June 8, 1998
This day had a surface low developing in southwest Kansas, good moisture
and good shear, but unfortunately I was stuck in Norman teaching lab
for METR 1014. After the last student was finally finished, everyone
else had gone out after a storm that had formed over Canadian County,
Oklahoma and moved over Oklahoma City with a tornado warning on it.
I then made a very silly decision and went out by myself after it.
With only the radio and a Rand McNally, I took off on
Highway 9 out of Norman, hoping to cut northeast and catch the storm.
Unfortunately it was 5:00, so there was quite a lot of traffic.
Trees and hills made seeing anything rather difficult, so I gave up
on the northern storm and turned back west on I-40, mistake #2. A second
cell had developed, and I drove into the northern edge of the core. I
had to pull over for a while, since the heavy rain and hail made it
impossible to see the road. I returned to Norman, discovering it had
been pounded by 1.75" hail near my apartment, so it was fortunate my car
wasn't there. Back at the Energy Center, I watched another cell cross
over Oklahoma City, lit up by the sunset. (The image on the front of
this website shows the storm)
The moral of the story?
Don't chase by yourself.