence, Kansas. I made my way to Marysville, Kansas, where I checked data via wifi in a Best Western motel parking lot. After looking at the updated Storm Prediction Center severe thunderstorm forecasts and the current location of the dryline, I decided that I would make my final trek north to Beatrice, Nebraska.
I found free wifi internet in the Super 8 motel parking lot, located on the north edge of Beatrice, Nebraska. I decided that I was in a pretty good location, if storms were going to fire along the dryline in Southern Nebraska today. I waited around for almost three hours, when I decided that if severe storms did develop along the dryline, then it would now likely be after dark.
I saw some pretty pitiful cumulus clouds along the dryline on my way home, and that was about it. I traveled a long way today, and didn't even get to see as much as a drop of rain. That's just the way things go with this hobby. I will probably have to wait until next Spring to get my severe weather fix once again. I just hope we have a more eventful severe weather season next year.
All was not lost during this bust chase. I learned quite a bit about forecasting severe weather, and the science is not perfect. It also taught me that I have a long way to go in my forecasting skills.

Russel Parsons
Pittsburg, Kansas

Tuesday, May 30, 2006 Gust Front Associated With A Non-Severe Thunderstorm Located South Of Girard, Kansas.

Departed Pittsburg, Kansas: 7:30 P.M.
Arrived Pittsburg, Kansas: 8:30 P.M.
Total Time On Road: 1 Hour

Tornadoes: 00
Wall Clouds: 00
Supercells: 00
Hail: None
Flooding: None

A Slight Risk of severe thunderstorms were forecasted for Southern Kansas today, but not much in the way of severe weather materialized. A non-severe thunderstorm rolled into Western Crawford County, Kansas in the late evening. Since there hasn't been much severe weather this Spring, I decided to head out to see if there was a gust front associated with these thunderstorms.
I setup a couple miles to the Southwest of Girard, Kansas. There was not a whole lot to see, but a weak gust front did roll through the area. I have been wanting to try out some new photograph editing software I obtained, so I thought I would take some photographs of the weak gust front.
The software makes a panoramic photograph out of several photographs taken of an object across the horizon. The software stitches the photos together to make a larger photo of the subject. In this case, I was able to use the software to get a wider view of the gust front that rolled into the area. I'm looking forward to using this type of software even more in the future.
I did not get to see much in the way of severe weather today, but I did get to test some new technology.

Russel Parsons
Pittsburg, Kansas

Thursday, May 25, 2006 Jasper And Lawrence County, Missouri Supercell Photographed From Central Jasper County, Missouri.

Departed Pittsburg, Kansas: 6:30 P.M.
Arrived Pittsburg, Kansas: 8:45 P.M.
Total Time On Road: 2 Hours 15 Minutes

Tornadoes: 00
Wall Clouds: 00
Supercells: 01
Hail: None
Flooding: None

Today just happened to be my day off from work, and with a Slight Risk of severe thunderstorms across Southeast Kansas and Southwest Missouri, I kept an eye to the sky and the weather radar.
Later in the evening, a couple of very large supercell thunderstorms developed over Eastern Jasper County and Southern Lawrence County, Missouri. Since these were the only two storms that had developed in the area, they made for some great photographs from a distance.
I have always wanted to take some photos of a supercell thunderstorm from a great distance, but until now I have never had that opportunity. I proceeded to drive to the Southeast of Pittsburg, Kansas through North Central Jasper County, Missouri. I took a few photographs of the storm, from near Alba and Purcell, Missouri. I drove further to the south and took some additional photos of the storm from east of Webb City, Missouri.
The best photographs of the supercell came at around sunset. I was just south of Asbury, Missouri, when the sun was low enough to shine on the west side of the supercell. The supercell also had an over-shooting top at this time, which added even more to it's beauty.
Even though I didn't get to see any severe weather first hand, I did get some great photographs of a very large, awesome supercell thunderstorm.

Russel Parsons
Pittsburg, Kansas

Wednesday, May 03, 2006 Tornado Warned Storm Moved Across Southern Bourbon County, Kansas And Vernon County, Missouri.

