Running the Line

After a long, 10+ hour drive in the van from North Platte, NE, Day 9 came to a close. Once the team left Dodge City, KS, we had to decide where to go whether it was the Eastern border of the Texas panhandle or the Western border of Oklahoma. The line of storms we were watching initiated in the Texas panhandle and we had our eye on a particular one. After getting to the Eastern border of the Texas panhandle, the storms were getting to close and we pulled East into Oklahoma. At this point, we realized we were in a race against a long line of powerful, tornado producing supercells. We continued to drive South and East to stay out of the cores. Finally making it to the leading edge of one of the storms that had a recognizable hook echo and surely producing tornados, we stopped for a brief break to watch, near Altus, OK. In order to not get hit by the other storms, we continued moving southeast to hopefully get another view and possibly see a tornado. Again, we stopped, this time just South of Cyril, OK to watch the storm pass us by, only maybe 1-2 miles North of us. Unfortunately, most of the day we might have seen a tornado from the storms, they were rain wrapped and visibility fell to zero. Soon, our chase became more difficult and light was not on our side. Fortunately, our hotel was only a few miles away in Lawton, OK. With maybe only 3 chase days left, the team is excited for more storms and ready to continue chasing!