I've gotten a few emails and questions about whether or not I was chasing over the weekend and the simple answer is yes, and no. I was at a convention in Oakley Kansas, located in NW Kansas over the weekend. I didn't actually chase, but I was playing weather man for the weekend. StormLab and Inerwarn came in pretty handy. An EF4 tornado was spotted and documented only 2 1/2 miles from the convention location. Pappy, the Logan County Emergency Manager, came by and shared the photogrpahs he had of the tornado and the damage path.
Sunday I gave a presentation of what chasers do, how they fit into the warning system, and showed them storm photographs I've taken. Thanks to Millie at the American Red Cross and Ed at the NWS for the information I made available to the folks who attended the presentation. I really appreciate it. If you didn't get copies of the booklets, I have a few left. Just drop me an email and I'll make sure you get them. If I don't have enough, I'll tell you who to contact to get them.
We were surrounded by storms most of the weekend.
Looking east and into the storm:
Looking west after the storms had calmed down some:
I spent some time talking to Pappy, the E.M., about chasers and some of the problems he has with them. Honestly he's not too fond of chasers due to some experiences he's had with chasers getting in his way when he's working a weather emergency. The bottom line? If you're out chasing or spotting, make sure you use a little common sense and show respect for the first responders who are out there. Luckily, I was able to smooth over some of the ill feelings -- well, at least
I'm welcome in Logan county to chase storms. Hopefully I can do that sometime.
I stopped in Greensburg, KS on my way home and was amazed that it's still being flooded with tourists. I guess that's good for the local convenience store and gas station, which is in full operation, but I didn't join the on-lookers taking pictures of the damage remaining. They are rebuilding and doing it Green. The proceeds of an auction held in Oakley at the convention are being donated to the Greensburg relief fund for a park.
I also took a look at the damage of the tornado that hit over the weekend just west of Pratt. Thankfully it was in a rural area and I didn't hear of any injuries or deaths. From the debris field, it appeared to be an EF2 or EF3 twister.
The weather pattern continued for another day and as I headed east, and into a severe thunderstorm near Wichita, chasers and the NOAA vans were heading west. I almost turned the truck around and headed back into western Kansas. I didn't though.
I hope everyone faired the storms. It's supposed to be quiet for a couple of days, with a chance of bumpy weather coming in over the weekend. If that should happen, I'll be going active.
Stay safe!
