tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2399626414603781513.post4615623859167573251..comments2023-11-05T00:25:53.153-07:00Comments on Jon Davies Severe Weather Notes: Counting Tornadoes: Dodge City 24 May 2016 - How Many?Jon Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14044746324804312344noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2399626414603781513.post-39860316611948454792016-06-05T07:11:44.704-07:002016-06-05T07:11:44.704-07:00Gene:
Thanks for your observation re the last tor...Gene:<br /><br />Thanks for your observation re the last tornado SSW of Jetmore. <br /><br />I wondered if there were any more tornadoes after we lost sight of the meso north of DDC as rain from the next cell south overtook us. As I mentioned a couple posts up, it sounds like one could legitimately count at least 10 tornadoes now with this event -- 5 primary ones and at least 4-5 others.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Jon Davieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18293256654555632619noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2399626414603781513.post-33018771700122508722016-06-05T07:07:10.152-07:002016-06-05T07:07:10.152-07:00Hi Joe:
Yes, it's been a long time, no see! ...Hi Joe:<br /><br />Yes, it's been a long time, no see! <br /><br />Between major ongoing health problems with Shawna's parents (her father died recently) and other family issues, along with old house "money pit" issues, I've laid low for awhile. Finally getting back to some meteorology work. We'll have to catch up sometime. Hope you're doing well... thanks for your comments.<br /><br />Jon Jon Davieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18293256654555632619noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2399626414603781513.post-62029585162987121212016-06-05T07:02:09.673-07:002016-06-05T07:02:09.673-07:00Hi John:
Good to hear from you... it's been a...Hi John:<br /><br />Good to hear from you... it's been awhile since we've talked. <br /><br />The dual meso structure you and Greg saw associated with the 2nd large primary tornado and the "needle" tornadoes that eventually evolved to a larger tornado appeared to last at least twenty minutes (from around 6:25 pm to after 6:45 pm) looking back at my video. I didn't see any evidence of anticyclonic circulation under the eastern meso, but we were not observing it close enough to rule that out.<br /><br />Given that there was a satellite tornado noted by several chasers near the 1st large primary tornado, and the several "needle" tornadoes northeast of the 2nd large primary tornado (the dual meso structure), and Gene above noted a final weak tornado SSW of Jetmore after the tornado north of Dodge, I now think there were probably at least 10 or so tornadoes (generally agreeing with you) that could be legitimately counted, though stil1 5 primary ones associated with the main mesocyclone cycles. <br /><br />Thanks for your helpful comments.Jon Davieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18293256654555632619noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2399626414603781513.post-54248674109895165052016-06-04T18:30:08.854-07:002016-06-04T18:30:08.854-07:00Jon - there was an additional weaker tornado after...Jon - there was an additional weaker tornado after the last one surveyed N of Dodge City. After the tor warning was dropped the storm briefly ramped up again with several brief touchdowns just W of 283 about 8-9 m SSW of Jetmore. The tornado then planted, wrapped up in rain and moved N basically on 283 for a bit before dissipating. I don't have pics as I was driving at the time but I believe Phil Leonard does. Unsure if it was a new mesocyclone or just the final phases of the one already surveyed.Genehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05975214527929592823noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2399626414603781513.post-70504810876761128402016-06-04T18:23:54.619-07:002016-06-04T18:23:54.619-07:00Hi Jon...hope you and Shawna are doing well...it&#...Hi Jon...hope you and Shawna are doing well...it's been a LONG time since I've seen you guys...<br /><br />Interesting blog post...thx for taking the time to do it...<br /><br />My best!<br /><br />Joe LauriaFox 4 Weatherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05232795777522931034noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2399626414603781513.post-17965903739767044672016-06-03T20:39:22.770-07:002016-06-03T20:39:22.770-07:00Jon,
Thanks for posting this. Greg Breneman and ...Jon,<br /> Thanks for posting this. Greg Breneman and I were stalking this beast from a couple miles E of the highway, and had a very good view for a long time. We saw quite a number of rope tornadoes from the long lasting eastern circulation, but we didn't count. Our subjective interpretation was of 10 or more total touchdowns, with a bunch of those being short lived ropes early in the storm on the eastern side.<br /><br />It gave the impression of having two cyclonic circulations going for quite a while, with them quite close together. Someone else posted that one was anticyclonic which makes more meteorological sense to me, but when I visually looked at them during the chase, they both appeared cyclonic. I pulled archival radar data and the situation was quite messy, but I'm not a pro on interpreting it. Did you observe the long lasting dual mesos also? Any thoughts?<br /><br />John MooreStormCchaserhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02998174514362089471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2399626414603781513.post-7942891249949253002016-06-03T19:18:27.604-07:002016-06-03T19:18:27.604-07:00Wesley:
