Chase 2024
Target: Alta Vista, Kansas
Late initiation target in the Flint Hills of Kansas yielded excellent storm structure and a strong tornado at sunset. We started the day along Interstate 70 near Maple Hill, expecting warm sector convection just south of the northward advancing warm front. Initial towers went up north of Newton, Kansas and drifted northward toward I-70 as they matured. We took Highway 177 south from I-70 toward Alta Vista as the multiple updrafts consolidated into a dominant right-moving supercell that trekked toward the northeast, just north of Highway 4. We took Highway 4 eastward toward Dover, Kansas. The occluding circulation passed just behind us as it crossed Highway 4, then produced a strong tornado just northeast of Alta Vista. Initially the tornado was a well formed cone, but shortly thereafter lost it’s full condensation funnel. The tornado continued northeast toward the interstate, with the tornado dissipating before it arrived to Alma, Kansas. We followed the supercellular complex north of Topeka, and eventually gave up the chase at Hunter’s Ridge.
Supercell and tornado just northeast of Alta Vista, Kansas
Target: Caney, Kansas
Storms forming over north central and northeast Oklahoma were forecast to quickly move into southeastern Kansas. With initiation expected to be early, we attempted to get to southeast Kansas by mid afternoon to follow the fast moving storms back to the northeast. We intercepted the storm near Caney, Kansas, watching it intensify with increased lightning activity. Due to the storm movement toward the east-northeast around 50 mph we quickly shifted east along HWY 166. As we approached Tyro, Kansas there was a suspicious rising motion under a very low wall cloud that may have been a brief tornado; however, we were unable to confirm that was the case. Wind blown baseball-sized hail followed us as we moved east through Coffeyville. As the storm moved northeast toward Altamont, Cherokee, and Pittsburg we fell behind and ended the day in a field just east of Oswego, Kansas. The shelf from the advancing storm passed over us, giving us a good view of a classic whale’s mouth shelf.
Advancing shelf cloud near Oswego, Kansas
April 8, 2024
Target: Carbondale, Illinois
A well advertised total solar eclipse took place across the southern and midwestern United States. The main challenge with this eclipse was navigating the cloud cover that was expected to stream northward ahead of the approaching trough. After watching high clouds move in, we settled on Carbondale, Illinois as a good spot to view totality. We spent a few hours in Carbondale before moving north on Highway 51 to De Soto, Illinois, then east on Highway 149. We found a wide open field about halfway between De Soto and Hurst, Illinois where we watched the total solar eclipse. Totality occurred at 1:59 pm and lasted a little more than four minutes at our location. The air went still. The temperature briefly dropped. And the sunset formed on all sides. Shortly after 2:03 pm the moon moved out from in front of the sun and the eclipse was over. We drove back to St. Louis before returning home along I-70.
Total solar eclipse between De Soto, Illinois and Hurst, Illinois.
Target: Oakley, Kansas
I started the day in Oakley, Kansas on a day characterized by moderate instability and shear, but what raised the ceiling of the day was the outflow from early morning thunderstorms draped across I-70. The boundary didn’t get enough heating on the cool side, so ultimately it acted as a sharp cutoff between healthy and unhealthy storms. The dryline, which was oriented north/south through Oakley developed some marginal supercells, which drifted north, and interacted with the sharp boundary along I-70. My best intercept of the day took place as a storm drifted north of Lake Scott, just south of Russell Springs, KS. I took a few dirt roads over to Highway 25 just north of Leoti, KS and followed the storms to the north, back to the Interstate and the strangling outflow boundary. Upon reaching the Interstate and with minimal prospects I headed home.
VIEW GALLERY
Supercell producing 2-3 inch hail near Russell Springs, Kansas
Target: Mound City, Missouri
While the more explosive environment was anticipated to be in central Oklahoma, we targeted northwest Missouri, as supercells were expected to form near the warm front and strengthen as they encountered the boundary draped across far northern Missouri. We started our day along I-29 in Mound City, Missouri, and ultimately went to the east bank of the Missouri River near Forrest City, Missouri. The general strategy was to stay east of the river, so crossing wouldn’t become an issue. Unfortunately, the storm we were targeting produced a tornado roughly 8-10 miles to our east near White Cloud, Kansas and given the poor visibility we were unable to spot it. The storm quickly crossed the Missouri River and we led it across I-29 toward Skidmore, MO. Ultimately the low LCL and the low promise of a visible tornado caused us to cut loose south of Maryville, MO and head home.
