{"id":12105,"date":"2015-05-27T22:34:58","date_gmt":"2015-05-28T06:34:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/?p=12105"},"modified":"2015-10-06T10:00:32","modified_gmt":"2015-10-06T18:00:32","slug":"may-27-2015-canadian-tx-tornadoes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/2015\/05\/27\/may-27-2015-canadian-tx-tornadoes\/","title":{"rendered":"May 27, 2015 Canadian, TX, tornadoes"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"150527_1376_Canadian\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This was the fourth chase day for Tempest Tours\/Tour 4. \u00a0We had had a couple of decent supercell days already, but we were still looking for a nice tornado. \u00a0Today would be the day for that! \u00a0Steve, Rook, the guests and I began the day in Clinton, OK, with the eastern Texas Panhandle in our target hairs. \u00a0This would make for an easy drive! \u00a0The guests were delighted to be dropped off between and Arbys and Taco Mayo in Woodward, OK, for lunch. \u00a0I went to Taco Mayo, and, let me tell you, it is no Taco Bueno.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Let’s take a look at the weather setup with the help of the SPC archive discussions. \u00a0I wish I could recall every word recited by me in the morning weather briefing to the group…did anybody record that? \u00a0The 1630Z Day One outlook by SPC noted plentiful low-level moisture return to the High Plains with forecast CAPE values of 2000 to 3500 J\/kg. \u00a0Flow at 500 mb was a bit weak, but strong enough for severe storms given the backed flow near the surface. \u00a0An “enhanced” slight risk was drawn from about Goodland, KS, to Childress, TX. \u00a0A five-percent tornado risk filled most of this ellipse.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

  ...CNTRL HIGH PLAINS INTO OK\/TX THIS AFTERNOON INTO TONIGHT...\r\n\r\n   STRENGTHENING SLY LOW-LEVEL FLOW WILL INDUCE THE NWD FLUX OF AN\r\n   INCREASINGLY MOIST BOUNDARY-LAYER FROM THE SRN INTO CNTRL HIGH\r\n   PLAINS TODAY.  THIS PROCESS WILL OCCUR BENEATH A STEEP MID-LEVEL\r\n   LAPSE RATE PLUME...YIELDING AFTERNOON MLCAPE RANGING FROM 1000-2000\r\n   J\/KG OVER ERN CO\/KS TO 2500-3500+ J\/KG OVER WRN PARTS OF OK\/TX.\r\n\r\n   WHILE SPECIFIC DETAILS REGARDING CONVECTIVE EVOLUTION STILL REMAIN\r\n   SOMEWHAT UNCERTAIN...THE NWD-MOVING SYNOPTIC FRONT...HIGH PLAINS LEE\r\n   TROUGH\/DRYLINE...AND PRE-EXISTING OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES \/NAMELY OVER OK\r\n   AND TX\/ WILL ALL BE POSSIBLE FOCI FOR STORM INITIATION THIS\r\n   AFTERNOON.  SIMILAR TO TUESDAY...MID-LEVEL WINDS WILL NOT BE\r\n   PARTICULARLY STRONG \/I.E. 20-30 KT AT 500 MB\/.  BUT...GIVEN THE\r\n   SLY\/SELY LOW-LEVEL FLOW REGIME...FORECAST HODOGRAPHS EXHIBIT\r\n   CONSIDERABLE VEERING WITH HEIGHT WITH SUFFICIENT VERTICAL SHEAR TO\r\n   SUPPORT SUPERCELL MORPHOLOGIES AS THE INITIAL STORM MODE.  LARGE\r\n   HAIL WILL BE THE PRIMARY HAZARD...THOUGH A COUPLE OF TORNADOES ARE\r\n   ALSO POSSIBLE.\r\n\r\n<\/pre>\n
From Woodward we headed west-southwest to the Texas border. \u00a0I felt fairly confident of my target area in the vicinity of Canadian, TX. \u00a0The axis of highest theta-e values was across the northeastern Texas Panhandle, and good moisture convergence was here, too. \u00a0 Skies were nice and clear and a cumulus field was developing right where I wanted it to be —- west and northwest of Canadian. \u00a0SPC issued a mesoscale discussion for the eastern TX Panhandle shortly after 2 p.m. CDT:<\/p>\n
 <\/p>\n
SPC Mesoscale Discussion 809<\/a><\/p>\n
 <\/p>\n
MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0809\r\n   NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK\r\n   0213 PM CDT WED MAY 27 2015\r\n\r\n   AREAS AFFECTED...WRN TX\/OK PANHANDLES...WRN OK\r\n\r\n   CONCERNING...SEVERE POTENTIAL...WATCH LIKELY \r\n\r\n   VALID 271913Z - 272045Z\r\n\r\n   PROBABILITY OF WATCH ISSUANCE...80 PERCENT\r\n\r\n   SUMMARY...CONVECTIVE INITIATION IS EXPECTED OVER THE REGION SHORTLY\r\n   WITH VERY LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS...AND POSSIBLY A TORNADO\r\n   POSSIBLE. WW WILL BE ISSUED SOON.\r\n\r\n   DISCUSSION...VISIBLE SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWS A LINE OF CU DEVELOPING\r\n   FROM JUST W OF PYX SWD TO SW OF PPA IN THE FAR NW TX PANHANDLE. THIS\r\n   CU APPEARS TO BE DEVELOPING WITHIN AN AREA OF SURFACE CONVERGENCE OF\r\n   A WEAK MOISTURE GRADIENT. TEMPERATURES IN THE LOW TO MID\r\n   80S...DEWPOINTS IN THE MID 60S...AND STEEP MID-LEVEL LAPSE RATES ARE\r\n   CONTRIBUTING TO MODERATE TO STRONG INSTABILITY WITH RECENT\r\n   MESOANALYSIS ESTIMATING MLCAPE OVER 2500 J PER KG. OVERALL KINEMATIC\r\n   ENVIRONMENT IS FAVORABLE FOR SUPERCELLS WITH EFFECTIVE BULK SHEAR\r\n   VALUES OVER 40 KT. WITH SUPERCELLS EXPECTED...A WW WILL LIKELY BE\r\n   NEEDED SOON TO COVER THE POTENTIAL SVR THREAT.\r\n\r\n   ..MOSIER\/MEAD.. 05\/27\/2015\r\n\r\n<\/pre>\n
