{"id":8379,"date":"2013-05-31T00:00:53","date_gmt":"2013-05-31T08:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/?p=8379"},"modified":"2016-03-12T21:21:20","modified_gmt":"2016-03-13T05:21:20","slug":"may-31-2013-el-reno-ok-tornado","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/2013\/05\/31\/may-31-2013-el-reno-ok-tornado\/","title":{"rendered":"May 31, 2013 El Reno, OK tornado"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"130531_4178_El-Reno_OK\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

My video of the beginning of the El Reno tornado HERE!<\/a><\/p>\n

Maps of our chase route here, courtesy of Chris Gullikson:<\/p>\n

\"5-31-2013_map_zoomout_CGc\"<\/a>\"5-31-2013_map_zoomin_CGb\"<\/a>\"5-31-2013_map_route_CGa\"<\/a><\/p>\n

posted on June 5, 2013, more video links at bottom<\/em><\/p>\n

Friday, May 31, 2013, was the last chase day for the Tour 4 group.\u00a0 We had had a very busy and successful six chase days, but we were still missing the nice “cherry on top” tornado.\u00a0 We were in Ardmore, OK, and the outlook for severe weather and tornadoes looked pretty darn good later in the day, not too far away.\u00a0 In fact, it looked a little TOO good and a lot TOO close to areas in central Oklahoma which had recently been ravaged by tornadoes.\u00a0 The meteorological setup was classic — a powerful mid-level wave was over Oklahoma during the afternoon and evening, with 500 mb winds from the west at 50 to 60 knots.\u00a0 A surface triple-point low was located in southwest OK during the late afternoon.\u00a0 Northeast of the low, in central OK, low-level moisture was plentiful, with dew points in the low-to-mid 70s.\u00a0 Bright sunshine lit up the state by midday, and the cap was strong enough to hold back convection until late afternoon.\u00a0 Surface winds backed a bit from south to southeast in central Oklahoma during the afternoon.\u00a0 Shear and instability were looking super:\u00a0 the ingredients for a high-end event were in place.\u00a0 SPC issued a moderate risk for severe weather over central OK, and the tornado graphic showed a 15-percent hatched area.\u00a0 Chasers were in this same area on the previous day, it was the beginning of another weekend in late spring, and the prime chase target area appeared to be a no-brainer.\u00a0 All eyes were on the open farmland a county or two west to southwest of Oklahoma City.<\/p>\n

Today seemed easy, but there was a sense of unease.\u00a0 I figure that by mid-afternoon a lot of chasers had —- maybe not a sinking feeling —- but a notion that something not-so-wonderful was in the making.\u00a0 What would we chasers be talking about at the end of the day?\u00a0 What might I wind up seeing through my camera lenses and viewfinders in the next several hours?\u00a0 Would everyone chase responsibly and smartly and get to bed safely later on?\u00a0 Just what WOULD transpire on Friday the 31st?\u00a0 It has been a couple of days now, and this is how the event unfolded for me.<\/p>\n

I was looking forward to the weekend.\u00a0 I was almost finished directing Tour 4 for Tempest Tours, and I would get a week off to rest after Friday.\u00a0 I had been chasing and tour directing pretty much continuously since April 20th, and I was mentally and physically drained and fatigued and very ready for a break!\u00a0 It was fabulous that our last chase day would leave us really close to our base motel in Oklahoma City, it seemed.\u00a0 We didn’t have to worry about a long drive into the night and the next morning to get the guests back in time for afternoon flights on Saturday.\u00a0 The storm gods were not making things difficult this time around, logistically speaking…it seemed.<\/p>\n

Our group gathered in my room at 10 a.m. at the Days Inn in Ardmore and I provided the weather briefing for the day.\u00a0 With us were Brian Morganti, Chuck Doswell, Chris Gullikson, Steve Pekich, Justin Pletsch, and about 15 guests.\u00a0 I told them that if storms didn’t go up too early in the afternoon, like they had on a couple of days on their tour, then the prospects for a high-end supercell and tornado were good.\u00a0 The only thing that was NOT looking good, from a chaser’s perspective, was that big storms could very well be moving into the populated areas around Oklahoma City on a Friday evening.\u00a0 Tornadic supercells…big metro area…traffic congestion…that is not my idea of storm chase fun.<\/p>\n

