Severe Storm Photography from Spring 2009
All photos copyrighted by Dave Chapman
| April 25: Western Oklahoma Supercell |
| Storm fires up in the eastern Texas Panhandle, just northwest of Wheeler, late in the afternoon. |
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| Another storm develops to my east, in western Oklahoma. |
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| I stay with the Wheeler storm as it moves northeast into far western Oklahoma. |
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| Grazing land in Black Kettle National Grassland between Cheyenne and Roll. |
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| CAPE and shear are marginal as the storm tries to organize. |
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| Dusk approaches as the storm nears the town of Leedey. |
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| Small wall clouds form and dissipate, never displaying the rotation associated with a stronger storm. |
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| Nevertheless, a beautiful sight. |
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| Final view before sunset. |
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| April 26: Western Oklahoma Tornado |
| Mid-afternoon intercept, again near Wheeler, Texas. Richer moisture and better shear should result in stronger storms today. |
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| After a long drive to get ahead of the storm, I end up near Roll, Oklahoma, in great position. |
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| Within a few minutes after arriving, I watch a wall cloud just to my southwest produce a small grey funnel. |
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| Closer view. |
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| A new funnel develops just to my west. |
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| A needle touches down. |
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| A few moments later. |
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| One of the best views I've ever had of a tornado. |
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| Wide angle shot. |
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| Magnificent display of nature. |
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| The tornado is moving quickly northeast. |
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| This is the type of sight I've dreamed about since the early 1980s, when I moved to Ft. Worth to find and photograph severe thunderstorms. Fourteen years after getting serious about storm chasing (in 1995 when I discovered readily accessible weather data on the Internet), a perfect view of a very scenic tornado. Persistence and patience pays! |
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| End of a fulfilling day of chasing after a quiet beginning to the season. |
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2009 Storm Pages:
Dave Chapman's Storm Chasing and Outdoor Photo Galleries