It was obvious that instability and shear were fabulous. \u00a0I had a couple of concerns, though. \u00a0It was still early in the afternoon, and often “early shows” wind up “big duds” as too much high-based convection gets messy really quickly. \u00a0There wasn’t much I could do about that — we would just have to wait and see. \u00a0My other concern was the topography. \u00a0The cumulus field straddled the dreaded Canadian River valley, where roads are few. \u00a0I was really hoping that the good storms would steer clear of the river.<\/p>\n
We found a convenience store in Canadian for the obligatory post-lunch pit stop. \u00a0As we climbed back into the vans, tall storm towers and short anvils were already shading the town. \u00a0It was Showtime already! \u00a0And, to my dismay, the big updraft that we needed to watch was planted right on top of the river to the west of town. \u00a0I prayed that it would move north onto the Caprock!<\/p>\n
We could have hung out on a high spot along U.S. 83 in the vicinity of Canadian to watch the development well to the west, but I was eager to get closer. \u00a0U.S. 83 makes a sharp jog to the west (and then northwest) north of town, so we took that for perhaps 7 miles or so. \u00a0This put us NE to NNE of the updraft base — a good spot to watch the updraft but a bad spot with regard to precipitation and lightning threat.<\/p>\n
Our group lined up along a fence at the top of a hill and trained a good number of camera lenses towards the new storm. \u00a0In occasional light rain, we watched the base organize and a wall cloud form. \u00a0It wasn’t taking long at all for this thing to get down to business! \u00a0I was praying again, though — praying that lightning would not strike the group. \u00a0There wasn’t much lightning yet, fortunately.<\/p>\n
 <\/p>\n
 <\/p>\n
\"150527_1309_Canadian\"<\/a> \"150527_1314_Canadian\"<\/a> \"150527_1315_Canadian\"<\/a> \"150527_1315cr_Canadian\"<\/a> \"150527_1318_Canadian\"<\/a><\/p>\n
 <\/p>\n
And, yes, we witnessed a brief tornado with the supercell! \u00a0I wish there were some roads near this thing! \u00a0The storm was practically stationary, so it looked like we were stuck “chasing” a storm from the same spot. \u00a0We could see a pronounced clear slot continue to cut into the storm base, and a second brief tornado teased us.<\/p>\n
 <\/p>\n
\"150527_1321_Canadian\"<\/a> \"150527_1325_Canadian\"<\/a> \"150527_1329_Canadian\"<\/a>\"150527_6518_Canadian\"<\/a> \"150527_6526_Canadian\"<\/a> \"150527_6530_Canadian\"<\/a> \"150527_6532_Canadian\"<\/a><\/p>\n
 <\/p>\n
And, if my camera clock can be believed, it was not even 2:30 in the afternoon yet! \u00a0It appeared that a big and bad and isolated Texas Panhandle tornadic supercell was cranking up, and every chaser in the land knew where to go. \u00a0U.S. 83 northwest of Canadian started to fill with chase vehicles. \u00a0The storm took a tornado hiatus, however. \u00a0The base began to trudge towards the northeast at 5 mph at the most, and we had a good look at storm base structure, the RFD cut, the precipitation-filled action area and wall cloud, etc. \u00a0 The images below were taken from about 2:30 to 3:50 p.m. CDT, looking southwest and then west and west-northwest. \u00a0The storm base was just northeast of U.S. 83, and just northwest of Canadian, by 3:50 p.m.<\/p>\n
 <\/p>\n
\"150527_1334_Canadian\"<\/a> \"150527_1342_Canadian\"<\/a> \"150527_1345_Canadian\"<\/a> \"150527_1349_Canadian\"<\/a> \"150527_1353_Canadian\"<\/a> \"150527_1356_Canadian\"<\/a> \"150527_1360_Canadian\"<\/a><\/p>\n
 <\/p>\n
By now we were along U.S. 60, perhaps two miles NNE of its junction with U.S. 83. \u00a0The storm base was pretty close, finally, just to our WNW. \u00a0I wasn’t thrilled with the sketchy road network and being so close to a dangerous storm, but we did have a quick route to the south towards Canadian if we needed it. \u00a0I elected to back off a little to the south as an area of interest neared. \u00a0As we drove, a large funnel cloud began its descent to the ground to our west! \u00a0We had not gone a quarter mile when we stopped to check it out. \u00a0I have never seen guests exit the van and run up to a roadside fence so quickly.<\/p>\n
