October of 2000 saw the last time I had seen a tornado… over two years later, my drought came to an end!  After trucking south on Hwy 287 into the Texas/Oklahoma Panhandle on what became my first HIGH RISK chase ever, I intercepted a storm near Stratford, Texas that would drop a brief tornado behind some trees!  This was my first ever tornado captured on video!  At about the same time, a wedge tornado was on the ground behind a rain curtain near my location.  That same storm dropped a rain-wrapped tornado just after dark south of Guymon, Oklahoma.  weak power flash illuminated the second tornado of the day. Overhead wall clouds and other incredible moments highlighted my best chase to date!

Timeline of Chase:
11:30p Wed – Left Work, Headed Home
12:15a Thu – Went to Bed
4:30a Thu – Woke Up (4.25 hours of sleep)
5:00a Thu – Left the House
2:30a Fri – Pulled in the Driveway (21.5 road hours)
3:00a Fri – Went to Bed
7:00a Fri – Woke Up (4.0 hours of sleep)
7:45a Fri – Went to Work
8:00p Fri – Got off Work (12.25 hour workday)

This chase proved that I can drive 1000 miles on 4 hours of sleep!  After closing up shop at work Wednesday night and sleeping away 4 hours, I hit the road for my first HIGH RISK chase day.  My target, Guymon, Oklahoma.  I drove into Castle Rock where I visited the Wal-Mart to pick up some things including digital video tapes for the first trip for my new digital video camera.  I also grabbed some road food and drinks as well as some extra film and batteries.

After the short stop and a quick breakfast, I took off for Lamar, Colorado where I would make my first road data stop at the local library.  Forecasts were looking good.  I printed out a couple of maps and began to do some hand analysis to pinpoint my exact location.  I determined that my timeline would give me ample time to get to where I needed to be without being hurried.

I headed down Hwy 287 out of Lamar and into the Oklahoma Panhandle.  I stopped in at another library in Boise City where I again collected some data and information.  About this time, convection had begun to fire in the Western parts of the Texas Panhandle.  I zipped south again, this time catching Hwy 385 into Dalhart, Texas where I caught the backside of a storm that was moving northeast along Hwy 54.

I followed the storm up Hwy 54 passed Brickel when I began to see walls of dust being kicked up behind me from the RFDs of the storm.  The storm was moving parallel to Hwy 54 about a mile or so north of the road.  About this time, reports of a wedge tornado on the ground were buzzing over my scanners.  I never received exact reports as to where this tornado was, but I would have to guess it was shielded from my view by rain and dust.  I continued along the highway til I found myself a bit ahead of the storm.

I pulled off on a nearby dirt road several miles outside of Stratford.  Jim Leonard and his chase tour were in the area about the same time.  They stuck around for a bit, leaving several minutes before I did.  As they were watching the skies, a funnel cloud formed directly overhead.  I watched for a couple minutes as it spun itself out above us.  Several minutes after the chase tour left, I continued along Hwy 54 towards Stratford.

About a mile up the road, I began to divert attention back to the area I had just come from.  I pulled off into the dirt driveway of a nearby country club and began to watch a pair of low hanging clouds behind a couple trees.

At first it was difficult to tell what it was I was looking at.  The lighting conditions made the could formations very hard to see.  Using the digital zoom to get really close, I saw the obvious rotation.  Zooming out, I saw the dust swirl on the ground between the two trees.  With delight, I screamed; “We have a touchdown!  There is a tornado on the ground!”  I tried to contain my excitement as I had a pair of video cameras running and didn’t want to totally destroy my video with excitement.

While I was filming this tornado, I was completely unaware of the wedge tornado ongoing just to the west of this tornado. Since I was north looking south at the storm, rain had blocked my view of the wedge. While capturing video, I saw what I had missed.

The tornado didn’t last longer than a couple of minutes before spinning its way into the turbulent clouds above.  I stayed for a couple minutes as rotating clouds tried to dip from the storm, but nothing ever stirred.  I jumped back on the highway and ran along side the storm as it slowly poked northeast towards Texhoma.

I blazed through Stratford and Texhoma and headed toward Guymon.  The storm had slowed to the point where I found myself moving at will around it.  I opted to jump on 40 and try to get around the storm.  I ended up on Hwy 64 several miles west/northwest of Guymon, Oklahoma.  The storm was still kicking and slowly advancing towards me.

This is where the excitement really peaked.  After bouncing back and forth for position along Hwy 64 between Unity and Guymon, I huddled along a roadside dirt lot along with a pair of chasers and several law enforcement officers as the storm moved in from the southwest.  A very visible wall cloud was evident as darkness began to fall and lightning took over the skies.  At one point, another tornado touched down, illuminated once by a dim power flash several miles to the southwest.  I was quick to notice and jump on this as I realized I had just seen another tornado.  Later reports confirmed a tornado touchdown in the area.

Things weren’t done yet.  This storm continued to show strong rotation as it neared Guymon.  The law enforcement officers, the chasers, and myself headed back towards Guymon, pitching camp at the Hwy 64/136 junction just north of town.  From there, we watched as the storm passed overhead.  Vivid lightning and small hail introduced the storm moments before a eerie silence and a terrifying sense of calm fell over us.  As my dashboard camera ran, I had my digital video camera pointing up at the rotating wall cloud that was spinning overhead.  The western side of the lowerings were sweeping by what seemed like mere feet to our east.  It was the most incredible thing I had ever seen!  The occasional buzzing of the scanners were about the only thing you could hear over the murmur of my radio equipment.  That and my occasional whisper regarding the events I was witnessing.  The silence did eventually give way to a barrage of RFDs with winds gusting well over 60mph.

Darkness had fallen and I was feeling my time crunch, so I bowed out from the chase and began my trek back home.  First issue at hand, gas.  After stopping along Hwy 64 to shoot some extremely vivid lightning, I hurried into Boise City as my gas began to run really low.  Problem; no power = no pumps.  After getting stopped by a cop (no tickets or nothing), I hurried along Hwy 56 into Clayton where I filled up and began my trek home.  Before arriving in Clayton, I watched as the skies went from totally overcast to totally clear with a bright moon lighting my way.  I enjoyed the view as I jumped on Hwy 87 back to I-25 and began my 3 hour trip home.

I pulled in the driveway very tired and very excited.  I gave in to my temptation to watch some of the video before I finally fell asleep.  Another 4 hours of sleep lead me into my 12 hour work day where I spent a great deal of it bragging about my encounters the day before.

OTHER MAY 15, 2003 CHASER REPORTS

• Amos Magliocco