Some in our group had found some breakfast prior to the briefing.\u00a0 I hadn’t eaten anything, as usual.\u00a0 Since we were only a couple of hours from where we needed to be later, I took the group to the Hamburger Inn in Ardmore for a late morning meal.\u00a0 I called them up first…<\/p>\n

“Are you guys still serving breakfast?”<\/p>\n

” YEP– until 11 a.m.!”<\/p>\n

” Great!\u00a0 Can you handle about 20 people now?”<\/p>\n

“Sure!”<\/p>\n

“Okay — we’ll be there in ten minutes!”<\/p>\n

When we got there, Chris opened the door and said “no way!”\u00a0 It looked like there was enough seating for about 12 people in this tiny joint!\u00a0 I didn’t care — I was hungry.\u00a0 Fortunately, there were only a few other patrons in there, and about 15 of us chased them out.\u00a0 The meal and service were awesome.\u00a0 It was one of the few nice, relaxing meals we were able to get on the tour.<\/p>\n

From Ardmore we drifted west.\u00a0 A couple of birds along the highway flew up into the path of our lead van, and Steve smacked into one of them, leaving a cloud of feathers in the air for the two follow vans to observe.\u00a0 I told the folks in my van that whenever we hit a bird prior to storm initiation, it winds up being a big chase day.\u00a0 It never fails…it seems.<\/p>\n

There wasn’t a big rush to get into position as we were so close already.\u00a0 We loitered in and around a convenience store at Waurika and at a park with a lake at Cyril.\u00a0 It was the perfect time for a group photo shot by the kids’ playground.\u00a0 It was mid-afternoon, and the sky and strato-cu clouds looked flat.\u00a0 Good, I thought.\u00a0 It was still a little too early for the show to begin.\u00a0 A cu field looked to be developing a bit to the northwest, out near Clinton, OK.\u00a0 I decided to continue north a little farther from Cyril.\u00a0 CAPE values were about 5000 to 5500 J\/kg in central Oklahoma, the effective bulk shear was almost twice as much as is required for severe storms, and low-level winds were indeed backing in our vicinity.\u00a0 Yikes.<\/p>\n

We went up 281 through Anadarko and Gracemont as a few cumulus clouds made some halfhearted attempts against the cap.\u00a0 I had Steve head east to Minco for one final pit stop for everyone.\u00a0 The clerks in the convenience store were interested in the severe weather and tornado threat for later in the day.\u00a0 I said that it would be a good idea to pay very close attention in the next several hours.\u00a0 Outside of the Minco store I held my handy-dandy Kestrel weather instrument up to the wind, and it indicated 89F air temperature and 78F dew point!\u00a0 A bit later, the dew point read a more reasonable 76F.\u00a0 You got the feeling that the atmosphere was getting ready go nuts.\u00a0 I picked a penny up off of the ground and mentioned to someone that this will be our lucky tornado penny for the chase day.\u00a0 I really wanted to get a tornado for the group, but that sense of unease lingered.<\/p>\n

I found a decent open area west of Minco, and we watched radar and some cloud towers to our west.\u00a0 This was the crucial time of the day chase-wise.\u00a0 If you blow it here and wander off to a sucker storm, then the chase day could wind up “pants”.\u00a0 We don’t want that.\u00a0 A blip or two showed up on radar to our west, near Weatherford, perhaps.\u00a0 That was perfect — it was time to move.<\/p>\n

I led the group up to Interstate 40 at El Reno, and we moseyed west on the “old road” just north of the Interstate to Calumet Road, and then another mile or two to the next north-south road.\u00a0 We went south a tad and stopped not too far north of I-40.\u00a0 I hate chasing near Interstate Highways, as it interrupts the local farm grid road network.\u00a0 And, I avoid using the Interstates on a chase, as on-and-off access is limited and you can’t turn around right away if you need to.\u00a0 Our little blips from 15 to 25 minutes ago were now explosive updrafts, and were warned for half-dollar-sized hail.\u00a0 Can you believe that clouds can make such large hailstones in such short order?!\u00a0 There looked to be three massive cumulonimbi to our west through northwest here, and three relatively rain-free storm bases were in view.\u00a0 Usually the southern-most one becomes dominant, and we were due east of the southern one.\u00a0 The storm bases were some 8 to 10 miles to our west and organizing fairly quickly.\u00a0 We just had to be patient and let them come to us.\u00a0 Don’t get antsy, Bill!<\/p>\n

