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June 3, 2012: Some of my chaser friends started the drive home today, while others considered their options. I decided to target northwest Oklahoma, from Woodward to Alva. The storms that formed barely moved, but I was delighted to end the day - and my 2012 Tornado Alley chase - in the windmill park that inspired the fictional one in my novel Funnel Vision. Share

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On the way, to my target of northwest Oklahoma, I was pleased to see the Big Well attraction had been rebuilt at Greensburg, Kansas, which is showing significant recovery since the devastating 2007 tornado.	I briefly ran into Cloud 9 Tours at Alva, Oklahoma, and drove with them for a bit, then broke off to chase this little storm northwest of Woodward, Oklahoma.	I mostly hovered around and south of the town of May, east of the nearly stationary severe storm, so I could get shots of the structure.
As I watched the storm, I also watched this spider lurking in the funnel of webs it had built in its hole. This does appear to be a Funnel-Web Spider or Funnel Weaver.	The storm had beautiful mammatus in its anvil.	A vertical shot showing the mammatus clouds.
I changed locations and got a bit broader view of the storm, which wasn't growing or advancing.	As that storm died in the middle of an unrealized tornado watch, I ran into Daniel Shaw and hopped south to Shattuck, Oklahoma, and its windmill park - the inspiration for the one in my novel "Funnel Vision."	I had always wanted to shoot a storm over this park. There was a burgeoning storm to the southeast (shown) and the setting sun to the west.
Love the light and the windmills!	I believe some of these are new since I last visited the park.	This is one of my favorites from the stormy sunset in Shattuck's windmill park.
The light fades but is no less magical.	A distant storm, and the power of wind.	A last-gasp effort to get lightning yielded a few crawlers by I-40 on my way to the Oklahoma City area for the night, and the end of my Tornado Alley chase.
Here's a wide shot of many of the park's windmills against the sunset. Daniel is almost lost in the dark foreground at right.

2012 reports and photos | blog