May 25

Horrifying "WTF" moment as a huge MDT upgrade to the Day 2 SPC outlook comes out shortly after arriving home from school on my last day of Junior Year on May 24. I pack my bag, charge my gear, and pack gloves and basic aid equipment, as the SPC is calling for "several strong to violent tornadoes" with "only reduced confidence in total storm coverage precluding a High Risk," I prepare for the worst.

My "spaghetti" forecast sheet on the morning of the 25th analyzing the event setup. We decide to head to southern Kansas and stage out of Wichita to wait for storms to near the favorable air mass.

The elegant Flint Hills of Kansas during the early afternoon of May 25th. We stop on I-35 to enjoy the view. Skies are clear, but the atmosphere will turn deadly in about 6 and a half hours.

My friends Ethan, Kaden, Jacob, Noah, and I meet up at McConnell AFB in Wichita, Kansas to kill time before the chase.

A USAF KC-135 departs McConnel Air Force Base as planes are ordered to evacuate the facility ahead of severe weather.

Anvils of distant supercells begin to appear over the horizon as we leave Wichita. 

KICT NEXRAD weather radar as we head southwest from Wichita.

Textbook radar presentation of the elevated dominant supercell in southwest Kansas at 6:07 pm.

Mammatus clouds already, way ahead of the storm.

Initial view of the supercell in the distance, note the large inflow band feeding into the storm.

The inflow band enlarges as, a sign that the storm is entering the primed-environment.

Mammatus clouds loom high above behind a developing feeder band into the storm, indicating that the supercell is becoming surface-based and heading into a primed environment.

Cloud to ground lightning activity increases as the storm upticks.

Scud clouds dangle low under the base as a wall cloud takes shape.

The supercell starts to develop a boomerang shape, indicative of a massive inflow field and a dramatically strengthening mesocyclone. This is often the beginning of a hook and I have seen this boomerang-shaped feature proceed violent tornadoes on radar in multiple cases in the past.

A COLOSSAL wall cloud developed within a few minutes, right before the storm went tornado-warned. This had me thinking a violent wedge was moments away. A state trooper can be seen in the bottom left, monitoring the storm.

A wider view of the wall cloud and Forward Flank Downdraft as tornado sirens blare in Anthony, Kansas.

Tornado! The first spin-up tornado (likely Hazelton, Kansas EF0) spins up at approximately 7:18 pm.

The next and most vivid tornado occurs a few minutes later under the southern edge of the wall cloud.

Radar presentation at 7:23 pm of the tornadic supercell closing in on our location, as well  as the merger about to take place.

Dust and rain begins to obscure the wall cloud as a storm cluster moves up from the south. A rain-wrapped strong tornado will form in about 10 minutes.

Very dark as we pass through downtown Anthony, Kansas, headed east with the intent to gain ground on the storm, wondering if it would survive the storm merger.

Gustfront of the thunderstorms moving up from the south.

Lead edge of the storm complex coming up from the south which was responsible for the EF2 and for ultimately choking the supercell.

Countless other storm chasers pass us on Route 44 headed east out of Anthony. The great, John White (WhiteWeather) can be seen here.

The atmosphere becomes stable after the storm clusters from the outflow boundary associated with distant left-splits blew through.

NWS Wichita's survey results of the EF2 tornado west of Anthony, Kansas. This storm would unfortunately cause heavy damage to a farm home. Multiple storm chasers assisted the survivors.

Amazing, high-res radar presentation of the unique EF2 twister. The odd SE to NW path was due to a non-mesocyclonic vortex interacting with wind-backing near the supercell and became a narrow, but significant tornado!

Radar presentation of the storms to the south and their boundary, which helped drive the Anthony EF2 killing the dominant supercell, likely saving lives.