Wednesday, April 25, 2007 Centrailia, Oklahoma Wall Cloud

Departed Pittsburg, Kansas: 0:00 A.M. April 25, 2007
Arrived Pittsburg, Kansas: 0:00 P.M. April 25, 2007
Total Time On Road:
Total Miles:

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


Today started out as one of those days of, do I go chasing or not? The Storm Prediction Center painted a Slight Risk of severe thunderstorms across Eastern Kansas and Oklahoma. I knew that if severe weather materialized, I would not have to travel very far from home to see it.

I started out by going west towards Parsons, Kansas, where I found some Wifi internet and kept an eye on what was going on in Northeast Oklahoma. I finally made the decision to head south down U.S. 59 highway towards Oklahoma. I took a bunch of graveled back roads into Oklahoma, which did slow me down quite a bit. By the time I had I had gotten to Oklahoma State highway 10, I had my eye on a storm to the south and east of Nowata, Oklahoma that had finally went severe.

I ran into some very heavy rainfall and dime sized hail at the intersection of Oklahoma highway 28 and U.S. 60 highway. I decided to go eastbound on U.S. 60 highway to escape the core of this low topped supercell thunderstorm. Approximately 12 miles east of Nowata, Oklahoma, I ran out of the rain and hail as I continued eastbound. I looked to my south, and I saw a large wall cloud moving to the north-northeast. I pulled over on U.S. 60 highway to view the wall cloud. I stopped and said hello to a couple of chaser/spotters in a black pickup (sorry I didn't get their names). I decided to get on down the road, so I could stay in front of the wall cloud.

I turned north off of U.S. 60 highway onto NS4320 Road at Estella, Okalhoma, until the wall cloud once again came into view. Near EW0200 Road, I stopped and took some video and photographs of the well defined rotating wall cloud. After sitting here for a few minutes a man and little girl on an four wheel ATV came up to the other side of the fence along the road, and asked me what I was doing. I showed them the wall cloud (less than 1/4 mile away) I was looking at, and I told them that it could drop a tornado at any time. They decided to get the heck out of there, and seek cover. They had no idea that they were under a tornado warning, and the man had been driving the four wheeler towards the wall cloud when I first saw him.


The wall cloud tried to spin up a funnel cloud approximately 2 miles southeast of Centrailia, Oklahoma.



I continued to stay in front of the mini supercell and wall cloud, but the wall cloud never stayed very defined after this. It went through some cycles, and I didn't get to take anymore photos of the updraft/wall cloud until I got about two miles noth of Welch, Oklahoma, on U.S 59 highway. The storm finally died down quite a bit after I last saw a small wall cloud on the east side of Chetopa, Kansas. I continued following the storm, until I core punched it south of Hallowell, Kansas. The core of the storm only contained very heavy rainfall and 30-35 MPH wind gusts, at this point.

For a backyard chase, I was really happy with the success that I had today. I wasn't really expecting all that much, but the chase was well worth it. This has been one of two local chases so far this year around home, and it's nice to finally not have to drive hundreds of miles to see the good stuff :)

Russel Parsons
Pittsburg, Kansas

Tuesday, April 24, 2007 Nickerson & Sterling, Kansas Tornado

Departed Pittsburg, Kansas: 8:53 A.M. April 24, 2007

Arrived Pittsburg, Kansas: 1:36 A.M. April 24, 2007
Total Time On Road: 16 Hours
Total Miles: 648

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

Today’s chase started out with a moderate risk of severe thunderstorms in Central Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. I determined that my storm chase target for the day would be Wellington, Kansas. Today was my dad’s second storm chase with me, and it turned out to be a pretty good day. I stopped by and picked up dad around 9:30 A.M., and we headed west towards Wellington, Kansas via U.S 160 highway across southern Kansas.

We arrived in Wellington, Kansas around noon, where we met up with fellow chasers Joey Ketchum, Chris Wilburn, Tyler Constantini and Jay Cazel. We set around the Wal-Mart parking lot on the east side of Wellington, Kansas for awhile, until some storms started firing to the southeast of town. This line of storms was mostly junk, and after moving to a better position east of Interstate 35 we all determined that this was not the main event of the day. All we could hope for were more discreet supercell thunderstorms developing along the dryline later this evening. We did get to see the Doppler On Wheels (DOW) truck and the Tornado Intercept Vehicle (TIV) for the first time in my chase career near the Interstate 35 and U.S. 160 exit ramp.

