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