Blog 28: It's a Twister! It's a Twister!...Auntie Em! Auntie Em!

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On our arrival in Oklahoma we patiently waited for any contact regarding our storm chasing tour. That patience turned to agitation as the hours ticked by and we found ourselves pacing the room between making further phone calls and sending more emails. Whilst doing this, the weather channel reported almost non-stop during a busy weekend of twisters, including Parkersburg (Iowa) where seven people would eventually lose their lives.
Dejected, confused and perhaps understandably angry, we began to make plans for leaving Oklahoma and attempted to start picking ourselves up after coming to terms with the fact that not only were we not going to be storm chasing, which was supposed to be a major highlight of the trip, but we had also parted with over $4000 and didn’t know if we were going to see it again.
Then at the eleventh hour the call came. I won’t bore you with details but in short, the chase (for storms) was back on……..
Later that same night we joined the rest of our small group for the pre-tour meeting.

Our host for the week would be Brian Barnes, a professional storm chaser who would do his best to find us the ‘right’ storms. By emphasising ‘right’, what I mean is those that have the necessary elements to potentially produce a tornado. Storms in general are very common in this area, and more often than not if you don’t go looking for them, it won’t be long before they find you. During his pre-tour briefing, Brian reminded us about the dangers of storm chasing and the fact that he WOULD be putting us in harm’s way. However, he had grown up in Oklahoma and having storm chased with his Dad since the age of 11, he now possessed not only the knowledge passed down to him but also the modern technology, and weather reports at his fingertips that his Dad never had, and he seemed confident about the week ahead.
Brian was joined by his partner Renee who was out for her first full season of storm chasing, but had good knowledge from previous shorter trips and would assist with much of the driving. The last, but by no means least, of our three mentors was Professor Paul, and a more amiable and genuine guy you couldn’t wish to meet. Paul was a Professor in Geology, who along with Renee shared the bulk of the driving, and when in the back with us was very good company.
As well as Sam and I, our three other storm chasers were Chris, an Aussie who was on his first trip abroad to see his brother get married in Glasgow, but thought he’d stop off and see a bit of extreme weather en route. And Alan and Simon, two guys from the BBC who would be joining us for four of the six days in order to do some reporting on the phenomena of not only bad weather but travelling to a place where you can actively chase it. One of their reports can be found on the website at the bottom of this blog, and is well worth checking out. As well as it being a professional report on the things that will be haphazardly written about on our blog, it also contains some video footage of the week. Oh, and there is an edited version of an interview we did, although it does make it seem like Sam does all the talking! (For those of you that know him, you’ll know that he does his fair share!). More of their footage will be used for other documentaries being produced in the future. Chris, Alan and Simon were all good lads whose sense of humour seemed to match our own and we all got to know each other a little better with a few beers and a pizza in the hotel bar on that first night, while other guests chatted with us in confused interest at our choice of ’vacation activity’.

Before the report on our week, here are a few definitions of weather jargon that might be of use. There’ll be a * by the words or phrases so you can remind yourself what it is:
SUPERCELL - A violent thunderstorm that has a persistent rotating updraft and is capable of spawning tornados.
MESOCYCLONE - A vertical column of cyclonically rotating air that develops in the updraft of a severe thunderstorm cell, can be the early stage in a developing tornado.
TRIPLE POINT - When cold, warm and occluded fronts all come together, producing conditions for thunderstorms and possibly tornados.
WEDGE - Nickname for a large tornado that’s as wide at the base as it is at the top, normally very destructive.
F1, F2, F3, F4, F5 are all categories of tornado, F5 being the most destructive with wind speeds of 201 mph or over. For further details on classifications use the links on the BBC website.