We ate some lunch in Wellington, and after checking data we made the decision to make the trek to Newton, Kansas via Interstate 35/Interstate 135. We once again checked data at a truck stop near the interstate highway. I got to meet storm chasers Tony Labauch and Verne Carlson here, before Joey, Chris, Tyler, and Jay decided to continue northbound to McPherson, Kansas. Dad and I decided to stick around Newton, where I had data access in a motel parking lot. After sitting on the parking lot for a little while, we started noticing some cumulus cloud towers start to go up to the west of Newton.

To get a better view of the towering cumulus clouds, we drove westbound on U.S. 50 highway towards Hutchinson, Kansas. Dad did a great job of playing the part of navigator, and he guided me to our first wall cloud of the day four miles south of Sterling, Kansas. We stopped at KS 14 highway and West 82^nd Avenue, where we took some photographs and video of a large wall cloud with a pronounced “Beaver’s Tail”. The wall cloud was moving towards Sterling, so we decided to book it on down the road to stay to the east of it. We went north through Sterling and stayed on mostly paved roads to the northeast of town. This supercell quickly became part of a line of storms that we followed to the northeast of Sterling.

Tornado warnings went out for a new storm that formed on the southern end of the line of storms we were chasing. We chasers call the most southern storm associated with a line of storms “Tail End Charlie”. The most southern storm in a line of storms, seem to get the best ingredients to work with. (ie. warm-moist inflow winds not being cut-off by any other storms in the area) This happened to be the case with this particular supercell thunderstorm.

Dad and I ended up intercepting this supercell at the intersection of Aveune Y/West 108^th Ave and 19^th Rd/N. Salem Rd on the Rice and Reno County lines, approximately three miles southeast of Sterling, Kansas. We witnessed a very large inflow band leading to a wall cloud under the rain free base of the supercell. We also witnessed the wall cloud produce at least three or four different funnel clouds, and at times there were two funnel clouds appearing at the same time. We did not witness a tornado (circulation on the ground) at this location. We started to get into a little bit of rain at this location, so we decided to head to the northeast, so we could stay in front of the rain and hail associated with this storm. We barely made it back to a paved road, without getting stuck on the dirt road we were traveling on.

We stopped again at Avenue X and 22^nd Road in southern Rice County, where we witnessed circulation and dust/debris on the ground to the southwest of this location. I took some photographs and video of the weak tornado on the ground, but from this vantage point we could not see a condensation funnel associated with the dust on the ground. We decided to move on farther south, in case the weak tornado started moving our way. As we drove south on 22^nd Road/Nickerson Road, we came within ½ mile of the wide area of dust that was circulating on the ground in an open farm field. This circulation was located on the west side of Nickerson Road/22^nd Road, approximately 1 ½ miles north of Nickerson, Kansas. Numerous storm chasers were on an east/west county road taking video and photographs of the circulation, as we

drove southbound.

We continued on through Nickerson, and then eastbound on West 82^nd Avenue, where we stopped for more photographs at W. 82^nd Ave. and Herren Road. The wall cloud was located to the northwest of this location, but we did not witness anymore funnel clouds or circulation on the ground from here. The low precipitation (LP) supercell did have some incredible storm structure, with a very well defined inflow band/notch, and later on an awesome flanking line. This supercell had some of the best storm structure I’ve ever seen on this type of storm.

Our next opportunity for photographs was at Plum Avenue and Center Street, or about eight miles west of Inman, Kansas. The very picturesque supercell passed to our northwest, but it no longer showed any signs of a well defined wall cloud. The inflow band and flanking line were still visible from this location, but we soon lost our daylight. Shortly after the sun had set, we decided to call it a successful day, and start heading for home. We ate dinner in Wichita, and headed back home via U.S. 400 highway.

I learned to be careful on dirt roads in unfamiliar territory, since we very easily could have gotten stuck southeast of Sterling, Kansas. I also learned a lot more on how to interpret WeatherWorx radar and the actual location of a storm. This was a successful chase, with some awesome storm structure, a few funnel clouds and another close call with a weak tornado.

