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Chase Account by: Brian Thalken
On my third straight day of chasing, I was able to catch this
intense HP monster by Pratt, KS. With my chase partner for the day
,Jason Ehmke, we went as far west as the town of Cullison on HWY 54.
We decided to head east on HWY 54, constantly repositioning
ourselves trying to get a better view of the large lowering out of
the low-level mesocyclone to the northwest. It was extremely
difficult to see the lowering with the amount of rain and the
horrible contrast. We came into Pratt from the north off a county
road at 8:25 pm. A law enforcement official got out of his vehicle
and said, "a rain-wrapped 3/4 mile wide tornado was heading for
Pratt." We positioned ourselves 1 mile due east of Pratt at about
8:30 pm.
This storm displayed an example of cyclic supercell tornadogenesis.
With continuous lightning flashes and a few power flashes, there was
enough light to distinguish the large tornado to the northwest of
Pratt and then the multi-vortex tornado over the city. Hearing a
transformer blow up was almost as unbelievable as being blinded by
the flash of the explosion. We had to leave at about 8:40 pm when it
started to rain and hail at our location. After hearing the reports
of tennis ball size hail, I'm glad we didn't stick around. It would
have been a long trip back to Lincoln, NE with a shattered
windshield. Unfortunately, the tornadoes spawned by this supercell
destroyed several homes in the Cullison and Pratt areas.
BEFORE
explosion (below)
AFTER
explosion (below)

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Video
of Tornadoes at Night
Pratt, KS multiple tornadoes
at night May 7, 2002. Night
vision helps show these night tornadoes.

Award
Winning Storm Photos
Amazing
Tornado Videos


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