May 12, 2004 - Southwest Kansas 

Supercells
 

  (Click on pictures to view larger size.) 
 
Chase Account by: Jonathan Garner
 
Brian Thalken, Jim Kaiser, Adam Schlautman, and myself observed supercell after supercell in southwest Kansas today. We targeted Pratt, KS, arriving by 4:30pm to find an agitated Cu field developing ahead of a dryline to the south, and along a southwest-northeast oriented stationary front. By 5:55pm, an incredibly strong tower erupted to our southwest along the dryline, and quickly developed into a supercell. The knuckles underneath the anvil were incredible, and the tower was rock hard. As we drove south down highway 281, the base came into view, which had a developing flange shaped appearance. We then positioned ourselves directly east of the storm at 6:25pm (it was about 5-10 miles due west), and enjoyed one of the most breath-taking storms I have ever seen. The circular anvil diverged away from the top of the cylindrical updraft, with a brilliant blue sky for a background and an expansive valley of rangeland as a foreground. The supercell then went through a split, with the left member moving north, and the southern split heading southeast. Meanwhile, another small supercell had developed south of our location, and it also went through a split, sending its left split going due north, which eventually merged with our right turner. This was an incredible site to witness as well, because our right turner began to ingest cloud material from the southern storm at its base. The storm then went through a new updraft cycle and began to cork-screw, with lightning spitting out of the anvil every few minutes.
We eventually had to reposition due to rain and possible hail, and at the same time, a storm to our northwest was issued a tornado warning. We didn't want to risk a broken wind shield in order to intercept this storm, besides, we had a rapidly strengthening storm to our southwest, which we decided to intercept instead. This supercell was a classic LP, with a tilted mid-level "plate" wrapping around the updraft, which took on the appearance of a barber poll. At the base, a low wall cloud hung, with rapid rotation being observed as scud ascended into the storm. Several funnels dropped out of this base, and a tornado seemed to be a sure thing, but then the RFD wrapped hard around the wall cloud, which caused it to dissipate. We allowed this storm to pass over us and then to our east (the mid-level rotation was incredible). We then followed from behind as the base began to reorganize and take on a circular appearance. Again, it seemed like it was going to produce, but this time, rotation never really tightened up at the base. We then let this cell go and went south to attempt to intercept another tornado warned supercell. We couldn't intercept due to heavy rain and potential hail, but 30 minutes later, we witnessed one of the best CG displays I have ever seen. They were everywhere!! We pulled over into a drive way at about 9pm in order to gain a better perspective on the tornadic potential for a cell that was moving over us, and then, out of no where, a brilliant flash of light occurs in front of us...a telephone poll was struck, only 30 feet from our vehicle. That was the closest I have ever been to a lightning bolt. What a way to end one of the best chases I have ever experienced.