Southern Oklahoma supercell: May 4, 2020

HP supercell over Springer, OK.

This was a long chase day. It started off with elevated supercells in north-central Kansas in the morning, but the main show was later in the day in Oklahoma.

I arrived back in Oklahoma City early in the afternoon with enough time to review data and make a decision. A Tornado Watch was issued for northeastern Oklahoma, but I was more interested farther west.

One of the things that I’ve learned over the years is that I am willing to make sacrifices to see a storm. It’s not always about going where the greatest probability for a tornado is. In this case, there was the potential for a tail end “Charlie” supercell close to Oklahoma City. Instead of driving 2-3 hours to watch a grungy storm possibly produce a brief tornado, I favored something more photogenic and long-lasting, close to home.

I drifted a bit south and east of Oklahoma City around 3 p.m. Hanging out near Shawnee, storms began to initiate to the west. Although the storms struggled at first, once the cap was broken, updrafts were explosive.

I set up downstream of the storm, near Pauls Valley. Although the storm was not likely to produce a tornado, it did intensify and a tornado warning was issued. Aside from displaying prominent mid-level rotation, there were no tornadoes. The storm did produce baseball size hail and photogenic structure, that lasted for several hours.

An intense supercell thunderstorm over the Arbuckle Mountains in south-central Oklahoma.

Following the storm, I drifted south down Interstate-35. The storm was a high precipitation (HP) supercell and I kept a distance, for good reason. Not only did I want to avoid the destructive hail, but being out in front of the storm was one of the better places to photograph the beast.

A proper stopping point was overlooking the Arbuckle Mountains. The storm was spinning in the distance, slowly inching closer and closer. I stopped to shoot some footage and ended up staying with the storm for a couple of more exits, before ultimately turning back home.

No tornadoes were to be found, but that was not a problem. A lone storm put on quite a show, relatively close to home. After all was said and done, I made it back to my apartment before 10 p.m. and called it a night.

A supercell thunderstorm spins into the night with mammatus clouds to the east side.

Quincy

I am a meteorologist and storm chaser who travels around North America documenting, photographing and researching severe weather. I earned a B.S. in Meteorology at Western Connecticut State University in 2009 and my professional weather forecasting experience includes time with The Weather Channel, WTNH-TV and WREX-TV.

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