Monday May 10, 2025
Start Location: Wichita, Kansas
End Location: Salina, Kansas
Total Distance: 690 kms.

After a bad day with a strong cap hampering convection (other chasers had the same problem I found out), I was hoping that today things would I woke up this morning and did my forecast and found out that there was only a slight chance of severe in this region with little chance for tornadoes. A low pressure was forming and was forecasted to be around the Texas/Oklahoma/Kansas border by the afternoon. With dewpoints forecasted in the mid 60s, CAPE values around 2500 and got surface instability, I figured the Wichita area northward was a good target zone due to the placement of the dryline. Not far to drive and a slight possibility of something happening.

I packed up the equipment, checked out, got in my car and started it up. It groaned as I started it. My starter was going. After saying a few things to myself, this had to be fixed. I did not want to chase and pull over only to have the car not start in the path of some violent storms. I got in the car and drove around on the highway looking for a place to go. At one point I had almost decided to head home. As long as the car was running I could drive straight and make it home. Ok. My brain kicked back in. The car repairs were not going to stop me. As I approached an area on the south side of Wichita, I looked to my right and spotted the F4 Wichita tornado damage that I had tried to see a few days ago.

They could not block the highway so I pulled over and shot about 6 photos of it before getting back in the RUNNING car and found a Pep Boys. So, after numerous phone calls, a bunch of cursing (mostly to myself) and $156.00 U.S., I had a new starter installed and was back on the road for 2 pm. CDT.

With, hopefully, everything wrong with my car, was behind me. I headed east towards Pratt on Highway 54/400. At 3:30 pm., I pulled over about half way and setup the satellite to watch the weather channel and to see if things had changed since I left at 9 am. this morning. No changes. And nothing happening on radar. I was seeing some moderate cumulus forming around me and figured that I may have been a few kilometers to far south so I head up towards Hutchinson on #17 from Waterloo (was this a sign?). I took a few photographs of the clouds with the new wheat fields and then tracked northward.

At 4:30 pm. or so, I pulled over in a back road again and hooked up the satellite to see if anything was changing. I was getting concerned that my forecasting was off but I shrugged that off. As I started to watch the updates, I noticed some nice cumulus clouds really building around me.

U.S Weather Channel on T.V.

I made a phone call to Jeff and asked what he was seeing on radar. After confirming that the atmosphere was highly unstable and all the parameters were there. Before I got a chance to ask about the radar, the phone died. I thought it was mine but I later found out his died. Well, I was on my own for now. I packed up the car and tracked towards McPherson by cutting east on #50 and north on #296 near Burton. Somehow my directions got screwed up and I found myself near Gossel on the other side of the Interstate 135. The cells that I was following were building nicely when, gone. They all collapsed. I mean just up and died out. Ok. Something was going on.

I made a quick call to another friend Ian and he said that there was some light cells showing up on radar to my west back about 30 miles from my location (or where I was originally on an Hutchinson/Kingman line traveling northeast). Just then I heard the weather radio talk about the line firing up around Hutchison area. They were starting. After finding out the track of these cells (northeast) I thanked Ian and was off up I-35. Time was about 5:45 pm. CDT.

As I decided that the roads were not that great (my map was not as good as I needed) I would head up to Salina and intercept in that area. The cells to my west were developing nicely with nice anvils forming and overshooting to the east. Things were happening. As I drove at speed (yes I don’t speed on the chase) I was constantly looking to my west. I noticed a nice lowering about 6:15 - 6:30pm. I heard that a severe thunderstorm warning went up for the first cell that was racing northeastward. No way to intercept that one.

After watching it on and off (had to drive the car) I noticed what looked to be a funnel cloud forming. At a distance of almost 30 miles, it could have been a hail shaft but the shape had me convinced. I fired off a few shots with the camera and one zoom in and watched it before it became rain-wrapped and gone from sight. Total time was about 5 mins from about 6:50pm. At the latest 7pm. No warnings issued so I continued north. Quite possibly because it became rain-wrapped so soon after forming. Now I was out of position and on the wrong side of the cells but, as long as the cells were spaced properly, I could view ok before the next cells rain core passed by.

I entered Salina and came into range of the Nebraska Weather Radio and it was calling some new severe thunderstorms with large hail entering the region. I headed further north to Hwy #24 and set up the cameras and started the video just east of Glasco. The first cell blew by me with some moderate rain and lightning but the cell behind that looked even better (this was quite possibly the cell that I had spotted the funnel cloud). As I did not want to punch the core (due to uncertain roads and safety concerns) I pulled back and sat on the southeast side of it and did some photography of lightning and clouds. VC indicates Video Capture. The rest are stills.

This storms went severe almost immediately after I set up shop. As the storms started moving northeast, I decided that I needed gas. A mistake but I had to get gas. I pulled over in Glasco and found they had lost power from the last lightning strike. Also, the weather radio tower got hit and that source was gone. I was on my own as cell was not working with all the rain and lightning. I decided that I had enough gas to get to Concordia and about 3 miles to the south, I encountered the most intense rainfall I have ever seen. I had the wipers on high, it was now dark (8:45-9:00pm) and I was driving at 10 kms an hour and still could not see properly. I saw a gas station and got out to be soaked in about 3 secs (even with an overhang) as the winds were picking up the rain and blowing it horizontally. I filled the tank and saw that the roads were flooded with an inch of rain to up to 6 inches in some area with no sign of letting up.

VC Rain

As I paid for the gas, I heard that someone had mentioned the word tornado. I asked about it and they said there was some around. OK. Well I did see one but, without my weatherradio and nothing on the Skywarn net, I turned to local radio. Nothing about it. Now I don’t chase at night. As I was on the southeast edge of the line of severe thunderstorms, my best bet was to travel south and get out of this. I watched the lightning and headed south in between to cells. Travelling east was not an option and north was into Nebraska and the path. I headed south and got out of the rain and noticed that the cells had moved away from me.

I decided that Salina was a good place to spend the night. I made it there about 11:00pm and got a room, threw my regular equipment in, checked the weather channel and the internet. Tornadoes reported by spotters in Chaflin Kansas. After reading there reports I figured that the third cell that I spotted was the one that the chasers got. I got the second one that fired up but no report was made. Quite possible because it became rain-wrapped so soon after forming.. Both of these cells did not have warnings with them until after one was reported. Mike Umscheid caught the Chaflin Kansas Tornado and his chase log and stills are here.

After reviewing this for a few moments I checked the radar and noticed a nice cell to my west. Ok. Still time for some lightning shots so I headed back out. I drove about 30 miles to the west before finding a back road off the highway and set up my gear. I was disappointed at the number of cloud to ground lightning strikes as most were within the clouds (CC). I snapped off a roll of film and decided to get some dinner in me as it was 12:30 am and I was getting a little tired. I stopped at the truck stop across from my hotel and ate and then headed back to the room about 1:30 pm.

   Now I reviewed why I never heard the tornado warnings and how to prevent this from happening again. You can only view so much before relying on media and government sources, especially at night. Well, the weather radio station I listen to had the repeater get hit by lightning and never recycled. I never heard it. So I figured another thing out. Always have a local radio station on in the car and don't rely on one source. An easy mistake to make but it did not hurt me that much considering. Went to bed as thunder rocked the room but I was too tired to do any more chasing. I set up the alert weatherradio which did not go off allowing me to sleep a good 5 hours.