Storm Chase Details


Chase Date: May 30, 2013
Miles Logged: 380
States Chased: OK
Severe Risks: SPC Outlooks

Chase Recap:

When I saw storms firing along the dry line, especially near Chickasha, I really thought this day would be huge. Stephen, Jari and I hurried out (after sleeping in late) towards Chickasha and west. The initial storm we were on kept trying to get organized and had a huge wall cloud. The storm seemingly was wrapping up and moving slowly to the east.

I’m not sure what the problem was with the environment, but the storm became outflow dominant as it reached Chickasha. It then split east of Chickasha and the right split seemed to wrap up somewhat, but again, outflow by the time we got to Dibble.

Marlow Storm

Wall Cloud near Marlow on May 30, 2013

We made the decision to drop south then towards the Marlow storm. What a beautiful structure this storm and the one behind it had. We stayed in the Marlow area for quite awhile photographing the structure and watching the storm cycle over and over.

At some point I flipped a U turn on a back road east of Duncan and high-centered my truck in a ditch drop off. Luckily another chaser was able to pull me out quickly. Thank you to that chaser, whoever they were!

Dropping South to Ratliff City and then Red River

We headed south to Velma after that and then to Ratliff City where yet another cycle happened. Still no tornado, but it tried to wrap up. From there we dropped south to OK-53 and east to I-35. We opted to top the tank and drop south to the storms near the Red River.

By the time we got to the OK/TX border, the storm coming out of Texas was nothing more than an evaporating anvil.

Chaser Dinner

A number of chasers would gather this evening at Two Frogs in Ardmore for dinner.