All posts by tornatrix

27 February 2011 Grainola, Oklahoma tornado

Chasing

My chase partners on this day were Dan Dawson and Jana Houser. We were attracted to the area around Enid, Oklahoma as an initial target, because of the strong shear, a narrow corridor of CAPE, and an incipient dryline push indicated in the models (SPC outlook). We intercepted a strengthening cell near Pond Creek, Oklahoma around 5:20 p.m. The reflectivity from KICT (KVNX was down for its polarimetric upgrade) showed a persistent, 60+ dBZ core, so we assume there was hail present.

Storm motions were ENE at 45-55 mph. As we jogged east and then north from Lamont, the cloud base began to lower. The first one quickly bowed out and became a “whale’s mouth”, indicating that a cold downdraft had reached the surface and begun to spread out toward us. Gradually, however, as we passed through Blackwell on OK-11, the storm, now clearly a supercell on radar, began to recover and developed a clear slot on its west side. We continued east in order to keep pace with the storm.

Near Kidare, the paved road T-ed off, and we had to make a choice whether to go north a few miles to Newkirk to keep the base within visual range, or south three miles to continue east on OK-11 through Kaw City. I was driving, so that choice was primarily the responsibility of my chase partners. While most other chasers turned north at the intersection of OK-11 and U.S. Hwy. 77, we turned south, and then continued east across the Kaw Lake Dam. Our view toward the base of the storm now blocked, we began to hear tornado warnings for the storm coming from three different CWAs (Tulsa, Norman, and Wichita) and questioned whether we had made the right decision.

However, as we emerged from the depression around Kaw Lake, we started to see suspicious appendages under the cloud base. It being February, it was close to sunset (around 6:20 p.m.), so the contrast wasn’t great. We turned north on OK-18 at Shidler, Oklahoma; the video sequence above records what we saw after emerging from the north side of that town. One particular appendage caught and held our attention. From a distance, it could have been mistaken for a scud finger, but as we drew closer, its persistence and tapered, conical shape made clear that it was a funnel cloud. In the video, you can hear us debating for a minute or two whether what we’re seeing is a tornado, or not. The funnel never made contact with the ground, but I did note a few puffs of red dirt underneath it.

After the white cone became occluded and dissipated, my chase partners noted a continuation of the tornado in the form of a dust tube extending from the ground to cloud base off to our east. I was still driving and unable to film this phenomenon; however my chase partners documented it.

We continued north on OK-18 until we crossed the Kansas border. At no point did we note crossing a surface damage track; however, it was dark, so we might have missed seeing some damage. As of this writing, I am not aware of a damage survey for this tornado; however, the SPC preliminary report notes an EF-0 rating.

We turned east on U.S. Hwy 166, following the storm as it produced an additional lowering illuminated by lightning. However, this lowering dissipated after a few minutes. We called off the chase near Sedan, Kansas, on account of darkness.

On High Instability

Media

The mp3 version of my 2 March 2011 appearance on High Instability is now available in their show archives (Episode #81). Topics covered include my dissertation work on the Greensburg, Kansas tornado, my exploits with the UMass W-band radar during VORTEX2, and (briefly) infrared thermal imagery of tornadoes. I even manage to get in a plug for this blog as the outtro music is playing. Hanging out with RJ, Gene, and Chuck is always a blast!

Why “tornatrix”?

About the blog

Every so often, usually when some major transition occurs in my life, I take on a new online persona. This time, the occasion was the completion of my Ph.D., at long last, after six years of hard work and challenges.

So, why the name “tornatrix”?

My dissertation took a great deal of my energy and time, and during the past three years, I more or less disappeared off of forums and chat rooms. As I worked with mobile Doppler radars and made several appearances on national (and international) television, my name recognition grew. I began to sense a demand for an increased presence on the web. I also observed a rise in the number of science blogs being used to disseminate research to the public. I resolved about a year ago that, after successfully defending my Ph.D., I would establish more of an online presence. But I needed an alias – something short, simple, and easy to remember. I can never force myself to come up with such names under duress; I knew I had to let the inspiration come on its own time.

I was lying in bed a couple of nights ago, toying with words that conveyed my specialty (severe weather research), when the word “tornatrix” suddenly popped into my head. I had attached the first part of the word “tornado” to the Latin feminine suffix “-trix”. In this sense, it means something like “twister-ess.”

I Googled the word “tornatrix” and found that it is actually a Latin word meaning “dancer” (i.e., “woman who turns”). I messaged one of my Latin-speaking college friends (Rob, now a Ph.D. candidate in Classics at UCLA) to ask about the propriety of using the word “tornatrix” in the sense that I wanted. He told me that, strictly speaking, the word I wanted was “turbatrix,” because the Latin word for tornado is turbo. Unfortunately, turbo has a different meaning in English, plus, a “turbatrix” sounds like a woman who studies (or perhaps causes) turbulence, which is quite a different specialization.

So, tornatrix it is! And here it begins.