Home Chase Reports Chases 2004 May 12 '04 Attica KS

May 12 '04 Attica KS

Wednesday, 12 May 2004

May 12 2004 Several tornadoes in Barber and Harper counties, Kansas All images on this page are video captures from a Sony vx2100. Video clip links included here are for Windows Media Player (.wmv) Any video clips are currently NOT working, Stay Tuned We set our initial target as Alva, in Woods county in NW Oklahoma. We arrived about 4:30pm to almost clear, sunny skies. This is good for us. Decent cap prevented everything from firing up all at once. RUC model was forecasting 300 helicities along the border, and a tongue of 4500 cape was extending through Enid into Kansas. We sat about 8 miles S of Medicine Lodge, Ks on Hwy 281 and Gerlane Road for a good hour. Finally, 2 storms developed to our west. A tornado warning went out about 15-20 miles to our N. We resisted the urge to take out after this storm, feeling positive the storm closest, being the southern storm, would be dominant. Probably the best choice we've made in years. Along for the chase day is Justin Teague and Juan Herrera. Following is Matt Stroup and Allen Benuzzi. The core passes 1/2 mile to our N, then develops an elevated wall cloud that passed over head. 1 mile to our E, it's show time. You can actually see the dry punch coming in. This was rotating incredibly fast, so we stayed put to see what happens. Winds were out of the NW, and warm, so it was the rear flank downdraft. This entire chase is available on our DVD! A spin-up appears in a dusty field about 1.5 miles to our E. For a short second we think it's the RFD, but it plumes upward like a dust devil, then a funnel is evident at the top. Tornado on the ground! A dirt funnel forms and moves N. Video Windows Tornado is weak, but very photogenic, and it really starts churning the red dirt fields. Close-up of the ground. A few power flashes are seen as it hits power lines. Tornado starts to condensate a bit more to the ground, looking a little more solid. Time to roll. A local resident shows up and tells us it's on so-and-so's property, and the roads lead right to it. We travel E on Gerlane Rd. Facing N, we have rapid rotation, and not far to go to get closer. Tornado to our N as we prepare to parallel it. Justin is filming on the other camera, Video Windows (6.7mb) Looks to be getting stronger, and the dirt content picks up again. RFD is blasting the bottom of the tornado, the dirt is being pushed away from the circulation. Tornado weakens quickly, and the dirt begins to fall back down. Small spin-ups are seen in the cloud of dirt, but hard to see here. We keep going N on Northstar Rd to Hwy 160, just E of Medicine Lodge, Ks. E on 160 towards Attica. The meso is directly to our S, and occasionally we see wall clouds. We get a period of heavy hail between Sharon and the curve in the road W of Attica, then it quits suddenly as we pull into town. Sirens are blaring, and an occasional baseball falls from the sky, but very sporadically. As we pull through Attica, to get a view of the wall cloud, the meso above us is spectacular. From farther away, I'm sure it's awesome to see as well!   1/2 mile E of Attica we stop on the E side of a railroad bridge, and film the beginning of an F2 tornado. Up close and personal. although we have Mobile Threat Net running on the laptop, we actually never used it today, other than to get in close on the first storm. We expect this tornado to move E/NE, so we are in a great spot as long as we don't go too far E. Ground swirl to our S, about a mile. Cone becomes evident, with some incredible rotation. Video Windows Tornado becoming very anchored now! Tornado really gets it's act together. Rotation is very fast, as the cone tries to condensate to the ground This tornado is moving N/NW directly at us, and is about 1/4 mile away at this point. Time to move!! We decide to go W rather than E, since the storm itself is moving E, being slightly W is the best to make sure we don't die. The home and farm below is about to be destroyed. Thankfully, there is no one injured when it does. We go 2 blks into town, then S to get a view again. From our location, the tornado seems to be wedging out, when actually, it is still a cone with large dirt cloud. The tornado is directly over the farm at this point. Farm is taking direct hit at this point. We are 1/4 mile away now, rather than 100 yds, although our view is obscurred by trees. No one was injured. We turn back to face this rapidly rotating tornado. We are completely safe at this point, except maybe for debris, but out of the actual path. Some debris from the farm is seen. Tornado weakens and starts to rope out. We let it die out, then head E on 160 again. We get to the bridge and there is a road block. For some reason, the guy stopping traffic points at me, motions me to him, then tells us to go through the debris carefully. Why was I not turned around like a few before me?? I have no idea, but we then continue E towards Harper, not complaining. The farm from previous photos as we fled our first location. Barns and sheds are gone, as well as the trees stripped. Roof was lifted and contents were sucked out it appeared. No one was hurt thankfully. A few miles down the highway another tornado is forming, rotation is obvious as we watch it. A nice bolt of lightning strikes also. Falls apart quickly. The mesocyclone on this storm was awesome, perfectly rounded. A small tornado can be seen in the bottom right of the image, right on the road.   Close-up of the small tornado directly in front of us a few miles. And, this is the tornado to our right side. Becomes a nice stovepipe. Reports say it reached about 300 yds wide. The white streaks are golf ball sized hail stones.   Yet again, a few miles farther down the road, another tornado develops. As we head south towards Anthony, KS, the tornado above crosses the highway and snaps some power poles in half and leaves them hanging by the wires. When we look to the left of the vehicle, we can see the tornado about 1/2 mile to our east. Aljost 9:00 pm, so it is impossible to see with the naked eye, but the Sony VX2100 captures it pretty well, considering the time and light available. To our north, near Harper, KS., another beautiful tornado has formed, but we are too far south at this point, and call it a day. A very successful day in fact!

Last Updated ( Saturday, 26 April 2008 )