It is always unfortunate to hear of the loss of life when it comes to tornadoes. It appears as though, that there has been 19 unconfirmed fatalities in Missouri and Oklahoma as a result of a single long-track supercell that spawned multiple tornadoes from Chetopa, Kansas to the Ozarks of Missouri. This long-tracked supercell was just barely inside of the original Day 1 SPC Convective Outlook area for tornadic activity (right on the edge of the 2% line--see map on left). This supercell and spawned tornadoes did extensive damage to the town of Picher, Oklahoma, which is located right on the Kansas/Oklahoma State Line along US Highway 69. 5 people were killed in the community. As the storm progressed eastward into Missouri, it did a number on westbound cars on I-44 as many had spidered windshields and the such from the golf ball sized hail reported along the highway. The storm went on into Newton County, Missouri, causing at least 13 unconfirmed fatalities near the towns of Racine and Seneca. The very deadly year for tornadoes continues...my thoughts are with those who were affected by the storms.
I managed to get out and chase this event. I managed to photograph one tornado near Oswego, Kansas and tried my best to intercept the long-tracked supercell near Chetopa but the speed of the storm combined with the east-southeasterly movement made it impossible for intercept. Chase log is up at:
http://www.vortexpursuit.com/2008-0510.html# posted by VORTEXpursuit.com Storm Chasing @ 5/11/2008 01:44:00 AM
