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4:42pm
- i was on graveyards during this chase. got myself to Lincoln well
ahead of time to evaluate things. the new model data showed the low
would definitely punch south as advertised by the NAM for days. i
drifted over to syracuse for a bit. a cyclonic arc of storms
initiated, and i came back southwest to Adams to see how things evolved on
the tail end (which was precisely where i wanted to be). i waited too
long, as the southern storm rapidly organized and tornadogenesis started
early, regardless of my reasonings for hanging back (85-kt mid-level flow
and high LCLs).
this may've been okay, but there were no paved roads in sight and i had to
take a crappy gravel road south out of
Sterling to try to get closer. the terrain was very hilly, and the
Beatrice tornado was likely ongoing as i caught glimpses of the RFB while
struggling to find a good viewing spot. when I did, the tornado must
have just lifted. i moved west a mile, found a large hill, parked, and
snapped this photo. |
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4:58pm
- the storm definitely had "the look" when i first saw it... with a pretty
nice wall cloud. however, the wall cloud dissolved and a high-based
rear flank gust front surged forward. i hoped the storm was cycling
again. then precipitation rapidly began to fill the downdraft area as
the storm morphed into an HP supercell. you know what they say about
"the best-laid plans"... |
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5:00pm - NWSOAX storm survey indicated a continuous tornado track 34 miles
in length from south of Beatrice through just north of Sterling. if
the "Beatrice tornado" did in fact remain on the ground before it wrapped in
rain, I was too far away to observe this. Regardless, tornadic damage
apparently
occurred within the developing heavy rain core beneath the mesocyclone. |
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5:01pm
- Another shot of this nice HP supercell. |
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5:05pm
- ditto. |
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5:07pm
- ditto. |
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5:07pm
- ditto. it was impossible to discern whether anything tornadic was
positively occuring in here, though this photo seems to show a truncated
tornado "shape" way back in the rain... who knows |
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5:14 -
The storm began to resemble the Knox county TX HP supercell from April 23, 2003.
Pretty remarkable to watch the heavy downdraft precip advance steadily
north-northeastward in the field next to me. Not long after this I
headed back north to Sterling, somehow missing the worst of the rain and
wind within the vault area. The storm report says the long-track
tornado dissipated 3 miles north of Sterling. |
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5:53pm
- a final view of this storm's mesyclone as it moves away from me near
Syracuse. |
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6:47pm
- Looking west from I-29 near the IA-MO border at the next supercell down
the line. This storm produced a neat tornado near Julian NE 10 minutes
earlier, per other chasers. |
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8:31pm
- I continued southward and observed the next supercell in line from
Amazonia MO. It was a tornado-warned HP storm with a pretty nice
sloped wall cloud tucked in the notch... some cloud base rotation appeared
out of this, and just before the rain wrapped around the wall cloud it
almost appeared as though a large funnel descended toward the ground.
Inconclusive to me what it was... maybe precip. I headed south back
home and the final storm in line was tornado-warned coming out of
Leavenworth and Wyandotte counties. The photo here shows the
lightning-illuminated updraft approaching Kansas City north. Only a
couple of intermittent brief touchdowns occurred with this storm...
supposedly one near 152 and North Oak, though this was never confirmed. |
