The potential for tornadic storms looked pretty high in Kansas on June 8th, but I had just returned from a weekend trip to Austin and I really didn't want to spend another 10+ hours in the car, so I decided to stay in Oklahoma and hope I wouldn't regret it. As it turned out, the show was pretty good right here at home. Fraser and I chased the supercell that was over Oklahoma City for a little while. I didn't want to get caught in rush hour traffic, so we stayed well to the south in the Moore area. There was a tornado warning for this storm while we were on it. The updraft base grew pretty large at one point, and we saw some menacing looking scud but I think the meso was too far to our north for us to get a good view. I'm sure this storm was much more impressive looking from other vantage points.

When we tired of watching the OKC storm, we went home so I could open my birthday presents, and suddenly the little baby storm to our immediate southwest blew up into a supercell. The hail core passed directly over our apartment complex. As the hail approached, the sky had a very greenish cast which my camera did a fair job of picking up. The hail began suddenly, with no rain heralding its arrival. Most of the north facing windows in our complex were broken by hail. Some of the hail was golfball sized, but the outer layers seemed pretty soft and it shattered on impact (our car wasn't damaged). The inner inch or so of the hail was pretty solid. We had near whiteout conditions for about thirty seconds, and I wonder if that was caused by a nearby microburst. Minor roof damage occurred during this time. About five minutes or less after the worst of the hail passed over us, a tornado warning was announced and the tornado sirens went off. Southeast Norman (where we live) and Noble were specifically mentioned in the warning. The power went off and on several times during all this. The sirens were only on for about five minutes. It was the first time I've ever heard them and it was very exciting.

After that storm passed by, another cell passed over Oklahoma City, and I drove north to get a look at it. While it didn't look nearly as intense as the first two storms, it was backlit rather spectacularly so made a beautiful end to the day's activity.

The following night (June 9th), the anvil of a storm to our south spread over us just before sunset. There were widespread mammatus. Later that night, there were some spectacular anvil crawlers which Fraser and I watched right from our porch (we have a south view).

Tonight, June 13th, was almost a repeat performance of the June 8th situation, only the storms were a few short miles north of the ones on the 8th. It started with a storm passing through northern Oklahoma City - another difference being that this one actually put down at least one tornado. A local TV station was broadcasting live footage of the tornado as it formed. Reports are still coming in right now, but so far there aren't any serious injuries (thank goodness!). At least 30,000 people are without power and there is extensive roof and tree damage according to Channel 4 News.

Again, right after the OKC storm, another storm rapidly developed into a supercell and passed over Norman and Moore. The south edge of the updraft was barely north of us. As the storm approached, the large scale rotation became more and more pronounced, so that by the time the updraft was due north of us it had beautiful striations (my first "flying saucer"). Right about this time a tornado warning was issued and the sirens went off - that's twice in one week, folks! This time eastern Norman and Moore were mentioned. Again the sirens were only on for about five minutes or less. The lightning show was pretty good with this storm as well. This storm was a fairly fast mover, and as it moved off to the east there was barely enough light to see the tower, but as the lightning flashed it shillouetted the updraft base and the tower beautifully.

I am so glad that I live in Oklahoma.

These images are in no particular order and are Copyright 1998 Shannon Key
Click on an image to enlarge it.

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