Hi everyone,

Just wrapping up work for the day, a very special day. In much need of some sleep, so forgive me if this update feels a bit choppy and incomplete. New Nikon gear late to arrive, so shooting mostly video.

I departed Wichita for Anthony, Kansas shortly before 5:00 PM CDT. Spent most of my time initially in the Wellington and Oxford area. These cells were producing a lot of rain, which made seeing structure from a distance extra challenging.

At 6:33 PM  CDT, the National Weather Service in Wichita issued a tornado warning for Cowley County and Sumner County. I decided to head east on Highway 55 to Udall and then drop south.

It took me nearly an hour to reposition and punch the core of very heavy rain and pea-to-marble-sized hail. Once in the clear slot, I was treated (visually) to not only one, but two very impressive wall clouds (two cells were moving to the northeast, separated by less than 30 miles; or at least that’s what it looked like to me).

The photo shown above depicts what I felt like was the most impressive wall cloud. It was also persistently producing funnels. Rotation was quite visible.

But the two cells seemed to be competing with each other, which I believe prevented the formation of an actual tornado. That said, the circulation in both clouds was VERY impressive.

I shot video and stills and then decided to try and stay in-between them and wait to see if one could overpower the other. To reposition on a paved road, I had to retrace my steps by driving north on Highway 15 to Udall.

In Udall, one wall cloud passed directly over the community, the other, just to the south.

As I documented the wall cloud to the southeast of Udall, a white-colored family van vehicle blurred passed me.

“Jim!” someone yelled. I pulled away from the camera. It was storm chaser Perry Lambert, now Assistant Chief of Police in Cherryvale, Kansas. I hadn’t seen Perry in nearly ten years. He had recognized my red 1994 Ford Explorer.

Perry, his wife Amanda, and two young sons, Corbin and Jacy (it’s amazing what can happen in ten years), were on their way home from a funeral. After a minute or two of catch-up conversation, I asked Perry for a few tips on the tree-lined road network just to our northeast.

Cut to: Perry (and family) and yours truly storm chasing together for the first time. I read the sky; Perry read the road (father + law enforcement officer + storm chaser = great guy). It was the perfect combo. It saved time, kept us safe, and allowed me to concentrate on the competing storms.  Any time I flashed my high-beams, Perry would stop.

It’s now 8:10 PM CDT. We’re southeast of Douglass, getting ready to turn north onto 151st Street, and that’s when it happened. The cell to the east appeared to weaken, and then collapse. Over the next several minutes, the cell (and wall cloud) to the west began a meteorological transformation.

At first, the wall cloud looked less impressive... BUT... then it  tightened up and really began to take shape. It was now the dominating supercell with a lot of energy.

By now, I was the lead vehicle. And, just for the record, Amanda and thew two boys, were wide-eyed and all in favor of what we were doing. Safety was always respected.

The wall cloud, now east of Douglass and about three miles west of 151st street was about to produce a tornado.

Sure enough, at 8:28 PM CDT, a well-formed funnel was half way to the ground. At 8:29 and nearly dark, we had a full-fledged tornado on the ground. I shot video while Perry used a point-and-shoot to capture the moment (see Perry’s low-res jpeg at the top of this blog). The tornado was only on the ground for about three minutes, but it was impressive.

We could see power flashes and, sadly, a burst of debris. We’re hoping it was only and old barn and we never did hear of serious damage or injuries (thankfully).

It was an amazing chase for yours truly on so many levels, but one of the highlights was hearing how excited and moved Amanda and the boys were. His 11 year-old son, Corbin in particular was beaming ear-ear, and couldn’t stop talking about it. I congratulated him, and smiled, knowing I could be looking at a future scientist. You never know. A lot of interests start when we’re young.

I know it did for me.

-- Jim

P.S. It’s now 6:28 AM - The Weather Channel just notified me they plan to air the tornado footage starting at 7:00 AM CDT.