2004 Severe Storms Evaluation

Chase Day – Chased Several Storms, three of which had tornado warnings. We were on the backside of the storm that produced a tornado in Bradgate, IA

Although we could not see the tornado because of all of the low clouds. This particular storm had very strong winds and a tremendous amount of shear

Which briefly produced a funnel-like feature that never reached the ground. We did see a rotating wall cloud in north central Iowa

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Day 5 – Saturday, May 22^nd

Des Moines, IA to York, NE, then all over South Central and Southeast Nebraska

Chase Day – Chased multiple tornadic supercell thunderstorms, although we did not see a tornado. Most of these storms were actually High Precipitation

supercells, so either the tornadoes were rain-wrapped or we could not get ourselves into position to actually see the tornado due to safety issues (better to

be cautious). We chased the storm that produced a tornado in Furnas County, NE, as well as another storm that produced a tornado near Milligan, NE.

Overall, we did see some great thunderstorm structure in the form of a mothership-type mesocyclone in which the entire storm was rotating.

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Day 6 – Sunday, May 23^rd

Travel Day – York, NE to Omaha, NE

We traveled from York, NE to Council Bluffs, IA and had lunch at the “Mall of the Bluffs”. We then crossed back into Nebraska and stayed the

night at a Comfort Inn in Omaha, NE that had an indoor pool and a hot tub. This was also a day to rest and do laundry.

Day 7 – Monday, May 24^th

Omaha, NE south to SE Nebraska and all over NW and N Central Nebraska, finally staying the night in Kansas City, MO

Chase Day – A very busy “High Risk” chase day. We chased several supercells with confirmed tornadoes. Our first storm near Mound City, MO produced

an impressive rotating wall cloud and funnel cloud while we were watching it. After it crossed I -29, it produced a confirmed tornado that was rain wrapped, which

we may have seen but cannot confirm due to obstructed view from the rain shaft. We continued to chase this storm eastward and then finally chased another storm

that produced a very impressive funnel cloud. Other chasers claimed that this funnel cloud did contact the ground, although we did not see it actually touch down.

We then continued east on Hwy 136 to the town of Albany, MO in which a multiple vortex tornado was reported 10 minutes before we arrived there. We were probably

close enough to see the tornado if it were not for the hills, trees, and the fact that this tornado was wrapped in rain. We drove through the town of Albany to see significant

damage with roofs taken off, mobile homes overturned, tractor trailers overturned, cars tossed and mangled, a destroyed grocery store. This was a very sobering moment.

We continued just a few miles east of Albany and sighted a rotating wall cloud and a funnel cloud. This was our first official tornado as this funnel cloud touched down in a

rural area. We continued to watch this tornado as it lifted up and followed the rotating wall cloud for probably another 30 miles.

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Day 8 – Tuesday, May 25^th

Travel Day – Kansas City, MO to Wichita, KS

Day 9 – Wednesday, May 26^th

Wichita, KS to North Central Oklahoma and finally to Tulsa, OK

Chase Day – We started the day in Wichita, KS and drove west on Hwy 54 to Pratt, KS. Our plan was to chase any storms that fired along a dry line

bulge in hopes of seeing some great structure with some LP supercells and possible get in an area with enhanced low-level backing of the winds for

a slight chance at an isolated tornado. After stopping to eat at a Dairy Queen in Pratt, KS and performing some Mesoanalysis at the Pratt, KS Library, we

decided to go south into Oklahoma. We saw a couple of storms firing near the Elk City, OK area on radar and decided to move south and east to get into position

to either intercept these storms or to chase any storms that fired farther north. Towering cumulus began growing just west of Enid, OK and a classic supercell was born.

We intercepted the storm just east of Enid and observed a rotating wall cloud. This storm produced at least one tornado that we observed just east of I – 35. We continued to

chase this storm until it moved into eastern Oklahoma toward the Tulsa area. We then decided to move north and chase a potentially tornadic supercell that move through

Ponca City, OK just about a half-hour before. We observed a very nice shelf cloud associated with the gust front of this storm and possibly a rotating wall cloud, although

It was difficult to see because it was getting dark. We continued to chase both of these storms as they merged just north of Tulsa.

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