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HP supercell entering Pauls Valley on May 30, 2013.
An HP Supercell thunderstorm with stacked plates along it’s strong rear flank downdraft enters the town of Pauls Valley. The storm became tornado warned as it entered town, but thankfully didn’t produce a tornado. What the storm did do was produce hurricane force winds and major flooding of parts of downtown Pauls Valley. Shot taken May 30, 2013.
Supercell developing N and W of OKC on June 16, 2013.
This past weekend, a few supercells developed across Oklahoma as strong instability and just enough wind shear was in place to get some rotating thunderstorms. Strong winds and some large hail were reported with this cell, but no major damage was reported. Shot by Josh Ward on his Canon Rebel Digital SLR.
The sun sets under a dying storm near Rush Springs, OK. June 16, 2013.
I took this picture near Rush Springs last evening, it was simply an incredible display of the beauty of creation. I had Sara take the ‘storm path’ home because I wanted to maybe get some awesome sunset sky pictures, not only did the sky not disappoint — I think it might’ve went above and beyond what I expected! Oranges, blues, pinks, purples all over the place!
This picture is looking west at what used to be a supercell but now was just the final gasps. I honestly was hoping we’d catch this storm just as it died but still had some nice lightning to it. That was the only thing missing but I honestly didn’t mind. I shot this with the intention of getting the sky exposed and the foreground just exposed enough to bring out enough shadow detail to create a balanced look.
Mission accomplished!
One of the things I chase for are beautiful skies like this. Having started chasing in 2003, I have saw chasing go from a very niche sort of thing to something else entirely in just that short time. While chasing has tended to tilt more towards a social extreme sport of some type...the absolute best moments in storm chasing to me are still the ones where it's just you and the storm which is safely a few miles away with you having plenty of options to navigate to stay comfortably away while viewing amazing skies.
One of the things I chase for are beautiful skies like this. Having started chasing in 2003, I have saw chasing go from a very niche sort of thing to something else entirely in just that short time. While chasing has tended to tilt more towards a social extreme sport of some type…the absolute best moments in storm chasing to me are still the ones where it’s just you and the storm which is safely a few miles away with you having plenty of options to navigate to stay comfortably away while viewing amazing skies.
Supercell near Blanchard, OK on May 30, 2013.
Supercell just east and northeast of Chickasha, Oklahoma (probably nearer to Blanchard at this time) on May 30, 2013. This storm threatened to produce tornadoes for about four hours before the cap won and the storm died.
The heavy rain area on the left is actually the RFD, it was extremely wet at this point as the storm had a brief transition into a pseudo-HP storm. The hail core is further back behind the tree line in the photo. This storm quickly came out of it’s HP stage, almost died as an LP but instead became tornadic. Interesting transition for sure.
The Shawnee, Oklahoma EF4 tornado. May 19, 2013. Taken by Brett Wright.
The Shawnee, Oklahoma EF4 tornado was one of the strongest tornadoes visually I have ever saw. As the tornado was moving just west and north of downtown Shawnee, it moved through several residences which unfortunately resulted in both deaths and injuries. The late May period was incredibly challenging for us on many levels. The Shawnee, Oklahoma tornado has been somewhat overshadowed by the two EF-5s that raked across the landscape in Oklahoma, even more forgotten was the Carney/Luther wedge tornado earlier in the day.
If you want to help disaster victims, including Oklahoma tornado victims, please consider a donation to the American Red Cross.
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