The following day was the first chase day, and like most of the days that week it would start out fairly relaxed as most of the storms we would end up chasing tended to form in the morning and further develop and peak in the afternoon/evening.
This day we left at 1pm to intercept a storm that Brian gave a 50/50 chance in producing a tornado. When we eventually arrived, we all stood on a hill as Brian pointed out certain telltale signs within the cloud formations, whilst Alan and Simon set up their BBC cameras in anticipation. We all watched and listened like eager students, but Brian soon realised that nothing much was going to come of this particular storm and gave us the signal to jump back in the van in order to move to a different location. This put us between two storms where the lightning increased and the rain started, but again, with no tornado development. We were still in Oklahoma at this point, but on the radar there was something brewing in Kansas so we began storm chasing in it’s literal sense as we raced north towards Greensburg.
If Greensburg sounds vaguely familiar to any of you it’s probably because the town made international news in May 2007 when it was levelled by an F5 tornado, with winds in excess of 205mph resulting in 11 fatalities.
Whilst en route, the extreme weather warning radio channel (a must around these parts) made for tense and exciting listening as a male automated voice warned of extreme thunderstorms including heavy rain, golf ball sized hail, and an increased risk of a tornado developing, then going on to list all those areas that were potentially in the path of the storm.
Back home hail, 99.9% of the time, is something that is the size of a peppercorn and may sting your face if it’s windy. Over here during these violent storms the hail is categorised into the following:
Dime (1p size) sized hail
Quarter (2p size) sized hail
Ping pong ball sized hail
Golf ball sized hail
Tennis ball sized hail
Softball sized hail
Grapefruit sized hail…….
Can you believe that??…..GRAPEFRUIT SIZED HAIL!!!

When we arrived in Greensburg (which is still mostly flattened) the skies were ’as black as the hogs of hell’ (as my dad would say) and the radar signal that we were looking at in the van indicated that there was circulating air in the vicinity, which is a must in order to produce a tornado. Once a tornado develops there is no telling if it will be an F1or F5, and Brian was out of the van and looking to the skies; the situation was a little unpredictable and we were told for now to remain in the vehicle. Normally we would all pile out of the van whenever it stopped at strategic viewpoints unless told otherwise. We were also warned, when jumping out, about the dangers of looking to the skies in excitement before checking where we were planting our feet; snakes and fire ants being the main things to avoid. Lightning at this point seemed like it was everywhere. Brian jumped back in, and we remained stationary for a while as the rain began falling by the bucket load.
Noticing the graphics on the van, a couple pulled up in their car and asked for some advice, to which Brian suggested they turn around and head back in the direction in which they came for the time being. In fact, throughout the week, the van always drew a lot of attention and people would often come up and have a chat. Reactions would range from a young girl (who was with her mum) excitedly pointing and shouting “storm chasers!! storm chasers!!” as we went by, to some who would suggest in the friendliest of ways that we were just plain crazy. Most however, would simply say that they were grateful for what we were doing and commend us on our courage and bravery. This was obviously directed at Brian, Renee and Paul who could give advice and information, rather than the thrill seeking loonies in the back, but generally joe public didn’t know the difference. The police too would give us a wave and one of the questions I put to Brian at the beginning of the week was; are storm chasers a target for the cops? He replied that they had excellent relations with the police and would often be waved through road blocks in order to view the tornados. The police (not having the radar equipment) would in turn use the storm chasers as a valuable source of information. So it was easy to feel like minor celebrities, and what with the BBC cameras present, there was a split second when I thought I’d finally made my (it has to be said, long overdue) entry into Z-list celebrity status…. Anyway, I digress, back to Kansas!

The storm hung around into the night producing some amazing lightning, but alas (for us) no tornado. For now, befriending a lion, a scarecrow and a tin man on our way to Oz would have to wait.
We drove around for a while looking for somewhere to stay and eat. This took us through the unfortunately named town of Pratt. As you can imagine, the jokes were childish and numerous, but it was the folk of the small town itself who provided the best of all by naming a building ’The Pratt Education Centre’……..what were they thinking??
We don’t chase at night for obvious reasons, and at first we were a little disappointed when we pulled into Pizza Hut for our evening meal - didn’t really want to come all this way and eat somewhere you can go at home. But learning that Kansas is the birth place of the global food chain made it slightly nostalgic.

The next day would take us to Texas, our third state in two days. Here we first skirted, before then punching through the middle of a supercell* that just ahead of us had snapped and downed telegraph poles. The lightning again went on into the night and was the most spectacular electrical storm either of us have ever witnessed, with fork lightning that instead of coming down and striking the earth (like we see at home) would spread like witches fingers through the clouds over a massive area and would remain illuminated for several seconds at a time. Numerous attempts to capture it on camera failed time and again. We stood and watched the sun begin to set, spreading its beautifully golden glow on the Mammatus cloud that stretched across the sky to the lightning in the distance. We’d not seen Mammatus cloud before but it resembles the underside of an egg box, as small pockets of cloud protrude fairly evenly beneath the main body. It’s a bizarre but gorgeous phenomenon.

