Father's Day Father-Daughter Tornado Chase

One of many reasons I prefer to go to Holdrege in June is because it is still peak tornado season and my chances of getting in on some action are greatly higher. The last couple of years there were storms nearby but none super close and none tornadic, until after I had gone home. One year I missed it by A DAY. I was so mad.

This year the weather patterns were off which helped me out. There were quite a few storms this trip back and quit a few became good. One in particular was looking friendly, I could feel it. Yes, feel it. When you grow up in tornado alley, you begin to feel the signs of a good storm that sucking the pressure right out of the sky long before you can see it.....So I get restless and decide to walk around the block. It's a big block. By the time I get back around the clouds are well in sight and have built nicely.

Dad and I turn on the news, I have my radar on constant loop and refresh it every minute. The scanner volume is turned way up too. Mom says supper is done. Storm is still by Orleans, a county away, so I try to eat some food, it looks good. All of a sudden, 3 bites in the scanner goes off, the tv goes off, tornado warning North Phelps County, rotation near Elm Creek. I look at dad, he looks back, "should we go?" I drop my fork, Wayne says, "Kandi's eating, ope, Kandi is done eating." I grab the camera, phone and shoes in one move on my way to the door. We hop in the truck and are North of town in less than 2 minutes. Wonder if my spotter ID is good down here? Surely it is.

Spotter Reporting 

We travel North on 183 toward Elm Creek. It wasn't hard to spot the wall cloud in the flatland. We get in position and mark out our escape route. We are watching and photographing the clouds while answering my little brother's questions as the cloud approaches and the rotation is evident.

Being a little rusty at spotting, being in a new climate with different, faster, more furious storm systems, any and all of this, we hesitated a bit too long on deciding when to move spots. A new rotation point started behind us and sucked the first funnel right over the top of us. We looked wide eyed while it zoomed over. Once we spotted the new funnel forming with its intensity, the old one was sure to die out anyway, and did.

The second funnel was PERFECT. We watched it till it nearly touched down.

 Before it could meet the ground it became rain wrapped and all sight was lost. We floored it to stay ahead of the precipitation. We got brushed by the edge of it and had a fun time trying to see and battle the wind. When we got back to town, we had two choices, get ahead of the storm again by traveling East then North, or gauging if the storm still had enough intensity to drop another funnel to be worth the gas and loss of daylight on the way back. We decided the storm was weakening and to go check out the flash flood filling the streets around town instead.

We had fun splashing through the high water and reminiscing of a flood around 1998 where this ^ next street over from my parents' flooded so bad there were bass boats and jetskis going down it!!! My sister and I floated down it in tubes. 

It was one for the books for sure and a great way for Dad and I to spend Father's Day together!!

This chase satisfied my chasing fever for the trip. I hope we have as much luck next year! Even better, I hope we see one on the ground!!!!