SVR WX Storm Chaser: 2015

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

May 10th, 2015 - Hillsboro, Texas Tornadic Supercell

This was a stormy Mother's Day 2015 for many in Texas. Storms exploded west of I-35 in Central Texas early in the afternoon. By 4 pm I finally made the decision to head out the door and chase. It had been nearly two years since I had last done so. Life has a way of keeping you away from the things that you enjoy, sometimes. But here I was, on the highway and calling mom and grandma to wish them a happy Mother's Day and heading west. My plan was to intercept a tornado warned storm moving towards Hillsboro, Texas, and that's exactly what I did. The photo below is what I encountered just east of Hillsboro on TX-22 highway.

I was chasing alone and did not want to encounter any hail, so I stayed east and south of the storm that was moving east. As the storm approached, I had to move. I'm used to chasing in Iowa and we normally have road options every mile or so in a square grid pattern. In those areas it is much easier to navigate. This is definitely not the case in Texas. There's not a straight road anywhere. As such, I was trying to navigate, watch radar, and watch the storm all the time which is also why I had to keep my distance even more. I went south.

The circulation was moving more to the northeast at this time, so I decided to head back north a ways. It was a challenge to find good views among the hills and trees. After moving between a few different spots, I found this nice view as the circulation was really wrapping up nicely. I took the photo below I believe about the same time that a tornado was reported in that rain-wrapped mess.

I was snapping pictures at this location and got lucky with a daylight bolt of lightning.

I tried to follow the circulation but road options were a mess and it was getting dark. I called it a chase and headed east hoping that I'd find some spots to shoot some lightning photos. The storms didn't cooperate very well. Other storms were firing out ahead of the main line which caused too many clouds for good lightning pictures. Some even went tornadic, including the storm that produced and EF-3 tornado that hit Van, TX. I made it home and took a few lightning pictures in my backyard after the storms rolled through my area.

It felt good to get out and chase a beautiful storm, although my mood was dampened after hearing about the devastation in Van, TX.

Tornado Myths!

#1 - Overpasses are a safe place to take shelter from a tornado if you are caught on the road in your car.

Wrong. Overpasses are actually a very dangerous place to take shelter. They act like a wind tunnel, and can actually increase the wind speed as the tornado passes through. Flying debris is likely to hit you and injure you - or worse. Taking shelter here also creates a traffic hazard for other vehicles trying to pass through as cars may park in the highway, blocking their escape route. Your better options include staying in your car and outrunning the tornado or leaving your vehicle on the side of the road and running into a nearby field or low spot and laying flat on the ground, protecting your head with your arms. Staying alert during severe weather can help you avoid such situations.

#2 - Opening the windows of your house will help save it from the damage of a tornado strike by equalizing the air pressure.

There is no evidence showing that opening windows will help minimize damage to buildings struck by tornadoes. Most of the damage caused by tornadoes is from flying debris and high wind speeds. By taking the time to open windows instead of immediately taking shelter, you are risking your life. If a tornado is bearing down on you, go immediately to the safest part of the building (a basement or interior room with no windows on the lowest level) and take shelter.

#3 - Tornadoes never strike the downtown area of large cities.

This is also not true. There have been large cities that have been struck by tornadoes in the past. St. Louis, Nashville, and Miami have had tornadoes move through downtown areas. The reason why this does not happen very often is because the statistical probability of a tornado hitting any single area is very low. Downtown areas of large cities do not consist of large enough areas for them to be frequently hit. Sooner or later, it will happen.

#4 - The most dangerous weather hazard I can encounter when storm chasing is a tornado.

Flash floods and lightning each kill more people in the United States every year than do tornadoes. Always remember to take precautions to minimize the risk of being struck by lightning (such as staying in your car as much as possible near areas of frequent lightning) and NEVER drive through flooded areas (turn around, don't drown). As long as you know what you are looking at in a thunderstorm, tornadoes will be a relatively low risk to you, provided that you always have a safe exit route planned and don't put yourself in the path of a tornado.

#5 - Larger tornadoes are stronger than smaller tornadoes.

A tornado's intensity has very little to do with its size. Violent tornadoes have occurred in all shapes and sizes. The only partial truth to this myth is that larger tornadoes will most likely have an increased time to cause damage due to a larger area of strong winds.

SVR WX Storm Chaser

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

May 10th, 2015 - Hillsboro, Texas Tornadic Supercell

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