Wednesday, March 28, 2007 Wedge Tornado Between Booker, Texas And Beaver, Oklahoma

Departed Pittsburg, Kansas: 9:27 A.M. March 28, 2007

Arrived Pittsburg, Kansas: 3:03 A.M. March 29, 2007
Total Time On Road: 17.5 Hours
Total Miles: 900

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

I left Pittsburg, Kansas at 9:27 A.M. this morning, in route to my my chase target of Pratt, Kansas. The 8:00 A.M. Storm Prediction Center convective outlook showed a "Moderate Risk" of severe thunderstorms over most of Western and West-Central Kansas, therefore my chase target would be within this "Moderate Risk" area. Between Parsons, Kansas and Wichita, Kansas I drove through some areas of heavy drizzle and very low cloudiness. This kind of worried me, since I know we needed some clear skies to usher in the heat to fuel the storms later in the afternoon.

I arrived in Pratt, Kansas at 1:30 P.M. where I borrowed wifi internet from the Day's Inn motel located on the east side of town. I also grabbed a bite to eat, while I still had the chance. While checking data, I noticed that the Storm Prediction Center had issued a "Particularly Dangerous Situation (PDS) Tornado Watch for all of the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles. The western edge of the Tornado Watch reached the Texas and New Mexico state line, which told me that the supercell thunderstorms that will fire this afternoon, will be much farther west than I had planned on.

I made the decision to continue southwest from Pratt, Kansas, and try to get as far west as possible. I drove west out of Pratt, and turned south at Greensburg, Kansas. I continued south through Coldwater, Kansas until I came to Woodward, Oklahoma. Before entering Woodward at 5:02 P.M., I scoped out the wind farm on the north edge of town. I got gasoline again and left Woodward south on 34 highway. Some small storms were starting to fire southeast of Amarillo, Texas, so I stayed on my current southwest trek. I turned west on U.S. 60 highway and eventually made my way to Canadian, Texas at 6:35 P.M.

After fueling up in Canadian, Texas, I made the decision to go after a supercell thunderstorm that started getting much stronger to my northwest. The storm was moving almost due north approximately 10-15 miles northwest of Canadian, Texas. I left Canadian on U.S. 83 highway, and then turned northbound on Texas State 23 highway. By the time I reached 23 highway and Uncle Sam Road at 7:20 P.M., a large wall cloud came into view to the north of that location.


This wall cloud continued moving north, just to the east of the highway I was on. I drove by Booker, Texas, and I stopped about a mile north of the town on 23 highway. I was talking to my nowcaster, Joey Ketchum, on the phone, when he said that he had just heard that a tornado had been spotted on the storm I was chasing. About the time he told me this, I looked again, and I saw the beginning of a large wedge tornado start to take shape. I first saw the tornado approximately 2-3 miles northeast of Booker, Texas. The tornado continued its trek to the north-northeast mainly across open countryside.

My only option of getting some decent video and photos of the tornado would be to race east, and capture it crossing the road in front of me. I did not get anymore opportunities to photograph the large tornado while I drove north on 23 highway. I got to U.S. 270/412 highway, and I turned eastbound. I continued about 4-5 miles east on this highway, where I pulled over and photographed the tornado after it had already crossed the highway. The following photographs are of the tornado after it crossed the highway, and it started getting smaller. Before crossing U.S. 270/412 highway, the large tornado caused two fatalities. According to reports the two individuals were seeking shelter from the tornado inside their residence.



After getting these photographs, the sun was going down fast, and it was soon dark. I decided to wait at the intersection of U.S. 270 and U.S. 64 highway east of Forgan, Oklahoma, in order to let the tornadic supercell storm pass U.S. 64 highway before I headed for home. I'm glad I waited, as I would have likely drove straight into the tornado as it crossed the highway east of that location. It caused damage to trees and power lines along U.S. 64 highway, approximately 10 miles east of U.S. 270 highway.

This day started out with my target being Pratt, Kansas. This target soon changed when the dryline decided to setup along the Texas/ New Mexico and Kansas/Colorado borders. I ended up much farther southwest than I expected to be, but overall it was a great chase. I saw a large wedge tornado, which was a first for me. A "Wedge" is informal storm observers' slang for a tornado which looks wider than the distance from ground to ambient cloud base.

This day ended at 3:03 A.M., when I arrived back at home in Pittsburg, Kansas. The extra distance that I traveled was well worth it, after I did get to see only my second daytime tornado. I didn't get into a position to get a lot of photographs and video, but I got just enough to make me happy. This was also my first storm chase in the infamous Texas/Oklahoma panhandles. A special thanks to nowcaster and fellow chaser Joey Ketchum. I couldn't have bagged this one without your help. Also thanks to XM WeatherWorx. This was my first chase with live weather radar beside me in the vehicle. It was rather helpful in keeping track of this giant storm.

Russel Parsons
Pittsburg, Kansas