Up and Down the Plains

This has been a chase of driving endurance. Early in the week we targeted SE Nebraska for the potential for supercells. During the journey we stopped at a couple of areas known for big things (balls and benches). While storms formed along the cold front the CAP held tight in SE NE. Nevertheless we were treated to some structure and experienced 65+ winds and some small hail. A quick 10.5 hour trip the next day put us in the panhandle of TX where we got to see a dying LP cell. Finally another 9 hour trip to south-central NE rewarded us with a beautiful supercell w/wall cloud and funnel. This cell evolved into a small bow and with terrific structure.

Big Ball


Big Bench


Nice Storm

A New Chase Begins

The on-campus students departed OKC on Saturday morning and safely made it back to MSU. Saturday afternoon a new group of Teachers In Geosciences students made their way to OKC to begin an eight day field methods course. Today we had our morning weather briefing and positioned ourselves in north-central OK hoping severe storms would form along a cold front and dry line. We intercepted two storms both of which produced severe hail.

Students begin the waiting game with a geology exercise.


Enjoying watching scud being rapidly pulled into the updraft base.

Coming To An End

The MSU Team spent a couple of nights in Hill City, SD visiting Mt. Rushmore, the Black Hills, and Custer State Park. We then began the journey south toward Oklahoma City where this trip will end. We have seen some incredible storms and great tornadoes. Most importantly we are leaving this trip with more knowledge about severe convective storms.




Today we are driving to Amarillo, TX to see if one of the students can eat 4.5 lbs. of bovine flesh. Check back tomorrow to see if they were successful.

You Just Gotta Have Faith.

This morning the MSU chase team targeted Dupree, SD for the potential for fast moving supercell storms. As we approached Dupree we continued another 20 miles west to setup on the warm front. Storms quickly developed and became severe to our south with the approach of the mid-level trough. The team sat in Faith, SD for approx. 20 minutes watching a severe storm on radar which eventually latched onto the warm front. Within minutes the storm was warned for a tornado. We approached the storm from the north with a large tornado visible at approx. 20 miles away. Continuing south we stop approx. 3 miles from the storm and watched a mature tornado for about 15 minutes prior to the rear flack downdraft occlusion (see video below). The storm briefly weakened and moved north off of the warm front. More video and images will likely be posted. Tomorrow the team will be rewarded with a relaxing trip to Mt. Rushmore and Custer State Park.

Pictures: May 22 Bowdle, SD Tornado

Here are still images from the May 22nd Bowdle, SD tornado

SD Tornado Again

Below is video from our student Will Simmons.

Bowdle, SD Tornado 05-22-10

The MSU storm chase team targeted central SD for the potential for supercell storms. As the forcing moved into the region deep convection began to develop and quickly congealed into a single storm. As the storm matured the team positioned itself just ESE of the mesocyclone. The storm quickly produced a rapidly rotating wall cloud and soon a tornado (see video below). The team moved south and east in an attempt to stay with the storm. The tornado became rain wrapped quickly, but we were able to get a couple of more glimpses at it through the evening. More images and video will likely be posted once we have some down time.

Friday Flyover

Friday the MSU team traveled from Garden City, KS to northeastern Colorado. The cap held tight through most of the area and the team did not see any storms. We did however encounter a flyby from a crop duster (video below).

May 19 Dover, OK Tornado

The MSU team followed a large supercell for approx. 100 miles across northern Oklahoma. Near Dover OK, the team intercepted the multiple vortex tornado in the video below. The tornado quickly became rain wrapped and chased us out of the area. More images and video to come soon.

Tornado and Funnels

The tornado was brief (just a couple of minutes) but we were able to catch a couple of good images (still image at the beginning of movie below). After the tornado we caught some small funnels which appear to be on the outflow of the storm as they are rotating anticyclonic.

One Storm Many Chasers

Chasers converge on the only storm of the day in the northern TX panhandle. Shortly after this video was taken the MSU crew found their first tornado of the chase.

Day 6 Recap

Today was a fun and successful day for the MSU Storm Chase. We chased a supercell from near Dumas, TX to Stinnett, TX and witnessed beautiful supercell structure including numerous wall clouds, funnels, hail, and the coveted tornado near Stinnett. The students had a chance to also witness an incredible amount of chaser convergence as Vortex 2 and every storm chase group under the moon found themselves on this beastly storm.

We were very fortunate to have a good road to stay just ahead of the storm and also a slow moving storm to give us ample opportunities to take photographs and video.

Below are a few of the shots from our different vantage points today.

The fun doesn't stop today as another outbreak of supercells and tornadoes is expected tomorrow across Oklahoma and far northern Texas. The Storm Prediction Center has placed this area in a Moderate Risk, so we'll be there and hope for another successful day.

Day 4 - 5 Recap and Photos

Day 4 took us to Childress, TX where we intercepted multicell and supercell thunderstorms. The first storm of the day was just northwest of Childress and provided some picturesque views of developing updrafts. We left that storm and chased a dieing supercell in far western Oklahoma. After a dinner stop at Pizza Hut (with terrible service), we jumped on another storm that was just a few miles north and east of Childress and followed that for 3o miles and intercepted some hail east of Childress.

Day 5 started out with a journey to Palo Duro Canyon and then out west to Cuervo, NM where we intercepted multicell storms. Eventually, one storm became dominate and began showing signs of broad rotation. This storm was beautiful as we were able to view it from the top of a mesa roughly 5200 ft above sea level. The last two days have been fantastic and we hope you'll enjoy some of the photos below.

The next two days will be active in the Texas panhandle and western Oklahoma.

Day 2 and 3 Recap

Day 2 featured an impressive drive from Fort Smith, Arkansas to Odessa, TX. We left early Friday morning and hauled down to I-20 and intercepted some storms east of the Midland/Odessa area. The storms fired too early for us to get there at the peak before it became a cluster of intense storms. We witnessed some impressive lightning and small hail, as well as some flash flooding in Midland.


Day 3 (Saturday) featured a marginal threat. The upper level low providing the kick for storms to develop stayed north into New Mexico and we were left hanging out in a park in Monahans, TX with no storms to chase. The night ended with a fabulous chinese buffet in Odessa which offered up some of the freshest sushi one could find.


Today may feature trying to get into a little hail near Childress, Tx and then more storms look possible Monday-Weds.

Day 1 - Travel Day

Greetings from Fort Smith, Arkansas.

8 students and 2 instructors loaded up in a 15 passenger van this morning and headed north to Memphis and then west on I-40 to Fort Smith. After a fine dinner, we had our first briefing to discuss severe weather forecasting in general as well as a forecast discussion for tomorrow. We plan on heading out around 8 AM and cruising through Oklahoma City before going southwest to Wichita Falls. Along the way, we'll analyze the data and determine the best location to see storms tomorrow.

You can always check out the right side of the page for the current Day 1 SPC Convective Outlook as well as following our progress on the Spotter Network map.

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