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MARCH 10
Northeast Oklahoma
SPC Risk: SLIGHT
161 miles traveled
0 tornadoes observed
Took the Turner Turnpike up through Stroud to the Tulsa area, near the surface low. Headed back to the Oklahoma City area when it became apparent that the main show would be in east Texas and southwest Arkansas, as I did not have time to get to the area. Also, that area is terrible chase terrain. Watched some of the weak yet photogenic storms along I-40 in Canadian County, OK before heading back to Norman.
APRIL 5
Northwest Oklahoma
SPC Risk: SLIGHT
316 miles traveled
0 tornadoes observed
One of the worst busts of my chasing career. Spent much of the afternoon in Cherokee, OK (Alfalfa County), awaiting initiation along a dryline. The cap won the battle and storms never fired. Nearly got a sunburn.
APRIL 22
Texas Panhandle
SPC Risk: MODERATE
484 miles traveled
2 tornadoes observed
Quite a day in the Texas Panhandle. Shane Carmack, Jeremiah Blacketer, and I drove west on I-40 to Shamrock and later McLean, TX, before heading a mile or two south of I-40 on Highway 70. Saw a small tornado appear and then suddenly rope out, only to be quickly replaced by a stronger and more photogenic tornado. Only encountered some small hail on this day, but in the massive chaser convergence during the tornado, we witnessed a car with its back windshield completely busted out from baseball-size hail falling nearby. Video below.
MAY 10
Northern Oklahoma
SPC Risk: HIGH
373 miles traveled
3 tornadoes observed
An uncommon high risk day for Oklahoma. Shane Carmack, Jeremiah Blacketer, Damon Bearden, and I took I-35 north to Perry, and then to points northwest near the Kansas border. We witnessed the beginnings of the multiple-vortex tornado in Grant County, along with some damage to trees and power poles, as can be seen in the video. We then raced back south on I-35 when it became apparent that the main show was back home in the Oklahoma City metro area. We did not witness the storms in central Oklahoma, but saw plenty of tornado and hail damage. I personally know some people who were hit in various parts of Cleveland County, where I call home. Unfortunately a deadly and sobering day.
MAY 11
Western/Northwest Oklahoma
SPC Risk: SLIGHT
288 miles traveled
0 tornadoes observed
Katie Steine and I headed west to Cordell, OK, in the center of the tornado watch. A storm got going just to our west, and was briefly severe-warned, but then died an ubrupt death. Got to see much of the Vortex2 armada, as well as Dr. Greg Forbes of The Weather Channel. Shortly after, a storm to our northwest went up near Woodward, and we headed to that area, but to no avail. Only got some structure shots of the two storms.
MAY 12
Southern Kansas
SPC Risk: SLIGHT
401 miles traveled
1(?) tornado observed
Headed north to the Kansas state line, and then west into Harper County. Several storms erupted along an advancing cold front, and we found ourselves just north of Harper, KS, in the path of a tornado-warned cell. We observed rapid rotation directly overhead, when a significant dust whirl crossed the highway about fifty yards south of our location. It is difficult to assume tornado or gustnado, but we were certainly in a dangerous area. Experienced some small hail as we made our hasty retreat south to avoid the much larger hail that was on the way. The pictures below show our location on radar (white circle in the middle) when this incident took place, and on the right is an admittedly bad video still of the dust whirl, as it was much larger and full of debris before I could get a lens on it.
MAY 16
Central Oklahoma
SPC Risk: SLIGHT
64 miles traveled
0 tornadoes observed
A tornado warning was briefly issued for Kingfisher County in a line of storms that were moving southeast towards the Oklahoma City metro area. I rushed north, and caught up with the storms (regrettably) in heavy traffic on the Northwest Expressway, one of the busiest areas of Oklahoma City. No tornadoes developed on this day, but the storms proved to be monster hail producers, with some hailstones over 4" in diameter, causing catastrophic damage in some places. I got caught in golfball-size hail myself on I-244 near Will Rogers World Airport.
MAY 19
Central Oklahoma
SPC Risk: HIGH
142 miles traveled
0 tornadoes observed
Shane Carmack, Jeremiah Blacketer, Ashlie Mowdy, and I left Norman bound for Chickasha, Oklahoma, hoping for a supercell developing in the tornado watch area outlined by SPC. The best tornado of the day occurred in Kingfisher County, and was out of range for our area. We followed a severe storm as it tracked across Grady and McClain Counties into Cleveland County, eventually warranting a tornado warning for my hometown of Norman. We drove in intense heavy rain for several minutes before then following the storm east towards Wanette. The cell to the south produced a multiple-vortex tornado in the town of Wynnewood. Disappointing high-risk bust! Below is a picture of the supercell as we were approaching it in McClain County on I-35.
SEPTEMBER 10
Eastern Kansas
SPC Risk: SLIGHT
712 miles traveled
0 tornadoes observed
Shane Carmack and I took I-35 to Emporia, KS and points north, nearly reaching the Kansas City metro area. Several clusters of supercells erupted late in the afternoon, prompting a tornado watch and a few warnings. The storms went linear quickly, however, and no tornadoes were reported. We gave up on the chase and headed home, encountering a low-end severe cell south of Wichita. Got some insight via Twitter from Jim Cantore of The Weather Channel. Nice guy.
OCTOBER 24
Northeast Texas
SPC Risk: SLIGHT
510 miles traveled
0 tornadoes observed
Shane Carmack and I drove to Paris, Texas and headed southeast, with storms developing in the Arklatex. Seven tornadoes were reported in north Texas, but not in the cells we were observing. The best cell we saw on this day was along 380 between Greenville and McKinney, where a severe storm started to take on tornadic characteristics directly overhead as we were traveling west. No tornado warning was issued, but it made for an intense few minutes of maneuvering through traffic with a storm bearing down. Below is a video grab of the cell when it was nearby.
NOVEMBER 24
Northeast Oklahoma/Southeast Kansas/Southwest Missouri
SPC Risk: SLIGHT
533 miles traveled
0 tornadoes observed
With Chris McBee sitting this chase out sick at home, Shane Carmack, Ashlie Mowdy, and Damon Bearden traveled up I-44 to northeast Oklahoma, near Vinita, before heading to near Coffeyville and Cherokee, Kansas, and ultimately to Joplin, Missouri. A line of storms had developed in the slight risk area, and a tornado watch was in place, but the "tail-end Charlie" storm that many chasers were targeting failed to produce any tornadoes. Further up the line, three tornadoes have been confirmed in west-central and southwest Missouri. Below are two pictures by Ashlie Mowdy of some of the storm structure as the cell raced northeast from Kansas into Missouri.
 
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