Departed Pittsburg, Kansas: 3:15 P.M.
Arrived Pittsburg, Kansas: 5:30 P.M.
Total Time On Road: 2 Hours 15 Minutes

Tornadoes: 00
Wall Clouds: 02
Supercells: 00
Hail: None
Flooding: 01


Today started with a Slight Risk of severe thunderstorm over the Southeastern Kansas area. Since the risk of storms was so close to home, I decided to sit at home and keep an eye on my weather radar computer.
A supercell thunderstorm finally developed to the east of Chanute, Kansas and it was moving slowly due East. I grabbed my chase gear and headed towards Southern Bourbon County, Kansas. This worked out pretty good, as I intercepted the supercell near the county road intersection of Birch Road and 200th Street in rural Southeastern Bourbon County. A couple miles north of that location is where I saw the rain free base and a small non rotating wall cloud. I grabbed a few photographs of this feature and moved on to the east.
I caught back up to the rain free base area, where a saw another small wall cloud, Southwest of Moundville, Missouri. The roads in this part of Vernon County, Missouri were few and far between, and I decided to call this chase off. I ran across quite a few flooded rural gravel roads, and I got some great photographs of the sheared anvil of this great looking supercell thunderstorm as it marched on to the east.
This was a great chase, especially since it was practically in my own backyard. I really enjoy these chases where I can sit at home and watch the storms develop on weather radar, and then drive to them. I got to do this type of chasing quite a bit last year, but this storm season is turning out to be a different story.

Russel Parsons
Pittsburg, Kansas

Saturday, April 29, 2006 Thunderstorm Dumped Large Amount of Rainfall Causing Street Flooding In Pittsburg, Kansas.

Departed Pittsburg, Kansas: N/A
Arrived Pittsburg, Kansas: N/A
Total Time On Road: N/A

Tornadoes: 00
Wall Clouds: 00
Supercells: 00
Hail: None
Flooding: 01

I didn't have to leave home for this flooding event. I took several photographs of flooded streets from the front porch of my residence. My CoCoRaHS precipitation recording station received 1.88" of rainfall between 5:10 P.M. and 6:08 P.M. on the evening of April 29, 2006. My recording station received a total twenty-four hour rainfall from 7:00 A.M. April 29, 2006 to 7:00 A.M. April 30, 2006, of 2.08". This amount of rainfall in this amount of time can cause extensive flooding, especially on poorly drained city streets. Flooding of this magnitude occurs a couple times a year in the neighborhood in which I live. Several people in four wheel drive vehicles were driving through the flooded streets, mainly just playing around. We haven't seen this much rainfall in this short of time, for quite an extended period. Only minor flooding of roadways occurred outside the city limits of Pittsburg, Kansas. This wasn't really much of a storm chase per se, but since I did get some decent photographs of the flooded streets in my neighborhood, I thought I would include them on my website.

Russel Parsons
Pittsburg, Kansas

Thursday, April 06, 2006 Tornado Warned Storms In Northeast Oklahoma, Southeast Kansas And Southwest Missouri.

Departed Pittsburg, Kansas: Unknown
Arrived Pittsburg, Kansas: Unknown
Total Time On Road: Unknown

