Southern Oklahoma supercell: May 4, 2020
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.
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.
