Well after getting up at 7am and looking at the computer, I could either head home or head south. With only one chase under my belt, I decide I could make my target area of Stephenville Texas. With the low pressure forming around Abilene, a dry line rotating out from it and a cold front, this was a good area to be. Dewpoints were forecasted in the low 70s, the winds were southerly and there was some moderate lift and instability. I was a little concerned about enough sheer and rotation of winds with height , but with only 2 chases under my belt, I figured a severe storm before heading back would be worth it. I left about 7:30 am as I had a long drive to do just to get in my target zone and then check to see how things were looking. I Interstate 135 to the Ok border and then that became 35.

As I continued to head south, about half way between the Kansas/Oklahoma border and Oklahoma City, I ran into the second damage path of an F4 tornado from the May 3, 2025 outbreak. This damage was totally different from the Wichita damage I saw yesterday. This tornado hit a rural area of the state and could have been worse but it still crossed the interstate. The memories that stick in my mind are dramatic and I can visualize the forces that caused them. Power line towers had been twisted around like string and laid flat on the ground. I also saw a pickup truck bed by itself wrapped in a tree. Not a road I would want to be on when it came through. I continued south and came upon the Moore F5 tornado just south of Oklahoma City. There was no where to turn off as much of the area was blocked up as cleanup was still ongoing. I did manage to get a few pictures from the interstate but the damage was large and intense.

Moore F5 Tornado Damage

The drive south out of Oklahoma was very upsetting. Low level clouds and mist were blocking any significant clearing in this area. I started to wonder whether I would be able to get into clear and sunny skies around my target area with enough instability to create the storms I forecasted. As I pasted through Fort Worth and headed west, I saw the light. The clouds were thinning out and the sun was shinning. Temperatures began to rise into the low 80s. As I continued West the visibility became better but I noticed some round upper level cirrus to my southwest. I got to north of Stephenville ( Interstate 20 and 281) and pulled over. I set up the satellite at 3:30 pm and found that a very large supercell with a tornado was occurring in San Sabo County about 70 miles to my southwest (about 35 miles from my target area).

Watching the latest analysis, I noticed the dryline, cold front, low intersection (triple point) had occurred about 40 miles further south than I anticipated. I could not make that storm. Just too far south and there was a ton of rain and hail that I would have to pass through. I decided that I would stay where I was and see what developed further north. I spotted a nice cell blow up to my east and began to slowly track that way. As the upper level cirrus and outflow began to hit the area from the San Sabo storm, the cell that I was following just disappeared!!! I drove behind a small cloud and on the other side the cell was gone.

I pulled over and looked around and deducted that the atmosphere had changed in that second. I decide to continue on I 20 west when I approached Ranger at around 5:30 pm. About 4 miles before that I had noticed that some additional cells seemed to be building to the southwest. I again, pulled over and set up the radar and found that cells were starting to build up along the cold front. The cell that was to my southwest was almost severe when my weather alert went off and said it had become severe. I decided to stay to the northwest side of it and wait for it to track over the highway and then follow up behind it. The main reason was I did not want to head into it, due to the tornadic storm to the south, and this could happen here.

Here They Come

I stayed out of the main heavy rain bands and intense lightning and then headed to the east on the back side when hail began to pound the car. I pulled off the highway at highway 16 and sat it out looking to sky for any signs of wall clouds or rotation. Not seen. The hail subsided and then another round hit. This was getting quite large (anywhere from large marble to a bit smaller than golf ball). An interesting hail event. I actually saw some hail that was rounded on the top and smooth on the bottom. Almost like it was formed on a ledge of air and then broken and fell (imaging freezing small hail stones on a piece of wood and how the rounded tops would show but a smooth bottom with no ridges). So I guess this was hail chucks?

 
Hail Chunks

Another severe thunderstorm warning went up for the cell (I thought) but it was, in fact, another cell to my southwest that would track northeast on my west side now. I was in the center of 2 severe thunderstorms. With no rotation or wall cloud on the first cell, I decided to stick around and wait for the next cell.

At this time, I thought I saw a developing wall cloud but it was briefly blocked out heavy rain that wrapped around it. As it cleared I observed what looked to be a ragged funnel cloud for a few seconds and then the rain began and I lost it (Picture below). The cell then seemed to merge with the first cell and I decided to head north to Strawn. I pulled over about a mile south of Strawn and dug around in the grass and found some nice size hail that covered most of the ground.

As the weather alert was indicating that cells were training along a southwest/northeast line, I headed back onto I20 and headed east to 281. Cells were continuing to blow up and I decided to head up to Mineral Wells and then track east towards Dallas and hope to catch some lightning shots before I ended the day.

Cold Front

As I approached Mineral Wells around 7:30pm, the rain was subsiding and I observed some major flooding of the roads. Water was actually flowing into on business through the door. I got out of Mineral Wells and headed east. I observed some more lightning and brief burst of hail on my drive to Dallas. Additional warnings were going up to my south and north but viewing them from afar, the lightning was pretty weak and it was getting late.

I headed into Dallas and got a hotel room around Love Field around 10:30pm. After a long day, I decide to head out for a quick dinner and then retired for the night at midnight. Looking at the models, it would be a few more days before things would fire up again so I made the decisions to head home.