Later at dinner, Brian told us he was concerned at one point during our entry in to the storm earlier today, when we were being blasted by hail and rain against the side of the van. This is indicative of a shearing wind, and along with the presence of the wall cloud, meant that a tornado (or at the very least a mesocyclone*) could be very close to developing directly above us! None of us realised at the time - ah well, ignorance is bliss!

On our third day we called in to see the Emergency Management Control Centre in Altus, Jackson County, Oklahoma, close to the Texas border. Here, we received a warm welcome from a personal friend of Brian, Lloyd Coulston, who is the Director of Emergency Management in Altus and a very busy man. He works tirelessly to ensure the population of Altus are prepared and can cope in any emergency situation.
This ranges from terrorist attacks to ice storms, the latter being another extreme meteorological event that hits this area along with tornados. His scope, however, extends not just to Altus but much further afield. He is quite possibly (maybe after Bear Grylls or Ray Mears) the most prepared man to have with you or working for you in an emergency, and Altus should be proud to have him as their own. Thanks for your time Lloyd, keep up the good work.

After meeting Lloyd, who also did a quick interview with the BBC, we were back on the road. The remainder of the day would be spent travelling as we made our way to Kansas City, Missouri. The journey was broken up somewhat for us Brits as we watched, in the van, England beat the USA 2 - 0, and we’d have given Brian and Paul more stick but, hey, it was soccer, and they couldn’t have seemed less bothered. We were still without our twister and the following day would be Simon and Alan’s last chance to get their shot. There was however, a supercell building in Nebraska….

There was a palpable air of excitable optimism in the bus on the fourth day. The growing storm was looking promising after our previous encounters had not yet ‘produced’, as it were.
Criss-crossing Iowa and Nebraska now meant we’d entered six states through the infamous ’Tornado Alley’ and as we arrived near Kearney (Nebraska), the telltale ’anvil-shaped’ cloud was already massive. We sped across gravel dirt-tracks that divided farmers fields and positioned ourselves. This was going to prove a difficult storm to view due to the fact that it was moving at about 40-50mph and, unlike us, it wouldn’t be hindered by roads, traffic and stop signs. It was upon us in no time and on Brian’s signal we were back in the van and negotiated all those just mentioned to get far enough in front of it to watch it build. When we reached a relatively safe distance we all piled out to marvel at this huge revolving mass. On our way we’d seen people sitting on their doorsteps and standing in their front yards looking up. These supercell formations are truly fascinating to look at, but for these folk living here, they’re potential home and life wreckers (or even takers) and any of these communities could find themselves, like Greensburg, tomorrow’s national headlines.
For the moment there was no twister, but it was certainly looking like it was about to produce one. We’ve tried to attach a short video to this blog because the pictures cannot capture the whole thing circulating.
It was a monster of a storm and looked like the end of the world was about to unfold. We were looking at the storm from a safe distance but the wind had already picked up and then through the dense rain and hail, a couple of bursts of bright green light lasting about a second began. These were power lines being ripped up, a tornado was on the ground!!
All Americans should witness this at least once so that they know the true context of the word ’awesome’ that many seem to use far too readily for very ordinary things.
The frustrating thing was that the tornado was there, we just couldn’t see the funnel, which ultimately is the climax for any storm chaser.

We attempted to drive around it for a better view and intentionally or not we ended up not in the twister, but right in the middle of the storm. We had torrential rain and hail pounding the van and visibility was extremely poor, not only because the windscreen wipers were struggling to cope with the deluge but the air conditioning had chosen to pack up hours before causing additional condensation on the inside. As Brian (now in the driver’s seat) battled the elements, the rest of us fell silent in the back, if honest, a little apprehensive about how bad things might potentially get. The radar indicated circulating air very close to our right hand side, but we couldn’t see anything through the curtain of rain. The few drivers on the other carriageway had mostly pulled over in their vehicles, choosing to wait the storm out rather than continue, but we were yet to see what they’d already passed coming the opposite way. However, most of those stopped were doing the one thing the warnings tell you not to and that was taking cover under overpasses (flyovers).
As we continued, I was still looking at the other carriageway when I saw the first one. Couldn’t work out what it was at first, but as we drew closer I realised the hazard lights were the wrong way up, because the lorry (semi-trailer as they call them here) was on its side; it would be the first of five within two miles. As well as the trucks, there was debris scattered across the freeway and the central grass reservation, and what looked like the remains of some kind of storage unit. In the morning we would read that a Union Pacific train had 96 of its 118 cars derailed.
We continued under the same conditions (staying on 4 wheels) for the next twenty minutes or so before eventually making it through the storm and out the other side. As the light faded we watched as the storm continued on, leaving us with that beautiful Mammatus cloud again and, with that backdrop, Brian took a group photo of us all, before we retired for something to eat in the town of Lincoln. But the excitement wasn’t quite over because as we finished our dinner in a local bar we’d found, tornado warning sirens were ringing through the town; it would appear that this time the storm was chasing us! So we had to stay put for an hour or so allowing us time to have a few more Buds and shoot some pool; ya know, the kinda thing that storm chasers (with pretend nerves of steel) do when the sirens are a soundin’ and the wind’s a howlin’.