\"130531_4148_Cyril_OK\"<\/a>\"130531_4153_Minco_OK\"<\/a>\"130531_4155_Calumet_Rd_OK\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Image of the towering cumulus, west of Minco, was at 4:26 p.m. CDT, and of the storm bases to the west, south of Calumet, was at 5:03 p.m.<\/em><\/p>\n

The southern-most cell was the dominant supercell, with a top of about 60,000 feet!\u00a0 Less than an hour earlier we were looking at diddly-squat, and now it was showtime!\u00a0 Deep moist convection had not initiated too early.\u00a0 The forecast was playing out perfectly, and we were exactly where we needed to be.\u00a0 There were a few chasers in our vicinity, but it wasn’t bad at all, yet, as far as that goes.\u00a0 In the back of my mind I was thinking — what do I need to do to make sure that my group doesn’t suddenly wind up in a bad spot with regard to safety?\u00a0 This storm was in an environment where very nasty stuff could ramp up quickly.\u00a0 I didn’t want any issues, headaches, or dilemmas!\u00a0 It began to rain as the base neared and the top of the updraft drifted overhead.\u00a0 We were in a good spot if the storm were to go tornadic, but the west winds aloft were shoving rain over and upon us.\u00a0 There was some lightning in cores to our northwest and north, but that wasn’t a problem where we were.\u00a0 The folks were lined up along a fence with their faces glued to the west.\u00a0 I think a tornado warning was issued about this time.\u00a0 I wanted to stay, but I wanted out of the rain.\u00a0 I was unsure if the section road that continued to our south, over and beyond the interstate, would be paved or not.\u00a0 The easy solution to our rain problem would be to drive south a few miles, but I was hesitant to test the dirt roads in the rain in front of this storm. \u00a0\u00a0 Radar now showed a hail core not too far to our west-northwest and moving towards us.\u00a0 I had to make the move, so everyone got back into the vans and we went back east on the Interstate to reposition south and east of the cell.\u00a0 Some small hail hit us as we were leaving — good timing!<\/p>\n

We had to go quite a bit farther east than I preferred on I-40.\u00a0 As far as I could tell from the myriad of maps and GPS mapping software that I had, the only way to get southeast of the storm base via paved roads was to go east eight miles on the Interstate to exit 123, on the southwest side of El Reno.\u00a0 This was about five miles farther east than I wanted to go!\u00a0 We finally got to exit 123\/Country Club Rd.\u00a0 A paved road took us quickly south and west and south and west again to Reno-OKC St W, also known as E 1070 Rd. (in Canadian County).\u00a0 We passed the El Reno AP and continued west. \u00a0 The terrain out here was flat and practically treeless — perfect for viewing the storm!\u00a0 We stopped three miles west of the airport, along S Fort-Reno Rd., just north of E 1070 Rd. (and seven miles west of U.S. 81).\u00a0 It had taken us about 20 minutes to get here, and in the meantime a tornado had been reported with the supercell to our west-northwest.\u00a0 The action area and storm base were largely filled with precipitation, and we were unable to discern any tornado from our vantage point.\u00a0 “Great,” I muttered.\u00a0 Was this going to be another in a long list of ugly, tornado-hiding HP supercells for me this spring?!\u00a0 There was no way that I was going to go plunging into rainy and hail-filled areas to look for a tornado today, not that I do that ever!\u00a0 I was somewhat resigned to winding up with another non-tornado day, especially a few minutes later when a light west wind hit me in the face!\u00a0 What is this?\u00a0 Outflow already?!\u00a0 The messy rainy area was still a few miles to our west and WNW, and I was bewildered by the weak west breeze.\u00a0 But, the very innocuous storm base to our northwest was now behaving suspiciously.\u00a0 Hmmm…<\/p>\n

