Chasing the Weather 2025 recap
COLUMBUS, Mississippi (WCBI) – After 14 days, we’re back home in Mississippi!
DAY 1: We departed Starkville early Saturday morning, May 17, to it storming no less! Our travels took us into northern Texas near Sherman where some severe storms affected the Red River Valley of north Texas and southern Oklahoma. We traveled north to Norman, OK in the evening to preposition for Sunday’s risk.
DAY 2: A level 4/5 “moderate” risk was defined across western and central Kansas into far northern Oklahoma. We targeted Dodge City, but storms seemed to “dodge” southwest Kansas until well after dark. Several EF-3 tornadoes occurred in and around Greensburg after 9 PM, which were not safe to chase. We stayed overnight in Alva, Oklahoma.
DAY 3: Another level 4/5 “moderate” risk was defined for most of eastern Oklahoma into southwestern Missouri. Storms developed fairly early in eastern Oklahoma, an area not suitable for good storm chasing due to reduced visibility. Therefore, we targeted areas near Ardmore, OK as additional storms developed. We never saw anything more than a ragged wall cloud. We stayed overnight in Denton, Texas.
DAYS 4-5: The first “down” day was spent visiting the Forth Worth Zoo and the historic Stockton Yards/cattle drive! The second down day was spent back in Norman, OK, touring the National Weather Center…specifically the NWS Norman. Several other parts of OU are also housed in the NWC. We then visited the Oklahoma City bombing memorial, remembering the tragedies of April 19, 1995.
DAY 6: Once again, we found ourselves near the Red River near Thackerville, OK. Storms developed before lunch on the Red River, but with difficult road networks, we were unable to get ahead of a tornado-warned storm to be in a safe position. We did see up to golf ball hail, however! We then traveled west toward Wichita Falls where additional storms developed. We stayed overnight in Childress, TX.
DAY 7: We decided to play “Colorado magic” which meant a longer drive ahead! We departed early Friday morning from Childress for eastern Colorado on an eight hour drive, but thankfully we gained an hour into mountain time. Storms developed in southeastern Wyoming and moved into northeastern Colorado, strengthening steadily. We targeted Sterling, CO, but ended up moving a bit west then south.
The supercell storm was moving slowly southward, and we were in great position to see an eventual tornado emerge from behind a curtain of dust.
The tornado continued for just over 20 minutes, reaching EF-2 intensity with maximum winds of 118 mph. Thankfully, no major damage occurred though there was some structural damage to one property. The NWS Denver’s full survey can be found here.
The last image shows the weakening stages of the tornado, known as “roping out.” This tornado occurred north of Akron, Colorado. We stayed overnight in Fort Morgan, CO.
DAY 8: Staying in Colorado for the day, we decided to chase the “DCVZ” or the Denver Convergence Vorticity Zone. In short, winds flow around the Palmer Divide and “pile up” east of the Rockies, leading to rising motion. Storms developed on schedule and produced prolific amounts of hail! We stayed overnight in Lamar, CO – shout out to Tavern 1301…excellent food!!
DAY 9: We targeted parts of West Texas the next day, which meant another longer drive! We ended up near Matador, TX on a severe storm, but once again the storm had relatively poor structure. We stayed the night in Lubbock, TX.
DAY 10: Another risk of severe weather in Texas! We chased a storm near Menard, Texas. The above picture was one of the more structured wall clouds of the trip, but we never saw it produce a tornado. It did produce a “gustnado” – a rapidly swirling column of air commonly forming on the rear flank downdraft of the storm. The storm also produced 5+” hailstones northwest of our position. We stayed overnight in Ozona, Texas.
DAY 11: Onward more into deep southwest Texas! We chased some storms southwest of Fort Stockton, Texas; like previous days, limited low level wind shear inhibited any tornado development. Furthermore, road networks in the larger southwest Texas counties are sparse! We were however treated to a lovely rainbow treat in Junction, Texas, on our way to stay overnight in Fort Stockton.
DAY 12: The last day, and another long drive! We left Fort Stockton early to reach southwest Kansas before storm initiation. While there was better shear, the environment was characterized by some capping aloft and less intense lapse rates than previous days. This created great, laminar storm structure, often referred to as the “mothership.” We ended up chasing new storms in far northwestern Oklahoma, east of Guymon.
This was by far the best storm structure, as it looks like a spaceship! We chased the storms more into northwestern Oklahoma, staying in Woodward overnight.
DAY 13: Trekking home! We stayed overnight in Little Rock, AR, so we’d have a shorter drive back to north Mississippi Friday.
