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May 20, 2013:
Duncan, Oklahoma, tornado and severe storms

May 20, 2013: I chased today with Dave Lewison, Scott McPartland, Dayna Vettese and Brad Rousseau, Greg Stephens, and Mark Robinson and his Weather Network crewmate Jaclyn Whittal. We started the day in Norman, Oklahoma, and chose southern Oklahoma as our target, not realizing that a devastating tornado would strike so near to our starting point later in the day. We saw a tornado, too, but there was no joy in storm chasing this day when we heard the news about Moore's devastation. Share

On the day of the big Moore, Oklahoma, tornado, our chase group saw another tornado entirely in Duncan, Oklahoma. It was brief but born of powerful rotation.

Click on the thumbnails to see a larger image.

    We started May 20 in the Norman, Oklahoma, area, with no idea a massive tornado would pass so close to it - in Moore - later that day. Our target was southern Oklahoma, so we monitored growing towers in Waurika. Photo by Chris Kridler, SkyDiary.com, ChrisKridler.com
    The towers to the north looked more promising, so we drove toward them. Photo by Chris Kridler, SkyDiary.com, ChrisKridler.com
    As we approached, the storm at Duncan was attaining significant rotation. Photo by Chris Kridler, SkyDiary.com, ChrisKridler.com
    The wall cloud began spinning in earnest. Photo by Chris Kridler, SkyDiary.com, ChrisKridler.com
    The storm put down a brief tornado and later another that we didn't see. At this time, we saw the radar for the (unreachable) devastating Moore tornado. Photo by Chris Kridler, SkyDiary.com, ChrisKridler.com
    Separated from my chase partners, I dropped down the line of storms and saw these mammatus clouds. Photo by Chris Kridler, SkyDiary.com, ChrisKridler.com
    The storm at Waurika had pretty structure buried in the haze. Photo by Chris Kridler, SkyDiary.com, ChrisKridler.com
    I moved east to get a look at its hail core from afar. Photo by Chris Kridler, SkyDiary.com, ChrisKridler.com
    The storm had a pretty "whale's mouth." Photo by Chris Kridler, SkyDiary.com, ChrisKridler.com
    A look at the storm as it began to pass overhead. Photo by Chris Kridler, SkyDiary.com, ChrisKridler.com
    The pretty storm approached. Photo by Chris Kridler, SkyDiary.com, ChrisKridler.com
    This was an interesting feature of the storm. Photo by Chris Kridler, SkyDiary.com, ChrisKridler.com
    I decided to find a spot to intercept a rotating storm with big hail in it. There's my car under a shelter in Thackerville, Oklahoma, thus ensuring the hail would miss me! Photo by Chris Kridler, SkyDiary.com, ChrisKridler.com
    There was intriguing motion in the storm, but no hail at my location. Photo by Chris Kridler, SkyDiary.com, ChrisKridler.com


2013 reports and photos | blog | main gallery page

All photos copyright 2013 by Chris Kridler, ChrisKridler.com, SkyDiary.com