Tom's Weather Page

Two Weeks with Cloud 9

"I am not responsible for anything I say in front of a tornado." Charles Edwards

Table of Contents

Overview
The Chasers
"We Think There's A Big One on the Ground South of Us"
Photos

Overview

I spent the last two weeks of May with Cloud 9 Tours. Eleven of us, along with four very experienced chasers and four members of National Geographic Television, pursued severe weather in Tornado Alley. On May 24th, we caught up with a supercell in northern central Oklahoma. Minutes after arriving under the mesocyclone, a tornado developed a few hundred yards away. In all, we saw three different spin-ups. As sunset approached, five of us sought shelter from golfball sized hail in Lamont, Oklahoma. We found a metal shed, and after pulling the van inside, watched the ensuing hail and lightshow. The storm intensified and slowly slid just southwest of our sanctuary. Powerflashes to our south and a sudden windshift prompted a hasty retreat north. Two days later we returned to Lamont to find that an F3 tornado had passed less than a mile from our metal shed. In all it was a very successful trip. I was able to witness severe weather up close and personal including rear flank downdrafts, clear slots, wall clouds and of course a tornado. We traveled approximately 4,200 miles and saw the states of Nebraska, Oklahoma, Kansas, South Dakota, Colorado, and that whole different country known as Texas. A summer like weather pattern and smoke from forest fires in Mexico made this chase season a challenge. I feel very fortunate we saw as much as we did.

Things That Lurk in the Dark

May 24th, 1998 / Lamont, Oklahoma

It was 9:18 pm CDT. When we finally got a hold of the other chase van by cellular phone, we told them we thought there may be a large tornado on the ground just south of us. We didn't finish the conversation. The winds suddenly changed, and we quickly made an exit to the north. The F3 tornado that moved southwest of Lamont was on the ground between 9:10 and 9:25 pm CDT. We left Lamont northbound at 9:20 pm CDT. The radar loop starting at 846 pm CDT.