\"130531_4157_El-Reno_OK\"<\/a>\"130531_4158_El-Reno_OK\"<\/a>\"130531_4159_El-Reno_OK\"<\/a>\"130531_4161_El-Reno_OK\"<\/a>\"130531_4163_El-Reno_OK\"<\/a>\"130531_4164_El-Reno_OK\"<\/a>\"130531_4166_El-Reno_OK\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Image 4157 above, looking WNW at 5:53 p.m. CDT<\/em><\/p>\n

4158, looking NW, 5:54 p.m.<\/em><\/p>\n

4159, looking W, 5:54 p.m.<\/em><\/p>\n

4161, looking W, 5:55 p.m.<\/em><\/p>\n

4163, looking WNW, 5:57 p.m.<\/em><\/p>\n

4164, looking NW, 5:58 p.m.<\/em><\/p>\n

4166, looking W, 5:59 p.m.<\/em><\/p>\n

In the views to the NW (e.g., image 4164, above), a tall and skinny water tower is visible on the right.\u00a0 On Google Maps satellite, this tower is visible just to the east of “Buena Vista Cemetery” (north of Reuter Road W, and east of S Heaston Rd. in Canadian County).\u00a0 I estimate that this tower was about 1.4 miles NNW of our storm-viewing location.\u00a0 All of these images were taken with the full-frame Canon 5D Mk II and a 21mm lens.\u00a0 This results in a fairly wide-angle image — the horizontal angular field is 80 degrees.\u00a0 Objects are closer than they appear!\u00a0 Note that in image 4158, to the northwest, there are no visible indications yet that something is in the works nearby in that direction.\u00a0 In 4158 and 4159, there is a hint of a wide-ish funnel cloud buried in the precipitation core.\u00a0 Though one was reported, I don’t know of any verified or confirmed tornadoes with this storm prior to the big El Reno tornado.\u00a0 In 4164, four minutes after 4158, there are indications that something is “afoot” towards the eastern side of the updraft base, east of the storm precip core.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

By 6:00 p.m., the nearby storm base on the leading edge of this supercell was changing fast.\u00a0 VERY FAST.\u00a0 VERY VERY VERY VERY FAST!!!\u00a0 There is some lowering of the base and some noticeable rotation now.\u00a0 Is this a tornado hand-off?\u00a0 Is this a new meso that is quickly cycling up?\u00a0 Is this west wind that is getting stronger here an RFD wind?\u00a0 The answers are all YES —- in a matter of two or three minutes, we were suddenly looking at a tremendous and large low-level circulation, just a mile or two to our north-northwest!\u00a0 This thing formed crazy fast, and it didn’t tease us long before going tornadic.\u00a0 Big fat funnels and big skinny funnels went up and down and appeared and disappeared beneath this merry-go-round wall cloud.\u00a0 It was mesmerizing.\u00a0 It was close!\u00a0 I held the 5D as steadily as I could as it rolled in HD video mode.\u00a0 The scene was surreal.\u00a0 Above the green, grassy countryside these gray\/white tornadoes were dancing around beneath the whitish wall cloud, and then around and below this tremendous “mother” funnel cloud.\u00a0 It was multi-vortex city.\u00a0 Rain and wind was hitting us hard from the west now.\u00a0 Were there any other issues?\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 The mother funnel cloud was coming right at us.\u00a0 UGH.<\/p>\n

\"130531_4168_El-Reno_OK\"<\/a>\"130531_4170_El-Reno_OK\"<\/a>\"130531_4171_El-Reno_OK\"<\/a>\"130531_4172_El-Reno_OK\"<\/a>\"130531_4174_El-Reno_OK\"<\/a>\"130531_4176_El-Reno_OK\"<\/a>\"130531_4177_El-Reno_OK\"<\/a>\"130531_4178_El-Reno_OK\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Image 4168 was at 6:00 p.m. CDT; 4170 at 6:01; 4171 and 4172 at 6:02; 4174, 4176, and 4177 at 6:03 p.m.\u00a0 All views are to the NNW to N.\u00a0 Tom Trott is in the foreground.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Image 4178 was taken about a quarter mile south of the original shooting location, at 6:04 p.m. CDT.<\/em><\/p>\n

