Diary WeatherBug StormChase 2002

Day 12, May 26th 2002

Route: From Burkburnett, TX to South Bend, KS.
Highlights: Three severe thunder storms with two tornado warnings
Text: Eric Terpstra

Our last week of chasing starts today and we have some hope to see a tornado in the next few days. Today it looks like we could see a good seized storm, but we will have to see if a twister touches down.

The night was very short because we have to drive a lot of miles, all the way to eastern Nebraska. At 7 AM we start driving. As we drive along empty highways in western Oklahoma, we see some lightning to the east, but these are weak storms.

In the early afternoon we have to take another good look at the weather maps, because a difficult situation is taking shape. Storms have fired in Nebraska along the cold front, but we suspect these will not be rotating storms, ones which could spin a tornado. The dry line seems to be far to the west in eastern Colorado and a line of thicker cumulus clouds is right across the central parts of Kansas. After some deliberation we decide to head east to the cumulus clouds. As soon as we do this, a storm develops to the south and we're in business.

Late in the afternoon we chase our first storm, but it does not seem to be rotating at all. We decide to go south to a more promising one south of Russel. Just before we reach this one, a tornado warning is issued. But we're not very lucky. The storm dies on us and the warning is dropped. Another storm north of Great Bend is our next goal. Again a tornado warning is issued and even sighted by a trained spotter. We are very close so we have high hopes to see it. However, about 10 minutes later we have the storm to our NW, but the tornado already disappeared. We wait for about 15 minutes, but this one dies on us as well. While driving to our motel, lightning is dangerously close, but our van protects us.

Around 9.30 PM, 12½ after we started driving, we finally find a motel in Great Bend in the central part of Kansas. Tomorrow seems to be either the Texas Panhandle or Iowa, so another day with changes for seeing our tornado.