The prospects seemed good today for tornadic supercells, the kind I’ve been waiting for, especially in south-central Kansas. Sometimes, you take a chance on an area where you hope for long-lived, photogenic storms rather than going after the other stuff. Today, it was all “other stuff,” as storms fired off the dryline and zoomed north, prompting a few unimpressive tornado reports. (To clarify: Yes, there were tornadoes, just not what I hoped for.) But meeting other storm chasers was fun.
You can’t always get what you want. Today, I don’t think I got what I needed, either – I’m still looking for Mr. Goodstorm, the supercell that will make this trip photographically worthwhile, before I go broke.
Turkey towers loom over storm chasers in Saint John, Kansas, as they await real storms May 19. Photo by Chris Kridler, chriskridler.com
19 MAY 2011 – The chase began with a meal at this awesome diner in Pratt, Kansas, now called The Famous Servateria, with chasers Bill Hark and Robert Balogh. I love this populuxe sign! Photo by Chris Kridler, chriskridler.com
19 MAY 2011 – Chaser convergence in Saint John. Photo by Chris Kridler, chriskridler.com
19 MAY 2011 – Waves of chasers came and went, and then Dave Lewison and Scott McPartland (their roof cam is shown), along with Mark Robinson and his crew, arrived. Photo by Chris Kridler, chriskridler.com
19 MAY 2011 – Our target storm died as we approached, prompting a chaser conference on a remote road. Photo by Chris Kridler, chriskridler.com