May 18th was a good set up in Kansas. An outflow boundary laid across north of I-70 and a dryline stretched north/south along US highway 81. A significant supercell formed north of Salina and moved northeast, producing at least a couple brief tornadoes. Other supercells formed along the triple point and also became tornado warned. We chased SEVEN different supercells that had tornado warnings. The biggest problem this day wasn’t just the fact there was a lot of seeding going on, it was the shear number of chasers that were in the area. Sooner or later there will come a day when a large tornado hits a line of chasers and causes a lot of problems. Sometimes, it pays to stay back a bit and let the chaser hoards get close. But, great shear an 70 dewpoints certainly allowed for numerous tornado warned supercells to form. A few weak tornadoes did occur, and a few look a likes also that were reported as tornadoes, and were not. Enjoy the pics please!!
May 17, 2026 St Libory, Nebraska Violent Tornado
May 17th had a lot going for it. Great shear, good moisture and instability and a triple point just to the west of Grand Island, Nebraska would set the stage for intense supercell development. As storms formed near the triple point, they were just on the cool side of the boundary. Anchoring in that spot, one cell latched on to it and started to spin. Soon a tornado warning was issued. As we had to reposition, the storm quickly became tornadic and produced a high end EF3 tornaddo near the small town of St Libory. We couldn’t get back in front of it and had to watch the tornado from the poor contrast side to the south. Soon the storm rapidly weakened and we dropped south to chase other tornado warned storms. A wild day and some crazy moments. Our hearts and prayers go out to those affected by this strong tornado.
May 16, 2026 Goodland, Kansas Tornado Warned Supercell
A triple point surface low over northwest Kansas would provide the convergence needed to fire off supercell thunderstorms this day. One storm formed northwest of Goodland and meandered east/southeast becoming a prolific hailstorm. Lack of real quality moisture would prevent tornadoes from occurring, however, as a left split from a storm over Rush county raced north, it collided with our storm and caused it to spin. A tornado warning was issued and a wall cloud formed, also spinning. Due to the higher based nature of the storm, it did not produce a tornado. As it moved east, more storms formed as a complex eventually developed that had winds up to 90mph in it! We raced east to get ahead and were treated to a sunset beast that also tried to become tornadic. An awesome day, great storms and lightning, as well as a tornado warning. Enjoy the pics!!!
May 15, 2026 Western Iowa Tornadic Supercell
May 15th took us into Iowa. An old outflow boundary/cold front intersection would be our target in northwest Iowa. Plenty of shear, modest moisture and instability would support severe storms, with some tornado threat. We caught several storms, but one, west of Ida Grove, would produce a short-lived tornado. This storm was also an electrified beauty! Several CG strikes occurred per minute, and everyone’s cameras were clicking away! I managed to get a few decent ones as well. A fun day, tons of storms and a brief tornado to boot! Enjoy the pics!
May 9, 2026 Sayre, Oklahoma Gorgeous Supercell
May 9th looked like a day where things just weren’t in sync. Good shear and lift were in place, but poor moisture with moderate CAPE were also in play. We targeted southwest Oklahoma where there was a bit higher moisture, however it was very thin. Storms blew up along a boundary near I-40 and became severe. They were fairly high based, but with good shear and steep lapse rates, they rained down hail to baseball size. We blasted north to catch the tail end storm as it moved into western Oklahoma. It hit the theta-e axis and rapidly strengthened. As it moved southeast towards us, structure steadily improved. We stayed with it till after sunset as it started producing copious amounts of CGs. Finally, it weakened around 10pm so we left and made it to the hotel before midnight. A great day with arguably the best structure of this young 2026 season! Enjoy the pics!!!
May 8, 2026 Chattanooga, OK Tornado Warned Supercell
Good shear, but limited moisture would be the problem this day. Storms formed along a cold front in central Oklahoma by mid afternoon, but were high based. We were watching a cluster of towers west of Lawton and hoped something would form from them. Later in the afternoon, they did just that. A supercell emerged and produced baseball sized hail. Early evening it became tornado warned. It produced a couple of funnels but was moving into capped air and weakened. The setting sun made for a cool image as the updraft evaporated.