Russel Parsons
Pittsburg, Kansas

Saturday, April 21, 2007 Storm Chasing Near Amarillo, Texas

Departed Pittsburg, Kansas:4:00 A.M. April 21, 2007

Arrived Pittsburg, Kansas: 6:00 A.M. April 22, 2007
Total Time On Road: 26 Hours
Total Miles: ~950

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

Fellow storm chaser Joey Ketchum and I left Pittsburg, Kansas bright and early this morning at 4:00 A.M. From Pittsburg, we headed south to Welch, Oklahoma where we picked up fellow storm chaser Chris Wilburn. Our chase target for the day was Plainview, Texas, which is located between Amarillo and Lubbock in the Texas panhandle. Everything with the forecasts were looking really good for tornadoes to occur near our target area. We got on Interstate 44 near Miami, Oklahoma, and proceeded to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where we picked up fellow storm chaser Mike Scantlin.

This was my first chase with a group of storm chasers in one vehicle, as I haven’t had a regular storm chase partner since the early 1990’s, when I was attending the University of Kansas. With a vehicle full of severe weather junkies, we headed to Oklahoma City where we got on Interstate 40. It was a long clear shot to Amarillo, Texas from there. I say clear shot, but we did drive through some light drizzle and fog, as we traversed Central and Western Oklahoma. The skies became partly cloudy, by the time we arrived in Amarillo, Texas around 1:00 P.M.

We all made the choice to hang around the east side of Amarillo, where we were able to use the WiFi for internet access at a visitor’s center. We all didn’t need the WiFi, since Chris had a Cingular card for his laptop computer, so he could receive internet access pretty much anywhere on the road. I was really impressed with this service, but I will stick with my XM WeatherWorx radar for the time being. We set around the visitor’s center parking lot, and we noticed some cumulus clouds trying to go up to the east of Amarillo. We drove a few miles east of town on Interstate 40 and watched the Cumulus try to develop into storms. The first storm of the day started developing near Hereford, Texas, or about 40 miles southwest of Amarillo. Let the chase begin!

We decided to head back through Amarillo where we turned south on Bushland Road. We continued south on South Blessen Road and met up with 168 Highway. We turned westbound on 1062 Highway and then northbound on 809 Highway. Our location was now approximately sixteen miles northeast of Hereford, Texas. This put us into a position to view the rain free base/updraft portion of the developing supercell thunderstorm.

We continued northbound on 809 Highway and we paralleled the storm that was to the west of our location. We stopped and took some photographs and video of the developing wall cloud a couple of times, but the storm never really did get its act together. The one thing I did notice while photographing the storm was the very strong inflow winds (~35-45 MPH). I was attacked by large tumble weeds and sand each time I got out of the vehicle. The most we saw from this storm was a nice wall cloud near 809 Highway and CR-22. We continued northbound on 809 Highway, got back onto Interstate 40 and then drove eastbound.

This was the point that Chris and I both quit getting live weather radar updates. We later found out that this was due to a National Weather Service weather feed problem, but at the time we wasn’t sure what had happened. As we neared Interstate 40 and Frying Pan Road, I heard Chris say something about looking to the south of the interstate. As I looked straight south of Interstate 40 at this location, I saw a small tornado on the ground less than fifty yards from the interstate. The debris in the weak tornado consisted mostly of tumble weeds, but the tumble weeds were definitely traveling in a circular motion at ground level. I told Joey to step on the gas and get us out of the path of the weak tornado, but we still got blasted by inflow winds out of the southeast, of approximately 50-60 MPH. The vehicle I was riding in got rocked by lots of tumble weeds and trash that was lying along the road. However, the vehicle did not receive any damage due to these strong inflow winds.

We stopped just to the west of Bushland, Texas, and I did get some photographs of the upside down bowl shaped lowering that produced this weak tornado. I could not tell if the tornado was still on the ground, since the Bushland grain elevator obscured my view. The tornado never did produce a condensation funnel, as far as we could tell. There’s nothing like having a close call with an invisible tornado, and we were lucky that it was a very weak tornado. I did read some other chaser’s reports where they were caught in this same tornado on the interstate. They reported that they received a flat tire from the debris, as they drove through the tornado.

