May 6, 2012 was a marginal day for severe weather. The severe weather threat was mainly for hail, wind, and flash flooding as a non-aggressive cold front moved across the plains. As convection from earlier in the day and the prior evening dissipated, their outflow boundaries caused storms to fire in the warm sector, ahead of the cold front. A few storms produced brief tornadoes, amazing storm structures, and flooding rains. A brief and confirmed tornado prompted a tornado warning around the Peculiar MO area in the afternoon. A while later and a bit to the west, I managed to make an impromptu storm chase. The prior day, in NE Nebraska, upper level temps at H7 did not allow for storms to initiate. Basically, a blue sky cap bust. So, to just get into a storm and follow it and maybe get a few images of lightning, were all that I was expecting to see.
However, once exiting 435 at K10 around Olathe, Ks, I noticed the storms seemed to be slightly rotating. When I received the report of the tornado warned storm by Peculiar and that it had a confirmed tornado on the ground, I almost set my cruise control to head that direction. Just as I was setting the destination into my GPS, I checked the radar and visible satellite images one more time. I noticed an outflow boundary close to the storm I was already under. I decided to stick around for a little bit and see how things progressed. To my surprise, a small couplet started showing on the next radar scan and within a few minutes after that, a rotating wall cloud had developed directly over my head. I stayed with that storm until it’s wall cloud had dissipated. Another glance at the radar showed me why that storm failed to produce, and thankfully it did not, as it was nearing urban Olathe. To the south of my position more convection was initiating off of that outflow boundary, which in turn, choked off the warm inflow into the storm I was on. Since the southerly storm that was developing was only a few miles down the road, I decided to make haste towards it.
The moment I cleared the rain curtain from the forward flanking downdraft, I was greeted by one of the most tightly wound storm structures that I have ever seen in my life.
- Beautifully wrapped mesocyclone just west of Olathe, KS
After a quick photo-op, I re-positioned myself a little further to the south. As I entered into urban territory, I noticed there was no tornado warning and no tornado sirens blowing. After watching a few pieces of scud move up from the ground and into the rapidly rotating funnel, I decided to call 911 and relay my report with them. Within two minutes the sirens came to life and law enforcement went into full lock down mode. In the video, you can easily see a road block and road hazard UNDER AN OVERPASS, nonetheless, caused by the law enforcement and other public service groups which forced traffic to a crawl for a few miles AS THE POTENTIAL TORNADO NEARED OLATHE!!!! With all the recent fuss that these groups have caused about the number of chasers, I think it is only fair to note how dangerous and life threatening their actions were.
- Tornado crossing Old Elm Rd by I-35
The funnel crossed Old Elm road at I-35 and moved through a ball field where debris was easily seen flying through the air. It was officially a tornado at this point. A few brief spin ups as it moved across the fields and a construction site before the storm started to lose strength. I assume at this point it was losing its guster due to moving off of the outflow boundary. Needless to say, the tornado then thinned and started roping out. Minor damage including downed power lines, were caused by this tornado. Below is the video I shot while on this exciting, yet, impromptu chase.
After you watch the video, take a moment and visit the “Lightning Stills” and “Storm Chasing” photography galleries and have a look at the images from this chase. Enjoy!!!