Yes, this seemed like a true tornado day ...Wesley:<br /><br />Yes, this seemed like a true tornado day with the howling LLJ we woke to in Woodward that morning. Good positioning in Meade on your part. The storm from south of Sitka had an impressive overshooting top when it was organizing.<br /><br />And, yes, it certainly is easy to miss peripheral/satellite tornadoes when you're watching from several miles away, as some chasers have shown me with their videos. Thanks for mentioning the satellite that we could not see from a distance with the 1st big tornado.<br /><br />Great photos on your blog! I particularly like seeing the 1st large tornado with the green wheat in the foreground sans powerlines and other chasers :-). And good images of the needle east of big tornado 2!<br /><br />Thanks for sharing your link and comments.<br /><br />Jon Davieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14044746324804312344noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2399626414603781513.post-21855843471889988062016-06-03T18:56:15.268-07:002016-06-03T18:56:15.268-07:00Bart:
It wasn't your tour group, so no worrie...Bart:<br /><br />It wasn't your tour group, so no worries there. <br /><br />Shawna and I like approaching the storm from a distance on some dirt roads, but once we hit Hwy 283, that all changed abruptly with the sudden traffic. I didn't realize local LE was funneling cars back to to the paved highway... not sure I understand that strategy. <br /><br />Thanks for your comments. Jon Davieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14044746324804312344noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2399626414603781513.post-84388214125012812622016-06-03T18:50:03.596-07:002016-06-03T18:50:03.596-07:00Jimmy:
It's great to have Aussies travel all ...Jimmy:<br /><br />It's great to have Aussies travel all the way to Kansas to see the storms here... And what a supercell this was! <br /><br />When I was younger, I used to be less careful with my driving, but with the crowded roads and more maturity on my part, I really try to watch out for people and not be a traffic hazard these days :-). Glad you were able to see the red light and stop, unlike the other guy ahead of you. Thanks for your post. Jon Davieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14044746324804312344noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2399626414603781513.post-82430643017770536792016-06-03T14:17:59.493-07:002016-06-03T14:17:59.493-07:00It is amazing the amount of stuff you miss once yo...It is amazing the amount of stuff you miss once you get more than 2 miles out, though this storm was a weird case where it was quite easy to follow closely and have no rain or hail falling. I stayed just south of the action going up dirt roads 3 miles west of 283 till Saddle Rd when I decided to go east to go around Dodge. The traffic on the dirt roads was not too bad, but the roads got really slick after 20 cars went down them. A couple yahoos, but most maintained safe following distances and passed stopped vehicles carefully.<br /><br />Your counting method really was not far off IMO, even from being on 283. There were just some interesting things with this storm, especially on the small scale like the satellite circulation that got ingested in the middle of 1st primary tornado's life cycle. I have seen other chaser's videos that make this look like a clearly separate tornado. I think the hardest part is telling the separate circulations apart as they were in very close proximity many times.<br /><br />I will say I never saw 3 tornadoes at once, but there was a few times there were 3 separate circulations at the cloud level going about their business. <br /><br />Here is my chase account with pictures and videos from a different angle going from Fowler to 10 miles north of DDC. - http://owlsp.blogspot.com/2016/06/chase-account-may-21-24-2016-ddc-ks.htmlWesley Luginbyhlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04367062027868232154noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2399626414603781513.post-52102501255180306062016-06-03T09:20:25.081-07:002016-06-03T09:20:25.081-07:00Hey Jon, Bart Comstock here. The circus on the pav...Hey Jon, Bart Comstock here. The circus on the paved highway was unfortunate and completely avoidable. Multiple times we tried to stay on back roads only to have the sheriff's department block them off and force us all on to the same roads. Had chasers been allowed to spread out the traffic issues would have been much worse. We were able to get on a diet dirt road most of the time but even that one was being used by the LEOs to funnel chasers back to the paved highway. I saw you mentioned a chase tour and wanted to make sure it wasn't one of the vans on my tour. The traffic chaos forced us to split up and I stayed east and mostly in rural areas. If you could send me a private message about who it was I would appreciate it.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07826842292423128434noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2399626414603781513.post-31732538821523135562016-06-03T09:18:55.045-07:002016-06-03T09:18:55.045-07:00Jimmy Deguara here - Same here, I have also kept m...Jimmy Deguara here - Same here, I have also kept my comments from posting actual numbers as I understand the definition of what is a tornado. I just said I don't know but it is consistent with the description above. It wax S fascinating event and is why I brave the long, arduous trip to Tornado Aleey to chase. Certainly well worth it! One other thing is I was disappointed to set one well known chaser deliberately running a red light that almost confused me to do likewise! I ended up realising it actually was s red light so stopped!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02132880168418732343noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2399626414603781513.post-7713278704055856842016-05-31T19:54:34.302-07:002016-05-31T19:54:34.302-07:00Unknown2:
Sounds like we were in similar position...Unknown2:<br /><br />Sounds like we were in similar positions, as the 2nd big tornado was in poor contrast to see from the southeast where we were. Yes, it was a truly spectacular show! And I agree, the traffic mix made it very difficult at times, particularly re Shawna's incident. During the transitional period after the 2nd big tornado roped out, I was driving and it was really hard to watch and interpret what was going on with the storm and new meso(s?) for all the traffic distraction. Take care and stay safe... Jon Davieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18293256654555632619noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2399626414603781513.post-38340445516396233322016-05-31T19:45:49.417-07:002016-05-31T19:45:49.417-07:00Frisco:
If you have any images of the 3 tornadoes...Frisco:<br /><br />If you have any images of the 3 tornadoes going N of Minneola, I'd love to see them. As I noted, We were quite distant when the first tornado got going. My e-mail is davieswx@gmail.com. Thanks.Jon Davieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18293256654555632619noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2399626414603781513.post-10201607482058583252016-05-31T19:42:05.878-07:002016-05-31T19:42:05.878-07:00Rebecca:
Appreciate your comment. I've alway...Rebecca:<br /><br />Appreciate your comment. I've always found the competitive aspect very off-putting... I'm just out there to watch and learn from a safe distance these days. The Dodge City storm was a truly fascinating one to be able to see!Jon Davieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18293256654555632619noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2399626414603781513.post-3289388543105336802016-05-31T19:26:06.118-07:002016-05-31T19:26:06.118-07:00Thanks for your thoughts, Rich. I really respect ...Thanks for your thoughts, Rich. I really respect your observations and experience. Plus you nailed it with your 10% risk area that morning re tornadoes. Hope your mid shift wasn't too tough after the long drive :-). Take care...Jon Davieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18293256654555632619noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2399626414603781513.post-4791799197816374012016-05-31T19:25:08.979-07:002016-05-31T19:25:08.979-07:00Thanks for posting this, Jon. We must have been p...Thanks for posting this, Jon. We must have been pretty close at times. I saw 5, though my view of the second primary tornado and the rope to its east was rather poor. It was a really spectacular show of mother nature, however many there were! Sorry to hear about Shawna almost getting hit. I was fortunate not to see much bad behavior by chasers, though I was stuck for a while behind a semi that created a rolling roadblock by driving slowly half on the road and half on the shoulder, even though the nearest vehicle ahead was a quarter mile away. I think the mix of chasers, locals, and over-the-road truckers in the traffic made for a difficult situation.John Farleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02802128876949604372noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2399626414603781513.post-1542004147737131862016-05-31T18:10:45.317-07:002016-05-31T18:10:45.317-07:00Awesome image's i just wish there was some vid...Awesome image's i just wish there was some videos Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04778402849535365593noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2399626414603781513.post-5070597275002202016-05-31T16:42:34.250-07:002016-05-31T16:42:34.250-07:00Very interesting...great post....
Chasing has unf...Very interesting...great post....<br /><br />Chasing has unfortunately become like so many other things in life. People are caught up into too much competition in a hurry to get something posted onto social media, so they can have bragging rights as being the best. The desire to try and learn something or even just enjoy the moment is all forgotten............<br /> Rebeccahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04718708785635820652noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2399626414603781513.post-25864212118593923632016-05-31T16:04:25.232-07:002016-05-31T16:04:25.232-07:00Hey, Jon, I'm glad to see you post this. We h...Hey, Jon, I'm glad to see you post this. We had a similar conversation during the drive back to Norman (for a midnight shift) - how many tornadoes had we seen? I, too, have been surprised by the 10-17 tornadoes estimates. Like you, I think it's clear there were 4 primary tornadoes, and a few other peripheral/transient circulations. My guess in real time was somewhere in the neighborhood of 6-8, and it's hard for me to argue for more than about 8 after looking back at photos. chumpsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17833462415829040550noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2399626414603781513.post-20655528879743126232016-05-31T13:45:06.050-07:002016-05-31T13:45:06.050-07:00I saw 3 on the ground when they first started goin...I saw 3 on the ground when they first started going strong, I was in a group north of Minneola watching it all start.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14980645883942821919noreply@blogger.com