Tornadoes: 00
Wall Clouds: 03
Supercells: 02
Hail: None
Rain: Heavy Rain

I knew today was going to be a very interesting chase day. The day started with a High Risk of severe thunderstorms in Northeast Kansas, and a Moderate Risk of severe thunderstorms in Eastern Kansas and Oklahoma. I decided to start my chase by driving towards my target area around Yates Center, Kansas.
I made my way to Thayer, Kansas, where I checked radar and other forecast data. I decided that instead of continuing to travel north, my best shot of intercepting severe weather today would be between Bartlesville, Oklahoma and Independence, Kansas. A supercell thunderstorm had developed in Osage County Oklahoma, and I headed south towards this storm.
This supercell thunderstorm was showing signs of rotation, which was detected by the Nexrad weather radar in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I started seeing this tornado warned supercell on the horizon, as I was driving westbound on Oklahoma highway 10 between Copan and Wann, Oklahoma. The rain free base and a small wall cloud was visible, as I viewed the supercell near Copan, Oklahoma.
I proceeded to travel north on U.S. 75 highway between Copan, Oklahoma and Caney, Kansas. I took several photographs of the rain free base of this storm from just north of Copan. I continued north until I got to Caney, Kansas, since I knew I wanted to stay to the east of this monster storm. Approximately two miles east of Caney, Kansas on U.S. 166 highway, I photographed another attempt at a wall cloud on this supercell. The storm then went through some changes, and the road network was not great in my current location.
I continued east on U.S. 166 highway through Coffeyville, Kansas. I went north on U.S. 169 highway, where I intercepted the rain free base of this supercell between Coffeyville and U.S. 160 highway. I traveled northeast along some back roads. The supercell picked up some speed, and I didn't catch up with it again until I got approximately four miles west of Parsons, Kansas on U.S. 400 highway. I saw the rain free base and a small wall cloud once again, but still no lower level rotation. I got to take some photographs of the wall cloud from a location of about two miles west of South Mound, Kansas.
It seemed that I missed out on the best supercell of the day, when tornado damage was reported near Chetopa, Kansas. Since I did not have radar data with me while I was chasing the storm I was on, I missed another supercell that moved out of Northeast Oklahoma and into Southern Labette County, Kansas. I tried to catch up with this storm, and I finally got to see a wall cloud with this second supercell, as I neared Asbury, Missouri. It was getting dark at this time, so after driving east to U.S 43 highway east of Asbury, Missouri, I decided to end this long chase day.
Today was probably one of the longer chases that I've taken part in for quite a few years. I chased in Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri, and I still didn't get to see a tornado. I saw quite a few smaller wall clouds and a couple of large supercell thunderstorms. I also got a few good photographs of the storms. I learned a lot today, and I hope to put my new knowledge to work during the rest of this severe weather season.

Russel Parsons
Pittsburg, Kansas

Sunday, March 12, 2006 Stark, Kansas Fast Moving Wall Cloud & Supercell

Departed Pittsburg, Kansas: Unknown
Arrived Pittsburg, Kansas: Unknown
Total Time On Road: Unknown

Tornadoes: 00
Wall Clouds: 01
Supercells: 02
Hail: None
Rain: None

Today's chase began with a Moderate Risk of severe thunderstorms. As I was monitoring the situation to the west of my home, a supercell thunderstorm developed between Neodesha and Independence, Kansas. Fellow chaser Joey Ketcham photographed this storm, as it moved northeast, near Neodesha, Kansas.
I hopped in my chase vehicle, and proceeded to drive west on U.S. 400 highway. I stopped on the east side of Parsons, Kansas, where I checked weather radar data at a Super 8 motel. For future reference, this motel has wifi access, and I had internet access in the motel's parking lot.
After seeing the location of the supercell on radar, I decided to head north out of Parsons, Kansas on U.S. 59 highway. The supercell was moving northeast at approximately 50 MPH. Moving at this speed, I knew I would only have one chance to intercept the supercell thunderstorm.
I ran into some golfball sized hail approximately three miles west of Stark, Kansas. I figured I had better get out of this beast's way, or I may get more than hailed on. I drove to a location approximately two miles northeast of Stark, Kansas. This is the location from where I photographed a well formed wall cloud that was associated with this supercell thunderstorm. I did not get a lot of photographs taken of this storm, as it was moving very, very rapidly. When storms move this fast, they are next to impossible to keep up with.
I made contact with fellow storm chaser Joey Ketcham via cellular telephone. Joey told me that he got some photographs of this storm earlier, but they could not keep up with it. I met up with Joey in Ft. Scott, Kansas, where we all tried to figure out where we were going from there. We decided to head back towards Pittsburg, Kansas, and hope more storms fired to our west later that evening.
We did get to see some severe storms fire up at about sunset. We drove to the Erie, Kansas area, and we got to photograph a couple of large severe thunderstorms.
Overall, this was a pretty good chase day. I got to see some large hail, and a nice wall cloud. I didn't see any tornadoes, but that's part of the chase. The season is still early, and I hope to have some pretty good chases this year. The supercell thunderstorm I saw earlier this afternoon, continued on its trek to the northeast, and it produced tornadoes throughout Missouri.


Russel Parsons
Pittsburg, Kansas