 <\/p>\n
\"150527_1361_Canadian\"<\/a> \"150527_1363_Canadian\"<\/a> \"150527_1365_Canadian\"<\/a> \"150527_1369_Canadian\"<\/a> \"150527_1373_Canadian\"<\/a> \"150527_1376_Canadian\"<\/a> \"150527_1377cr_Canadian\"<\/a><\/p>\n
 <\/p>\n
I was nervous about the proximity of the tornado and that big telephone pole bugged me, so we went another tenth of a mile south to another hilltop. \u00a0This place looked relatively safe, and the tornado did not seem to be making any move to the east. \u00a0In fact, it might have been drifting to the west! \u00a0We were able to watch the show and take plenty of pictures and video from the fence along U.S. 60, only three or four miles north of Canadian.<\/p>\n
 <\/p>\n
\"150527_1384_Canadian\"<\/a> \"150527_1382b_Canadian\"<\/a> \"150527_1381b_Canadian\"<\/a>\"150527_6535_Canadian\"<\/a> \"150527_6539b_Canadian\"<\/a> \"150527_6543_Canadian\"<\/a> \"150527_6546_Canadian\"<\/a> \"150527_6550_Canadian\"<\/a> \"150527_6555_Canadian\"<\/a> \"150527_6558_Canadian\"<\/a> \"150527_6563_Canadian\"<\/a><\/p>\n
 <\/p>\n
The tornado was in progress from about 3:55 to 4:08 p.m. CDT, according to my time stamps. \u00a0It stayed pretty much in the same spot from our perspective, it seemed. \u00a0Wow — that was nice! \u00a0A nicely-contrasted tornado that we could comfortably watch from the same spot without any rain or wind — I’ll take that any chase day!<\/p>\n
Our tornadic supercell looked ready to produce again — right up the road, less than a mile away. \u00a0As the tornado to our west roped out, a very ominous bowl-shaped wall cloud hovered above the scrubland to our NNE.<\/p>\n
 <\/p>\n
\"150527_1386_Canadian\"<\/a> \"150527_1391_Canadian\"<\/a><\/p>\n
 <\/p>\n
To my amazement, this feature did NOT persist. \u00a0It fizzled, and the supercell seemed to go into a less-organized mode for a while. \u00a0We went back into Canadian for a pit stop for the group, but nothing at all was open. \u00a0The town had gone into “underground” mode due to the nearby tornado activity. \u00a0New lowered areas to the west deserved attention, and dozens of chase vehicles were scurrying around town and dozens were perched along the hilltops in town in order to get a look at the storm base. \u00a0After perhaps another 20-30 minutes, another tornado or two materialized to the west, right over the river valley. \u00a0These events were fairly brief, and it looked like the tornadoes were drifting to the south.<\/p>\n
 <\/p>\n
\"150527_1395_Canadian\"<\/a> \"150527_6570_Canadian\"<\/a> \"150527_6573_Canadian\"<\/a><\/p>\n
 <\/p>\n
Thereafter, the severe storm was looking more linear both visually and on radar. \u00a0It appeared that its tornadic phase was behind it, and I figured it was time to check out something else. \u00a0We headed southwest down to Pampa, found a pit stop place, and then headed south to some newer storms. \u00a0Not far from Pampa, we stopped for some pretty sunset shots, along a highway which split a flooded field. \u00a0Rains in the region had been phenomenal during May, and the number of flooded areas on the Caprock was astounding.<\/p>\n
 <\/p>\n
\"150527_1408_Pampa\"<\/a> \"150527_1410_Pampa\"<\/a> \"150527_1401_Pampa\"<\/a><\/p>\n
 <\/p>\n
From here we continued south to check out a tornado-warned storm that was moving east from the Happy vicinity, but darkness came quickly and the Happy storm did not hold together as hoped. \u00a0We made our way to Borger for the night.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
  This was the fourth chase day for Tempest Tours\/Tour 4. \u00a0We had had a couple of decent supercell days already, but we were still… [Read More]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[62,11,18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-12105","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-62","7":"category-supercells","8":"category-tornadoes","9":"entry","10":"has-post-thumbnail"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12105"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12105\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12937,"href":"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12105\/revisions\/12937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}