Our video shows the rapidly rotating wall cloud hovering just above that water tower to our north-northwest.\u00a0 The tornado spin-ups on the south side of the wall cloud were a little less than a mile distant.\u00a0 (The first tornado touched down at about 6:03 p.m.)\u00a0 Fortunately, the forward motion of the wall cloud\/multi-vortex tornado was not too fast — maybe 25 mph to the SE or even the SSE.\u00a0 This was somewhat surprising, given the storm’s general motion to the east.\u00a0 We had to put more space between ourselves and this thing (oops, Chuck Doswell would call it a “process”).\u00a0 The guests (some reacting reluctantly and hesitantly!) were ordered back into the vans.\u00a0 I wanted to get at least a mile south — that should be enough space, I figured.\u00a0 We could get out again and watch!\u00a0 NOPE.\u00a0 The wet RFD was hitting us full force, with wind of about 50 – 60 mph and heavy rain.\u00a0 It was difficult to see and to stay on the gravel road, and Steve and Justin and Chris did a fabulous job of driving.\u00a0 We turned east on 15th St SW, but the tornado was still moving southeast and looked to be no more than a mile to our north.\u00a0 Funnels were now anchored to the ground more continuously, and strong wind and rain continued to blast us.\u00a0 It was no time to mess around near this thing!\u00a0 After one mile east, we dropped two miles south on S. Brandsley Road to SW 44th St.\u00a0 That gave us plenty of breathing room, and the wind was not as bad here.\u00a0 The tornado was to our NNE, was intermittently rain-wrapped, and was now moving mostly east compared to southeast.\u00a0 Good — we were getting close to running out of room to the south as we neared the Canadian River!<\/p>\n

We continued another 4 or 5 miles east to U.S. 81 before stopping again.\u00a0 By this time, the tornado was a massive “meso-on-the-ground” beast, it seemed.\u00a0 It was perhaps four miles distant, and now moving more to the northeast, towards I-40 and the farmland southeast of El Reno.\u00a0 The tornado had passed very close to, if not over, El Reno AP, and it missed the main part of El Reno to the south by a few miles.\u00a0 Our group was able to step outside of the vehicles here at U.S. 81 for a minute or two to shoot video and to exhale a bit.\u00a0 (One guest dropped one of his cameras on the ground here, but we found it the next morning and the images on the card were still good!)\u00a0 What looked to be a giant and violent tornado was plowing eastward towards the western edge of Oklahoma City.\u00a0 Now that “unease” was transforming into a “sinking feeling.”<\/p>\n

\"130531_4181_El-Reno_OK\"<\/a>\"130531_4184_El-Reno_OK\"<\/a>\"130531_4189_El-Reno_OK\"<\/a>\"130531_4191_El-Reno_OK\"<\/a>\"130531_4190_El-Reno_OK\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The five images above were from 6:22 to 6:23 p.m. CDT, looking NNE, from U.S. 81 and SW 44th St.\u00a0 This is two miles north of Union City, 5.5 miles south of I-40, and about five miles from the tornado, which is now moving more to the northeast.\u00a0 The large clear slot associated with the storm’s rear-flank downdraft (RFD) is very apparent between our location and the large tornado.<\/em><\/p>\n