We ended up staying the night in Omaha and the next day (see headline photo) the local papers reported that Kearney had indeed been hit by a tornado, and not one, but two funnels (twisters) had been reported. We’d got our storm, not perhaps the view of a twister we’d all imagined and openly hoped for, but we’d weathered a pretty good battering from this huge storm and come out unscathed and it was both fascinating and thrilling to say the least.

The storm that hit Kearney turned out to be the last of the potentially menacing storms that week, and our last two days included a day’s travel back to Oklahoma and the following day we did something completely different.
First we went to the award winning Oklahoma National Memorial, where a quite brilliant design remembers all those affected by the Oklahoma bombing at the Murrah Federal Building on April 19th 1995 in Oklahoma City. We spent a little while in the museum that includes a recording of an interview across the street and captures the deafening blast caused by the 4000lb homemade bomb that killed 168 people including 19 young kiddies in a day nursery.
After the memorial, we had a wander around ‘Bricktown’ a fairly recent development with restaurants, shops and bars, in one of which we spent the evening listening to a live blues band.

So our storm chasing week had come to an end. We set out hoping to see a true tornado, like the ones you see on those extreme weather documentaries, and it would have made our day to include a ‘wedge’* as one of the photos on the blog. But it was never a guarantee and we knew that when we booked the tour. However, as with some other times during this incredible year when we’ve maybe missed the ‘main event’ such as swimming with whale sharks and seeing pandas in the wild, we’ve ended up being surprised and amazed by something else we hadn’t bargained for.

The storms we’ve witnessed have been the most violent and breathtaking we’ve ever seen. 2008 is already on the way to being one of the most active seasons in history, and in May when the tornados hit Kearney, we may not have seen the funnels but we were there amidst the destruction as we battled through those ’Violent Skies’ and it’s definitely left us wanting more. So one day we will see our twister, just like we’ll swim with whale sharks and trek to see gorillas in the wild, but for now they remain on a new list of things to see and do as we continue with our current one.

Thanks to Brian, Renee and Paul, keep in touch! And thanks also to Chris, Alan and Simon, our fellow chasers and reporters. Hope to hear from you all some time.

For us, it was another part of the journey over and the start of a new experience wasn’t far away. We would be headed west to Las Vegas (Nevada) to pick up our RV. We originally wanted to drive west from Oklahoma but there were no one-way rentals on offer so we’ve had to re-jig our plans slightly. Might be just as well; we may now be able to recognise what a supercell looks like, but I couldn’t guarantee we could avoid one, and seeing our first funnel from the driving seat of our own van with no satellite navigation, radar or expertise to get out of its way wouldn’t be ideal. So it was time to find a flight……………

Don’t forget to check out the BBC website and links:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7426385.stm

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Photos

Let's hope so
Clear skies and sunshine are not what we want

Only a tiddler.
The reports measure hail up to grapefruit size.

A rotating monster
Outside Kearney

Chris
Our Australian friend and fellow storm chaser

Holed up
The gang. Forced to entertain ourselves with beers and shootin' pool whilst the tornado warning sirens sound outside.

Live with the BBC
Check out Simon and Alan's reports on the BBC website at the bottom of the blog.

Stretching our legs
Another fuel stop as we cover six states

Headlines
We were there when the tornados hit Kearney, Nebraska

No hair allowed
Brian on the left and Professor Paul on the right; the winds were that strong they both lost their hair.

Ghost town
A storm's on the way

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