Chase Log: May 14, 2020

Southeast Kansas

CHASE VEHICLE:

CHASE PARTNERS:

Solo

MILES DRIVEN:

420

TORNADOES SEEN:

None

MAX HAIL SEEN:

1.00"

FLOODING SEEN:

None Observed

DAMAGE OBSERVED:

None Observed
Tony Laubach
Tony Laubach
Meteorologist & Storm Chaser

I went to Emporia and got on the storms that went up just north of there… the little LP put on a good show for a brief period of time before it shriveled up. I worked my way north and eventually back west, kinda working along that line of cells. I didn’t catch either of the birdfarts as I had kinda started pointing myself back to the south by that point.

Initiation Occurs North of Emporia, Kansas
Monitoring the Development of a Nice Looking LP North of Emporia, Kansas
Rather Pretty Scene with the little LP that Couldn’t

I eventually ended up south near Eureka on a post-sunset supercell that developed along US-54 just west of Eureka. It was moving stupid slow, and I feel like I sat in front of that thing for an hour waiting to get cored. The storm turned right, kinda diving south as the main line came in and ate it up. I ended up a June-bug infested gas station at Severy and was figuring out the best route to go home as it was well after midnight by now.

Core Hardly Worth the Wait in Eureka, Kansas

I opted to punch straight north to get back to US-54 as there was a lot of lightning in this line and I thought I’d stand a better chance of shooting some on the rain-free backside. Call of the day there for sure… I got somewhere on K-99 north of Climax and spent 90 minutes there shooting the incredible, almost constant crawlers.

Running stupid low on gas and now approaching 3am, I jumped on 54 and was going gas up in Eldorado when I caught a glimpse of this lone tree down a dirt road with more incredible lightning illuminating that. I got greedy, turned up the road, and set up shop for another 45 minutes of shooting. I was not disappointed.  One of my better lightning photo sessions in a few years. Definitely the highlight of the season so far!

I rolled home just before 5am… was a long night, but worth every second!

What I Observed/Documented

TORNADOES:

None

MAX HAIL:

1.00"

FLOODING:

None Observed

DAMAGE:

None Observed

Most Recent Storm Chases