Target: Vici, Oklahoma
We targeted northwest Oklahoma in what was anticipated to be a highly charged environment characterized by 3000+ J/kg of CAPE and strong deep layer and low level shear. The dryline set up across western Oklahoma was the obvious target, so we set up near Vici, Oklahoma as the first storms of the day initiated on the dryline. Given the strong parameter space, we anticipated early tornadoes, but the T/Td depression was likely too high just east of the dryline and the storms struggled. Adding to the struggle of the initial storms was the close proximity of the upstream initiation bringing some seeding to the downstream supercells. As a result we abandoned our first storm near Waynoka, OK to drop to the storm southwest of this first storm. We intercepted the second storm of the day near Mooreland, encountering quarter sized hail as we dropped in. While it demonstrated some promising structure ultimately struggled as well. We abandoned this storm near Cleo Springs, OK and dropped south to the third storm in the line. This storm proved to be the strongest and most photogenic storm of the day. We led the storm eastward along HWY 51 through Okene, as it produced its first and only tornado of its lifespan. The HP mode made seeing the tornado difficult, but the most photogenic portion of the storm was the strong low level differential motion in the low level mesocyclone. While visual of the tornado was difficult, photography and videography may have pulled out some images of the strong tornado embedded in the heavy rain. After multiple intercepts of the inflow region of the storm and being overtaken by the strong, wide, thick RFD we abandoned the storm to the south and ultimately called the chase in Crescent, OK.
Tornadic supercell east of Okeene, Oklahoma
Target: Anthony, Kansas
Starting the day in Harper, Kansas, the initial storms began in the northern Texas Panhandle and moved northeast toward Coldwater, Kansas and Medicine Lodge. I initially made my first move westward through Medicine Lodge, toward Coldwater, but dropped south on Highway 281 to get to Highway 2, which offered a more favorable route in front of the developing supercell just north of the Kansas/Oklahoma border. My first view of the now mature supercell was in Hazelton, Kansas the storm was approximately 10 miles west. I took Highway 2 northeast toward Anthony, Kansas and dropped south 2-3 miles from Highway 2. There I saw a brief tornado form as the storm was going over my previous stop in Hazelton. Several left-moving supercells moved in from the south and obscured any further viewing. After encountering heavy rain and large hail I moved through Anthony and ultimately finished the chase in South Haven, Kansas, once the storm lost its supercellular characteristics.
Brief tornado forms in the distance, near Hazelton, Kansas
Target: Alta Vista, Kansas
Left Kansas City around 4:00 pm to go along I-70 toward Junction City, Kansas as deep convection was ongoing between Junction City and Alta Vista, Kansas. As I approached the storm from the east it began it’s southern turn into the Kansas Flint Hills. Its movement slowed to a crawl as it became nearly stationary just south of I-70. I took Highway 99 through Alma, Kansas then moved west along Highway 4, toward Alta Vista. By this time the storm began to gust out, since it had no forward speed. From just east of Alta Vista there was some marginal supercell structure behind the advancing shelf cloud. At this point it was important to get north toward the interstate before the advancing cluster made it to Highway 99. As we drifted east along I-70 a secondary storm formed along the advancing outflow. Thinking this storm would have a hard time surviving in the outflow I initially dismissed the storm; however as I approached Lawrence, Kansas it developed good supercellular structure, so I dropped south on Highway 59 toward Ottawa. At Ottawa, I was able to drift a little southwest on I-35 before getting off near Williamsburg. Knowing the road network was not great in that area I stayed well ahead of the storm, on Highway 31 between Garnett and Waverly. As darkness settled in, I photographed lightning-lit supercellular structure near Harris, Kansas. Once the storm started to gust out it pinned me along Highway 31 near Harris with heavy rain and strong wind. Ultimately, I was able to bust through the developing squall line back toward I-35 at Waverly before heading home.
Developing supercell near Alta Vista, Kansas