May 6, 2026 Garden City to Brookhaven, MS Tornadic Supercell
A crazy day for us and of course the unfortunate good folks of southern Mississippi. Spent the night in West Memphis and targeted south of Jackson, MS. After a cluster of storms formed, became severe and tornado warned, they moved northeast and weakened. We decided to play a new cluster west of Nachez in an environment that was far better than MS. Higher dews, clearer skies and stronger flow would allow the cluster to consolidate into a large rotating storm. We dropped south, south of Sibley, MS to wait for it instead of trying to get across the Mississippi river and not having a return route due to the now tornado warned storm. As it approached us, rotation was seen and the CGs were off the chart striking every 5-10 seconds!!! We soon had to quickly get out of the way as the rfd wrapped around this massive bowl shaped lowering. It raced off east of us across the trees and planted a rather large EF-3 wedge tornado. This tornado became quite strong and a TORNADO EMERGENCY was issued for towns in its path. The supercell produced multiple strong class tornadoes for the next 100 miles as it churned across the southern part of the state. We approached it one other time and could see violent wrapping rain curtains and strong downward motion, showing us the rain wrapped wedge was very close and intense. Eventually due to darkness we called off the chase and went back to Garden City, MS to see if anyone needed help. Many downed trees, power lines and much debris blocked the highway. Several of us jumped in to clear the road and get to a woman who was injured. We had to use chain saws to cut through the trees as another tornado warned storm was approaching. An absolutely insane day and I am very proud of our guides and even some of the guests in getting their hands dirty to help others! Our hearts and prayers go out to those affected by this monster!
April 26, 2026 Osage County, OK Tornadic Supercell
April 26, 2026 took us to Osage county, Oklahoma to chase a tornadic supercell from Foraker to Herd. Strong shear, a dryline and extreme instability would set the stage for supercells. One such storm formed near Blackwell and intensified as it moved east. It became tornado warned as it moved east towards Foraker. Due to poor, muddy roads, we had to drop south to highway 60 and east to Pawhuska, then north to get in front of it. During this 20 minute process, of course, fate would have it that it produced a tornado! However, it was on the ground for less than a minute. As the supercell approached us a broad, rotating wall cloud was evident, and multiple funnels formed over the next 30 minutes. This storm had great structure and intense cloud to ground (cg) lightning! As it approached our location, a large bowl formed under it and soon a cone funnel descended to the ground. It persisted for a few minutes. We stayed with the storm in the dark as it moved east and eventually dissipated near Bartlesville. Fun day, frustrating at times as is often the case in Osage county, but good end results! Enjoy the pics!
April 25, 2026 Southeast Oklahoma Tornadic Supercell
Day 1 of the Close Encounters tour kept us very close to Oklahoma City. A warm front/dryline triple point was just south of town. Models show extreme instability developing during the afternoon, with isolated supercells forming. Mid afternoon we drifted to Sulfur as storms formed close by. As they moved east the weakened moving north of the warm front. Eventually one storm anchored on the boundary and started spinning. It produced and bog cone funnel that just could stay consolidated, and fell apart after a few minutes. Due to many storm interactions, we dropped south to the tail in cell near Mill Creek. As we arrived a tornado formed. We saw the debris cloud from a rock plant and were able to stop in time to take photos and videos. It was on the ground for about 5-6 minutes. This day was a ton of hard chasing but in the end we managed to see a tornado. Enjoy the pics!
April 14th Northeast Iowa Tornadoes
April 14th kept us in the northern plains. The same synoptic warm front/triple point from the 13th, was evident on the 14th centered northwest of Des Moines, Iowa. By mid afternoon storms formed there and intensified as they moved northeast. Near Eldora, Iowa, one supercell cranked up quickly and spun like a top. A rotating wall cloud formed, spinning wildly, and dropped a tornado that skipped across the ground for about 10 minutes causing some damage to farm buildings. After the storm occluded, the cell moved east towards Waterloo and kept having cell mergers which interfered with it’s ability to produce more tornadoes. East of Waterloo, near Masonville, it cranked back up and became tornado warned. A lowering/truncated cone funnel formed and wrapped quickly with rain. It touched down producing some minor damage as it stayed on the ground for several minutes. After it lifted, the storm became rain clogged as more cells developed merging with the parent supercell. At this point, having to be back in Denver the next day, we dropped south to Iowa City and headed west to Lincoln, NE for the night (arriving after midnight!). As did dropped south, another supercell developed a hook and became tornado warned as well. We could see the lowering, which 30 minutes later produced a pretty 3 minute tornado, as we headed westbound for the night. Overall a fun day, great storms, messy tornadoes, but everyone enjoyed it! Enjoy the pics! Video coming soon too!