We decided to stay to the northwest of Amarillo, as another low precipitation (LP) supercell storm was moving our way from the southwest. We saw the storm, as it moved off to the northeast, but it was very uneventful. This decision to wait around for this LP supercell would prove to be a time consuming mistake on our long trek back home.

A tornadic supercell was located to our southeast, as we drove east through Amarillo on Interstate 40. We ended up having to wait for this rotating storm to pass over Interstate 40, before we could head home. We waited for almost an hour, and decided that it was safe to head out, but we still ended up driving through some very heavy rainfall. We never did get into any large hail, but we drove through very heavy rain for about 30-45 minutes before we finally got through it. It was now dark, and we had a very, very long trip home ahead of us.

After we dropped everyone off, Joey and I got back into Pittsburg, Kansas around 6:00 A.M. I had two firsts on this particular chase. This was the first time that I chased with a group of people, and this was the longest storm chase trip that I have ever been on. It was also the closest I have ever come to being inside a tornado!

The main thing I learned on this chase was that I can’t depend on XM WeatherWorx radar to keep me safe during a chase. The radar itself updates every five minutes, but the actual storm location on the radar screen is not the exact location of the real life storm that I’m chasing. I still must depend on all the visual clues that I have learned over the years, and weather radio reports, in order to stay safe on my future chases.


Russel Parsons
Pittsburg, Kansas

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

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

Sunday, November 27, 2005 Tornado Northeast Of Erie, Kansas

Departed Pittsburg, Kansas: 2:30 P.M.
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.

Tuesday, September 13, 2005 Storm Chase Crawford County Kansas & Barton County Missouri

Departed Home : 4:00 P.M.
Arrived Back At Home: 9:00 P.M
Total Time: 5 Hours

Tornadoes: 0
Wall Clouds: 1 (Start To Finish)
Funnels: 0
Supercells: 1
Scenery: Awesome mammatus around sunset!!


At approximately 3:30 P.M., I was awoken from a sound sleep by my weather radio. A severe thunderstorm warning had been issued for Neosho County Kansas. I forced myself out of bed (I work the night shift) to take a gander at the weather radar. Nexrad weather radar showed a supercell storm in central Neosho County, and it was moving east-northeast. I decided to get my camera gear and weather radio together and I made a target of an area between Girard, Kansas and Walnut, Kansas.

I left my residence in Pittsburg, Kansas at 4:00 P.M., and I headed west out of town. I caught site of the rain free base of the severe thunderstorm approximately three miles northwest of Girard, Kansas. I stopped to take some photographs of scud clouds being sucked into the updraft of the storm approximately 1/2 mile north of Kansas 47 Highway on North 120th Street. There was not a wallcloud at this point, but you could tell where the updraft was located under the rainfree base of the severe thunderstorm. Crawford County was placed under a Severe Thunderstorm warning for this storm.

I continued to travel northbound on North 120th Street and then I turned eastbound on West 630th Avenue, in order to stay to the east of the east moving supercell. I continued eastbound on West 630th Avenue until I stopped at Kansas 7 Highway, 1 mile north of Girard, Kansas, and West 630th Avenue to take some more photographs. The storm really started to get going at this point, and I saw a well defined rotating wallcloud approximately 1 1/2 miles to my west. A tornado warning was issued for Crawford County Kansas shortly after I arrived at this location. There were also a lot of low hanging scud clouds near the wallcloud, with a lot of vertical motion.

I continued east on East 630th Avenue, in order to stay in front of the tornado warned storm approaching my location from the west. The storm was moving east at about 25 MPH. I stopped again near East 630th Avenue and North 180th Street to take some photographs of the rapidly rotating wallcloud to my northwest. I called the National Weather Service in Springfield, Missouri to the report the rapidly rotating wallcloud. I continued east on East 630th Avenue and I turned north onto North 190th Street, as the wallcloud was drifting to the east-northeast. I turned east onto East 640th Avenue, which took me through the small town of Arma, Kansas. The tornado sirens were blasting away as I was passed through Arma.

