12th May 2009:
Perry, OK via Texas Panhandle to Elk City, OK |
The Amarillo to
Elk City I-40 storm Report:
Clyve Herbert Photography: Jane ONeill & Clyve Herbert
Today we went west from Perry, OK to encounter the
expected dryline in the panhandle of Texas. Things looked rather glum as we headed west to
Woodward in low stratus and drizzle. Mid level storms had broken out across Oklahoma City
and had raced northeast to clear the state by late morning.
By early afternoon, we were heading towards
Canadian with the hope of clearing the stratiform mist and drizzle blowing up from the
south. It was surprisingly cool, barely 65F (18.5C). As we arrived at Canadian, the
stratiform cloud started to break and temperatures increased to the low 70's. We continued
scouting west until we arrived at Pampa..here we could see the tops of storms over eastern
Colorado and also weakish looking storms southwest of Lubbock. We decided to push west to
Fritch and soon passed through a dryline where dewpoints fell from 19C to 14C! We became
interested in a continued development of multicells southwest of Amarillo and made for the
town of Panhandle to intercept a cell moving ENE.
The cell initially appeared weak and high based,
but kept a persistent anvil which occasionally backsheared. The storm appeared outflow
dominated kicking up a narrow convective line on its northeast flank. After 30 minutes or
so, the NW end of the storm approached and from this time, late afternoon / early evening,
we followed the storm east along I-40. We watched this outflow dominated storm evolve from
a high based multicell to severe storm status. Eventually, it became inflow dominated and
produced a magnificent arrangement of base features. As the storm moved into increasing
moisture east of the dryline, it expanded in size and strength.
As darkness approached, lightning increased in
intensity and we drove into golfball hail just west of Elk City. It was here that an 18
wheeler was apparently jackknifed and also reports of cars blown from the highway...we
managed to pull off the Interstate to seek shelter in the reception driveway of a motel as
winds gusted to more than 60mph and large hail continued. We are still overwhelmed and
stunned by the imagery and power of this storm. |
Multicell
southwest of Amarillo, TX |
Base
features south of Amarillo |
Outflow
& inflow interface, SE of Amarillo |
Outflow
& inflow interface, SE of Amarillo |
'Dustnado'
on the outflow, northeast flank |
The
storm moves into higher DP's southeast of the town of Panhandle - note the dust appearing
around the updraft core |
The
updraft features became almost jaw dropping, could it get any better? |
The
outflow-inflow interface crossing the I-40 near Jericho |
The
expanding backsheared anvil |
The
jaw-dropping appearance of the main updraft, west of Shamrock on the I-40 |
Close
up image of curved inflow to the main updraft core, west of Shamrock |
Close
up image of curved inflow to the main updraft core, west of Shamrock |
The
updraft core continuously changed its shape and appearance, and suspected outflow spoiling
any prolonged form of organisation. |
The
storm consistently sent strong outflow towards the north kicking up deep cumulus along the
interface in the now humid air with near 19C DP's |
|
Approaching
the Oklahoma border, the updraft core became huge and tilted towards the SW |
Features
of main updraft core, I-40 |
When
you thought the storm couldn't get stronger..it did as it crossed into Oklahoma |
The
main infeed alignment west of Elk City, OK. This image was taken not long before an 18
wheeler jackknifed and a number of cars were blown from the highway. Note the extent of
the overhead anvil spreading to the north in the distance. |