US Trip

[JohnC]

Many,thanks both. The nest posts are the last of the storm photos.  then I'll put up  a few of the TIV2 photos. ..maybe tomorrow,I've been on here a long time today editing and posting.

I began to wonder if I should have put a few up ,then a link but last year  the vote was to post them, I agree, much better in the forum- a link is 'cold'  and 'detached'

I know Martin's tied up over the weekend ,I can barely wait to see what he has to say about the  very last photos. Lol. He'll die  with envy,  I'm sure he will... Lol. Just some lovely sky /water reflection photos  to post next then those killer photos. and I think you'll have a quiet chuckle reading my story about them.

This radar image was taken a mile past Canton Lake and I managed to photograph a funnel cloud from the van as we drove along at the customary 50mph. and a photo of the gathering storm which produced funnel clouds.I think it was the next day they had a tornado here. Canton lake is within the Tulsa OK district and is man made and lies 2 miles outside Canton town and ther bridge across it os 2.5 miles long.

On Monday May 23rd. we were back in Oklahoma near Okla and Okeene. Here's the radar image near Okeene and we saw funnel clouds from one or more of these storms.



















I got out of sequence by putting up the Ellsinore MO tornado and the damage but these next photos were taken on the same day as we approached Dexter MO ,unfortunately it was  as we drove along so they were taken out of the van window but the colours are stunning-the setting sun really makes spectacular scenes. The town is Dexter.

[JohnC]

These photos wee taken at Poplar Bluff ,also Missouri. They are flooded rice fields and we asked if we could stop and photograph the reflections.

[JohnC]

These are the last storm photos. I'll post the TIV2  photos and some other non-storm photos I took tomorrow.

These  photos  were taken in Kingfisher OK. Our leader , Bill,had obviously seen the wall cloud as we drove along on the main road so he turned left off it ,past a few houses and then to the open grassed area you see in the photo. As we pulled up by that open area I saw the monster wall cloud sitting there. I'd never been that close to a wall cloud before. It looked to be in the next field - once again the size of a structure made it deceptively close - one of the guides said that it was a mile or so  away - well, I suppose that's close in wall cloud terms Lol. On this occasion I had no desire to get nearer to it, not least because it was a rotating wall cloud lol. I had a feeling that this monster wasn't at all benign and might do something nasty..this  soon  turned out to be the case and Bill, being a chaser of great  knowledge and experience ,saw it coming - well, the green of it told me  that there was a fair amount of hail up there that might soon be down on us and our leader  was soon shouting to us  quote.. " back in the van or we'll get pummelled" We were soon all back in our respective vans but not until I'd got my fisheye photos of the wall cloud - after all that's why I got the fisheye. So, we got back in the vans and our van was driven to the nearest cover which was a double sized car wash .

I have to be honest with you here Lol...Before we pulled in under cover alongside a large RV vehicle Bill asked who wanted to get out. Well, not wishing to miss a photo op. and considering I enjoy 'Hero Member' status on this forum I felt duty bound  to get out with a camera and a tripod...a dumb move it turned out. My only consolation was that two others were of a like mind. We went round the other side of the RV .We'd failed to appreciate the winds that would accompany the storm bearing in mind a car wash is open ended  so in effect a tunnel ...are you getting it now ??  ..) and also we very soon discovered that the two windows 7 foot long X  2 feet high (slots really) above us at 10 feet had no glass in them..You can imagine what happened.    The said storm duly  arrived and very soon we were being drenched from  the rain/hail being driven by the strong winds through the car wash (at first I wondered if someone had put some money in the machine and started it up as a joke..Lol.)  and in addition there was  stuff coming down on top of us from the windows..there was,as they say..no hiding place. This didn't stop me from trying to take a photo - I mean, after all that's why I'd opted to get out of the van. I managed two before things deteriorated and stopping the camera getting wet was my priority. Fortunately, one of the other two lent me a camera cover. This situation went on for about 15 minutes. We agreed that, maybe, we'd made an error of judgement. We eventually went round the other side of the RV where at least we got away from the stuff pouring in from the windows..we were absolutely drenched. We got back in the van and Mr. Chirpy ( another guest /participant) who had sensibly stayed in the van said that we'd be ok when we got to the hotel which was only  two and a half hours away-Ugh..my heart sank..then he burst into laughter and said he was  only joking  and that it was only 20 minutes away in Tulsa and so it was.

I had to suffer a warm blow radiator in the room all night to dry my clothing and trainers but the next day they were dry. Did I regret it ?  Well, to be honest,no. It was a heck of an experience and you wouldn't get that sitting in the van looking at the storm  through the windows. I've never experienced rain/hail like it  but their drains coped with it - if that happened here they'd have to get the Coastguard  out to rescue people  

So, here's the photos and  against my better judgement I've even included one I took from the car wash- the light was very poor,almost dark and I had to go hand held at 400ISO- I'm wedded to my tripod but even I recognised that there are  some occasions, this being one, when setting one up isn't the best option . I could have wanted the ISO up a bit more to 800 plus but it's not  the kind of thing that comes to mind in that situation.  

[JohnC]

Finishing  off with TIV2 at The Sleep Inn Guthrie OK. May 24










I think that's Sean casey on the right side.













This is what a 15mm fisheye  will get inside  our van.

[paulster78]

John ive just been through the entire thread and all i can say is wow. You really had a great storm chase and have brought back some top notch images, the lightning, wall clouds, funnels, sunset convection, tornado damage, gust fronts and not to mention the huge tornado crossing the road. You've seen it all and brought it all back for us to enjoy in this great thread, really appreciate the work you have put into it as well. The last series of shots are stunning with the reflections in the rice fields and then the monster wall cloud almost touching the ground-very impressive. I only hope one day i can follow in your footsteps and experience a chase in the plains. 

That sigma 15mm fisheye is a nice addition to the kit John, great for getting the entire storm structure into the frame

[JohnC]

Many thanks,Paul.. it was a lot of work editing and posting but reading the comments here has made it all worthwhile .

I think you'd have a job to get it wrong this year - it's the worst for the US since 1936 with approximately 530 killed so far..last year there were 25 killer tornadoes and up to now this year 54 -altogether 1250 tornadoes reported . I saw that figure on The Weather Channel half-way through the Tour so even more by now- I've just googled it..to June 1st. 1448 and of those 1007 confirmed. It's not going to be like that next year,I'm sure but you just don't know what will happen-Fortunately I do realise that apart from the skill of our guides with interpreting the downloaded data/SPC figures and other data  you're still left with a large element of luck in getting onto a good storm,for me it doesn't have to spawn a tornado as I think the  storm structure photography side of it is now my motivation for going each year  and has been for the last 3 trips but I did miss the evening lightning shows this time - they sometimes come along after a day's storms.  I'm just waiting for Martin to get online and see that wall cloud..Lol.The images that will be with me forever are that wall cloud and the fantastic Isabel sunset-I think the Pauline funnel clouds or lowering  too.Thanks again for your comments,much appreciated.