I decided to stop at the intersection of East 640th Avenue and North 230th Street for some photographs of the wallcloud as it passed over the west edge of Arma. The wallcloud was still rotating vigorously as it passed directly over Arma, and continued on its trek east-northeast towards the small town of Mulberry, Kansas. I continued eastbound on East 640th Avenue towards Mulberry. I took some photographs of the rotating wallcloud from the west city limits of Mulberry, as I looked back to my west-northwest. The wallcloud continued to move east over the north part of Mulberry, Kansas.

As the wallcloud entered Barton County, Missouri, it had dissipated. I followed Missouri "P" and "K" Highways into Liberal, Missouri, where the wallcloud showed signs of reorganizing. I headed south out of Liberal, Missouri and turned back east on NW 20th Road. The wallcloud continued moving eastbound just to the south of the City of Liberal. When the wallcloud approached the area just north of NW 20th Road and NW 110th Lane, it started rapidly rotating once again with a lot of vertical motion in the area of the wallcloud. I photographed the wallcloud from this intersection.

I continued east on NW 20th Road until I stopped again for photographs at NW 20th Road and Missouri 43 Highway. The rotating wallcloud passed approximately 3/4 of a mile north of this intersection. I once again contacted the Springfield, Missouri National Weather Service to report what I was seeing at that time. The meteorologist at the weather service hinted that the low dewpoint depression in my current location was the likely cause for no tornadoes with this storm. I continued to parallel the wallcloud on NW 20th Road until the tornado warned supercell became outflow dominant to the west of the intersection of NW 20th Road and U.S. 71 Highway. The wallcloud completely dissipated, and the National Weather Service shortly cancelled the tornado warning for this storm.

This was an awesome mid September supercell storm, which presented a great chance for me to chase not very far from home. I didn't get to see any funnels or tornadoes, but I will take storm structure like what I got with this storm any day.

I decided to make a dash back to the area northwest of McCune, Kansas to await another tornado warned supercell in northern Montgomery County, Kansas. By the time I got approximately 8 miles northwest of McCune, Kansas, the sun was starting to set. I did get some great pictures of some mammatus clouds, along with the setting sun. The mammatus was located under the backsheared anvil of the Montgomery County tornado warned storm.

I stopped on a tall hill approximately 2 1/2 miles northwest of McCune, Kansas and played around with taking some lightning photos with my digital camera. I finally had a little luck with getting some of my better lightning pictures I have ever taken. Lightning photography is still a really new endeavor for me. Guess I have to start somewhere.

I headed back towards Pittsburg, Kansas and home. As I was on my way home, I got hammered by 50-60 MPH winds with a severe thunderstorm warned storm that was moving east through Crawford County. Overall, I couldn't haved asked for a better close to home storm chase, especially in the middle of September.

Thursday, June 30, 2005 Storm Chase Labette & Crawford County Kansas

This post will be updated as soon as possible.

Saturday, June 04, 2005 Storm Chase Northeast/East Central Kansas

Departed Pittsburg, Ks.: 11:00 A.M.
Arrived Pittsburg, Ks.: 12:00 A.M.
Total Time On Road: 13 Hours
Total Chase Miles: 500

Tornadoes: 0
Supercells: 2
Hail: Penny
Wind: 45-50 MPH
Shelf Cloud: 1
Scenery: Unlimited


My dad and I left Pittsburg, Kansas around 1100 hrs, with a target area to the southeast of Emporia, Kansas. We grabbed some data from wifi at a truck stop (Beto Jct.), located at the junction of I-35 and U.S. 75 Highways. We decided to travel west through Emporia, and then north to Council Grove. Stopped downtown Council Grove to get some radar data using wifi. I decided I didn't really want to chase anything north of I-70 today, so we turned around and headed back south, as lone cell (at the time I checked radar anyway) was popping in NE Butler county and heading northeast toward Emporia area.

By the time we got far enough south, cells started to become linear, however got a couple of pix of the north side of the decent looking Butler County storm we were after. We headed back home, after enjoying the beauty of the Kansas Flint Hills(worth the trip), and even got hailed on in Greenwood County by a severe storm(lots of marginally svr wind too).

Got home around midnight after driving a total of 500 miles. Overall, somewhat disappointing day, as I was expecting more supercells, but nontheless not a bust. I did get to see severe weather, which I enjoyed just the same. There will always be a next time.

Russel Parsons
Pittsburg, Kansas