As the supercell storm continued east, we edged a mile back to the north and kept pace on its south side along SW 29th St.\u00a0 We motored south of Yukon and then towards the familiar streets on the west side of OKC, approaching our base motel on Meridian.\u00a0 It was difficult to determine just what the storm was doing — was there still a big tornado in there or not?\u00a0 We had wrapping precipitation blocking the view, and the cloud base was so low and dark, and now more and more trees in the way — heck — it was next to impossible to see what was going on.\u00a0 On an FM station, broadcasters were imploring those in the storm’s path to get to a safe shelter or to get out of the way somehow.\u00a0 At least once, the suggestion to drive south to get out of the way was given.\u00a0 I think this was a simulcast of a local TV station.\u00a0 This was not great advice, at least in hindsight.\u00a0 A new circulation was developing a little behind and to the south of the old, weakening tornado.\u00a0 People who would be driving south would now be driving into the path of a new, developing tornado.\u00a0 I turned south on MacArthur and went a mile or two to Airport Rd. and east, with the intent of diving south on I-44 as fast as possible just to get the heck out of Dodge!\u00a0 I didn’t want to be messing around with tornadic storms in the city.\u00a0\u00a0 As we neared I-44, the southbound exit lanes from Airport Rd. were jammed to a halt!\u00a0 I couldn’t risk getting run over by the storm in this traffic jam, so we took the northbound lanes towards I-40.\u00a0 Radar did not indicate anything threatening up to I-40, only three miles away, thank goodness.\u00a0 At the interchange, the police had the lanes which continued north on I-44, to the north of I-40, BLOCKED!\u00a0 We had to go east —- not that that was a horrible direction to go at this point in time, but at this point in time the safest direction to go in order to avoid a tornado was north!\u00a0 The media and the police were actually directing motorists into increasingly vulnerable areas.<\/p>\n

Our I-40 eastbound route was wide open, and there were nice elevated views of the supercell’s green HP core to the WSW.\u00a0 I thought about stopping on the interstate, as some other chasers were doing in the wide right shoulder, but I did not.\u00a0 I was basically in “get out of the way” mode now.\u00a0 I wanted to get into the hinterlands on the east side of Oklahoma City, where the population rapidly thins out and the roads would be traffic-free.\u00a0 HAH!<\/p>\n

We continued past Tinker AFB on I-40 without delay, but then the red brake lights to our east appeared.\u00a0 Shoot!\u00a0 I did not want to be on a jammed freeway.\u00a0 A new couplet\/supercell was indicated on radar to our west and was moving east, in addition to the one that was in the vicinity of Will Rogers AP and headed to Moore and Norman.\u00a0 We were threatened by this north storm, and needed to get out of the way.\u00a0 It was just about dark by now, and I exited quickly east of Tinker before winding up stopped on I-40.\u00a0 At first we had little problem getting south a mile or so — and then another horrible backup.\u00a0 It took us several minutes to get through a traffic signal.\u00a0 We went east, and wound up waiting about ten minutes to get through a 4-way stop sign.\u00a0 Some motorists went into the oncoming traffic lanes in order to get through the intersection more quickly.\u00a0 With the radio warning of the approaching\u00a0 tornado-warned supercell, we felt like sitting ducks!\u00a0 Fortunately, we had moved east far enough and fast enough (so far) to give us enough time to get through these traffic backups.\u00a0 After a couple more excruciating 4-way stop delays and another dive to the south, the dangerous part of the northern cell had passed by (close to I-40, near Newalla).\u00a0\u00a0 We were near Lake Thunderbird, and now had to go back north to stay away from the southern cell.\u00a0 Some rain and hail and wind hit us as we bailed back north to I-40, but the storm core was not bad at all.\u00a0 It seemed as if we were safe, and we could relax!<\/p>\n

Back on I-40 west, it was time to stop for a pit stop and some food, but was that going to be possible anywhere nearby?\u00a0 Dangerous conditions with high winds and flooding rains were still pummeling Oklahoma City!\u00a0 We found a large truck stop somehow — just what we needed!\u00a0 It was open and jammed with folks who were waiting out the storm.\u00a0 It was close to 9:30 p.m. and I had a difficult task:\u00a0 find 9 rooms for 13 people in a city on a Friday night that is in the midst of a tornado and flooding disaster, with softball tournaments and graduations and everything else that is scheduled and fills up motels here on a May 31st.\u00a0 Of course, there was nothing available anywhere nearby.\u00a0 I phoned the base motel — the Holiday Inn on Meridian — and they were full.\u00a0 I asked if the storm had been bad there, and they said not too bad.\u00a0 I called them a little later to see if there were cancellations — busy signal after busy signal.\u00a0 They had lost power after getting slammed again!\u00a0 There were no rooms in Edmund or Guthrie or Shawnee or Norman — half of the towns here had big-time tornado issues, past and present!\u00a0 Finally, I found enough rooms at Executive Inn in Lawton —- almost 90 miles to our southwest.\u00a0 Better than nothing…though I doubt that many executives wind up there.\u00a0 A better name might be “Execution Inn.”<\/p>\n

