Chase Log: April 30th, 2004


Click on any of the SPC products below (Convective Outlooks, Watches, or MCDs) to see the SPC's "Severe Thunderstorm Events" page pertaining to this event.


MAP

Total Distance: 500 miles
Target Area: Wichita Falls, TX
Chase Area: Ryan, OK, to Weatherford, TX
Maximum SPC Risk category: Moderate
Watches: Tornado Watch 132, Severe Watches 133, 134, 136, and 137
Mesoscale Discussions (MCDs): 512, 515, 516, 517, 519, 521, 522, 523, 525, 526, 527, and 529

We left OUN abt 1:00pm, headed south on I35, then west towards the tor-warned cell near Ryan... Saw some decent structure with this storm, but it was pretty outflow dominant, though it had a very nice shelf cloud for quite some time. Disappointed with the tornado prospects for this storm, we dropped south into Texas and headed into Nocona. It was at this time that we heard of the tornado warning for Love county (the storm we had just left), but discarded it as it looked unimpressive. Seeing on radar more storms to the south, we headed south out of Nocona, going through Montague and Decatur. We had some hope for a cell that was in Jack county, but talk on local spotter network, as well as confirmation by radar while we were in Decatur, showed us that this storm was poor. Feeling rather disappointed, we decided to take one last shot by aiming towards a cell to our southwest in Palo Pinto county. We hauled south and made it into Weatherford around 7p (I think...). At this time, the structure was kind of puzzling to me. We hadn't driven through much rain, just some occassional light rain. However, it really looked like we had a rain-free immediately to our south. Now, I haven't looked at radar to see what the actual storm looked like, but I was imagining a kidney-bean shaped supercell.... Since we hadn't driven through the core, I knew the main core was still west of us. However, the rainfree base / updraft with south of us. Given this, I was more inclined to call the lowering ahead of us (to the south) a shelf cloud, as it appeared to be along the front-flank of the storm. Wrong...

We crossed I-20 in Weatherford and stopped just south of this to view the most AMAZING storm I have EVER seen! The structure on this thing was absolutely incredible... Wow! IT had a very low wall cloud with excellent upward motion for quite some time, and it had a classic striated/stacked plate appearance. Additionally, it had a vivid green-colored core behind it. Still can't put into words how awesome it looked.

As it moved east towards us, we knew we had to get east. Since we wanted to stay a little south of I20, we tried to navigate some back-country roads. This worked well for first 20 minutes, but soon the core started to catch up to us. Something about driving in tree-shrouded, dirt roads with hairpins turns with a strong storm bearing down on you were quite the cause for a very hairy 10 minutes. We eventually emerged from the core as we headed northeast up 377 towards FTW. We stopped in FTW to watch it more, but it appeared to be becoming outflow dominant as the meso occluded. We headed back north towards OUN after this (~8:30pm).

I was feeling great disappointment and frustration with the way the year was going I was sitting in Decatur looking at radar. However, the structure on that Weatherford / Parker county storm definately made up for it, as it was the most amazing storm structure I have even seen. I'd take seeing that again over about half the tornadoes I've seen. The rotation we witnessed with this storm occurred on the south side (which is typical) of the HP supercell. However, since the supercell temporarily broke off from the line, the rest of the line was south of this storm. Essentially, then, there was precip associated with the supercell to the north of the rotation, and a developing bow-echo to the south of this area of rotation. This caused some confusion for me as I was trying to grasp the larger-scale structure of this supercell and the storms immediately to its south.

We did have a lightning strike (CG) hit about half-way across a field while east of Ryan. It was so close, I could literally FEEL it. It was an incredibly uncomfortable situation... I do hope to never be that close to a CG ever again.

NOTE: The video stills below are substandard mainly because of focusing issues. I didn't have time to lock the camcorder at infinity. As such, when it started to rain, the camera focused on the windshield rather than the storm beyond the windshield. Yes, it drives me nuts!

04-30-2004 Chase Pictures

Click on any photo to see a larger version

This was the first storm we approached along the Red River, on the OK side. It did have an intermittent rain-free base, and even a rather large wall cloud when we first saw it. However, this storm looked quite outflow dominant, or at least looked like it was having a very difficult time trying to increase inflow. Coming south after leaving the Ryan, OK , supercell, this beast came into view. I could go on and on about the amazing structure of this HP beast, but I won't. The pictures don't even come close to showing the incredible color and impressive structure of this supercell. At this time, a strong mesocyclone was developing. I could go on and on about the amazing structure of this HP beast, but I won't. The pictures don't even come close to showing the incredible color and impressive structure of this supercell. At this time, a strong mesocyclone was developing. Rotation was very evident under this base. While it looks, at first sight, to be strongly outflow in structure, this is not the case. This cell was originally part of a line, but began to seperate and strengthen an HP supercell. I could go on and on about the amazing structure of this HP beast, but I won't. The pictures don't even come close to showing the incredible color and impressive structure of this supercell. Continued impressive structure! I could go on and on about the amazing structure of this HP beast, but I won't. The pictures don't even come close to showing the incredible color and impressive structure of this supercell. A VERY strong RFD was developing (radar had ~80kts inbound at this time), but strong inflow and rotation continued. We finally got to a good place to stop, and took full advantage. I only wish that these vid stills showed reality a little better. The green/blue color was amazing, as was the overall structure. We finally got to a good place to stop, and took full advantage. I only wish that these vid stills showed reality a little better. The green/blue color was amazing, as was the overall structure. Obviously, the key feature in this pic is the nicely rotating, low wall cloud. While it appears as though there is a hail/rain core to the left of this feature, the main core associated with this store was to the north. Well, actually, this wall cloud developed between these two cores (refer to radar image). Continuing on secondary roads as the rain and hail approached. There were a few times when the structure of this storm looked a little unconventional. While one would expect this part of the storm to be outflow / shelf cloudish, this wasn't the case. This wall cloud formed a little to the east of where radar was showing a decent mesocyclone / rotation. If you relate this to a radar image at the time, you'd see this corresponds nicely with inflow "C" that the HP took on.