Tornado with pics!

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DSallee

DSallee

Member
Joined
Mar 29, 2008
Messages
358
Location
Holden MO. USA
Well as some of you might have heard on the news... we had some tornados here in Neosho Missouri (where I live)...

First off, I am a stormchaser and DO know what I'm doing... this was just a little too close! , (I know, I'm nuts!) but anyway, I was at my parents in Carthage Mo yesterday and had to fix my sons car. Got it done and headed home about 5:00pm. On the way home, I heard on the news there was a tornado warning in Cherekee county Kansas (NW of us) and my son called and wanted to know where it was headed because he was north of Joplin pretty close to the path of this confirmed tornado.

I got home here in Neosho and immediately fired up the radar site we use for chasing and did notice a little rotation west of my son and told him he should be ok, it should go north of him.

BUT, I also about crapped my pants because according to the radar WE use, there was MAJOR rotation west of Neosho in Oklahoma but the radio or TV was saying nothing about it! So I headed out the door to go chase the (rotation) I was seeing on radar... I got to the 4 lane (hwy 71 west of Neosho) and headed north. Got about 2 miles up the highway and spotted the rotation (A tornado) I got the shot below and it pretty much disappeared so I "Thought" it might have dissipated so I headed north a little more. I got a few more miles up the road (Iris Rd Exit & Hwy 71) and noticed a few cars pulled over and also noticed that about 1/2 mile up the road visibility was ZERO!

Well, I figured I was ok where I was at because it was OK west of me but like a wall of smoke 1/2 mile ahead of me... (signs of the tornado being "rain-wrapped" ) ( very dangerous because you cannot "see" where it is headed)

Well, the wind started picking up a bit, then more, then MORE and that "wall" was now AT US!! It shifted south! (My durango was facing north, the wind was blowing east) Well the winds (rain) started going horizontal and the Durango felt like it was about to flip from the wing and at this same time a trucker I guess figured he would drive right through it and when he went by me, I swear I seen his trailer tip on two wheels!

I knew then it time to get the hell out of dodge!! So I took a chance and whipped through the center median and headed back south away from the "wall" (rain wrapped tornado!) I also noticed a cop setting behind me about 100 feet and figured he might nail me for doing what I did because as soon as I did the U'ey he did it too with his lights on! Well, he was getting the hell out of dodge too! I went to the next exit and pulled off to collect myself AND clean my drawers!

About 5 minutes later I hear on the radio that hwy 71 is blocked at Iris Rd exit for vehicles being thrown off the road from the twister!

HOLLY COW!!!! That was where I was just at!!

Sure enough, the tornado got rain-wrapped right after this pic I took of it. I'm just glad I left when I did!

My 1st shot of the twister, can you see it?

tornado.jpg


I lighted it up a but.. and the little dots are the outline of it...

tornado2.jpg


A few seconds later, the back side disappears... this is actually when it started to get "rain wrapped"

tornado_original.jpg


Thanks for looking...

Dave
 
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Hey Dave
I've been checking the news about the storms, saw that Seneca got hit, but missed the part about Neosho. I have relatives in Joplin, in fact have kidded with my wife for about 10 years about moving out there. My family used to go up there every year when I was a kid, to Joplin and Grove, OK, (still have family there too) have been on US 71 more than I can remember, back when it was 2 lane and went over Mt. Gaylor - scary. Beautiful area.
 
Too close for comfort, dude. Glad you don't have a sadder story to tell.
 
Thanks for the comments everyone, yea, I was pretty lucky!! Here is an update of some pics of where I was actually parked. I was parked about where the truck is parked in the pic (see arrow)

parked.jpg


Here is a closer pic of that house...

house.jpg


Thanks again everyone, I too am glad it didn't turn our worse! Rain-wrapped tornados are the worst to chase, can't tell where they are going!

Dave
 
Originally posted by wudnhed

I'm glad your OK too but I have to ask.....Why???????

Why do people feel the need to chase storms? Just wondering.
Click to expand...

I'm with Becca on this one. It was interesting to read that you "know what you are doing" .... in this case, you knew by 5 minutes.

Seems to me that the only people who should be chasing storms are meteorologists or others trying to gather scientific data for generating new knowledge.

People lose their lives in tornadoes.
 
WOW.... Used to live near Wichita, KS; don't miss those storms at all. It is incredible how one block is destroyed the next is missed all together. Yeah, I'd be out chasing those storms if I was back there. Glad your o.k.
 
Originally posted by wudnhed

.....Why??????? Why do people feel the need to chase storms? Just wondering.
Click to expand...

Originally posted by DocStram

.....Seems to me that the only people who should be chasing storms are meteorologists or others trying to gather scientific data for generating new knowledge.

People lose their lives in tornadoes.
Click to expand...

Well to answer this, some want to chase for the thrill, some for the local authorities or national weather service (me), and some just cause they have nothing better to do...

To make a long story shorter, I used to be a volunteer firefighter / first responder in Arkansas when I lived there and I did it to help warn people.

Now, I'm no longer a firefighter but DO report to the national weather service of what I see and where it's headed. The national weather service NEEDS spotters to be out in the field so they can get a timely and accurate position of the storm/tornado. They can see rotation on radar but they cannot tell if it's an actual tornado on the ground.... they need spotters for this..

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/sgf/?n=spotter_safety

http://espotter.crh.noaa.gov/

http://www.skywarn.org/

I basically do it to help warn people, just happened that Saturday I accidentally got a little too close because it became rain-wrapped and I lost site of it! In this case, you do what I did, leave the area at a 45 degree angle away from it. It was headed E/SE, I went South!

....People lose their lives in tornadoes.
Click to expand...

Which is why I do what I do! To help SAVE their lives!

Would you risk your one life to save a town of 10,000+ lives?

I would in a heart beat!!

Dave
 
I hate to see anyone go through that. I had the unfortunate experience to be involved in one near my town a few years ago. 6 lost their lives and most of the small town was leveled. Glad to see people working to help others....but Dave you are a little crazy! ... but sometimes that helps!

On the positive side, looks like there might be a large success rate for gathering some turning blanks!
 
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