Brian and Chuck and his group had booked rooms much earlier near the base motel in OKC — I wish I had done that — and they continued back west on I-40 to Meridian.\u00a0 All my group had to do now in order to get to Lawton was dodge and navigate through:<\/p>\n

–downed trees and branches on the Interstate<\/p>\n

–hail cores<\/p>\n

–flooding on local streets<\/p>\n

–a massive traffic jam on I-44 southbound (on the east side of the airport)<\/p>\n

–blacked out areas of OKC with non-working traffic signals<\/p>\n

–washed-out roads with water still running over them<\/p>\n

–abandoned cars in and out of ditches<\/p>\n

–lunatic and terrified drivers.<\/p>\n

But this was almost fun —- we were giddy that we no longer had tornadic storms breathing down our necks! \u00a0\u00a0 It took about two hours to get to Lawton, and by that time we didn’t care how lousy the motel was.\u00a0 Our wild and crazy and successful chase day was over.\u00a0 Later, however, the good feelings associated with intercepting a large tornado would subside as we learned of the deaths of several storm chasers who were overtaken by the El Reno tornado.<\/p>\n

Below is a graphic prepared by Dave Lewison, showing the tornado track based on radar, and estimated forward speed of the tornado cyclone.\u00a0 Also show is Dave’s route for the storm intercept.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"El<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Spectacular video by Chris Gullikson<\/a> of our Tempest Tours tornado intercept.\u00a0 Chris has a forward-looking GO-PRO camera running as the tornado develops to our NNW.\u00a0 As we flee towards the south, he turns on a second GO-PRO camera on top of the van that is pointing backwards, providing a tremendous, continued “look” at the developing tornado and tornado cyclone.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Second (conventional camcorder\/non GoPro) video by Chris Gullikson.<\/a><\/p>\n

Video by a chase team<\/a> that stops just north of the Tempest lead van just as the tornadoes start forming.\u00a0 These guys hung in there a bit too long for comfort, but got great footage.\u00a0 Here is footage<\/a> from the same team, different camcorder.\u00a0 Language is R-rated.<\/p>\n

Great video by chaser Nick Nolte,<\/a> near U.S. 81, with a great look at early structure and of the tornado at its widest.<\/p>\n

Great video by chaser Bill Hark,<\/a> much of it from El Reno AP, looking west at the developing tornado<\/p>\n

Awesome video production of the El Reno chase<\/a> by Skip Talbot<\/p>\n

Impressive footage mostly from the north side of the El Reno tornado<\/a> by Jeff and Kathy Piotrowski<\/p>\n

Video animation of the SN (spotter network) icons<\/a> relative to the El Reno tornado<\/p>\n

Dan Robinson gets too close to the El Reno tornado<\/a><\/p>\n

Dan Robinson’s chase account<\/a><\/p>\n

Initial stages of El Reno tornado<\/a>, close up — yikes!<\/p>\n

MWT video —- check it out!<\/a><\/p>\n

George K. vid from I-40<\/a><\/p>\n

Video by chaser Dave Lewison <\/a><\/p>\n

Info on the El Reno tornado<\/a>, courtesy of the National Weather Service<\/p>\n

Additional info and maps of the El Reno storm<\/a> and other tornadoes on May 31, 2013 from the NWS<\/p>\n

Storm summary by chaser Chris Kridler<\/a><\/p>\n

Dave Chapman’s excellent chase summary with images<\/a><\/p>\n

Analysis by John Allen<\/a><\/p>\n

Notes on the storm by Jon Davies<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 My video of the beginning of the El Reno tornado HERE! Maps of our chase route here, courtesy of Chris Gullikson: posted on June… [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":[54,11,18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-8379","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-54","7":"category-supercells","8":"category-tornadoes","9":"entry","10":"has-post-thumbnail"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8379"}],"version-history":[{"count":36,"href":"https:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8379\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14698,"href":"https:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8379\/revisions\/14698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}