Watching the Skies

Check out some of these pictures and videos of a storm chase I performed on May 19th. These storms were relatively easy to chase as they moved at about 30mph due east. This allowed me to easily catch up or outrun the storms, as well as being able to stay on the same road for the entire chase.

Chase Mileage: 660 miles
Number of tornadoes seen: 2

I departed from the Dallas Metroplex headed twards Lawton, OK. A new day 1 outlook from the SPC was then issued, which included a ‘High’ risk of severe storms. The high risk area was further north and east of my original target area. I changed my target area to a storm that had initiated and was moving towards Hennessey OK. This was the correct decision, as I arrived in Hennessey just as the storm popped down a large cone tornado! (the video will be forthcoming later).

Next I decided to stay with this storm and travel east along SR-51. This also ended up being the best decision, as the storm ultimately put out a large funnel cloud near Stillwater, OK but didnt quite make it to the ground. Unfortunately I did not see the tornado that damaged mobile homes in Stillwater however. The rest of the chase was spent driving around attempting to target a few other storm cells, but ultimately I was either too far away or the storms sucked in too much cold air.

Either way, it was a good day for tornado viewing. For now, a few videos I was able to get online quickly. I will get the Hennessey OK tornado video online soon.

05-19-10 Oklahoma Tornadoes!

Hey folks, I have been fighting sleep work and more work since arriving back from Puerto Rico and have had trouble updating my own website! Heres a quick update for now: I am in the process of migrating photo galleries into Picasa Web Albums, including the newest Puerto Rico photos I took. You can view these here: http://picasaweb.google.com/sean.r.toner

Soon I will eventually migrate to yet a new webhost and have a newer better page theme and other improved features to my website. For now however, take a look at my galleries in Picasa Web Albums!

This is post number 500 for Watching the Skies, an exciting achievement!
The pictures here were taken in Frisco, TX during the afternoon of March 21, 2010 after our spring snow storm.

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Took a day trip to the Fort Worth Zoo.

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February 11, 2010 broke the all-time snowfall record for any calendar day and any 24-hour period with 11.2 inches of snow, as of midnight. This surpasses the previous daily record of 1.4 inches on Feb 11, 1988. This also exceeds our 24-hour record of 7.5 inches on Feb 17, 1978 and Feb 25, 1924. Lastly this breaks our greatest calendar-day snowfall total of 7.8 inches from January 15, 1964 and January 14, 1917.

Thursday’s snowfall has brought our seasonal snowfall total to 14.4 inches, the 3rd snowiest winter on record for DFW. Had there been no other snowfall events this entire season, our winter would have still made the top five snowiest, wow! Below are snowfall totals reported as of 11:30pm 2/11/10.

The impacts from this snowfall will be felt quite heavily the morning of Friday February 12th with heavy snowfall accumulations on area roads, plus icing on roadways and bridges. Afternoon temperatures for Friday have been revised downward to 38 degrees. This means snow will melt significantly but not all of it will melt before re-freezing overnight through Saturday. Expect icing conditions Saturday morning as well. Saturday high temps will reach the 50s and any remaining snow will melt off.

Additionally, I walked around and snapped some great pictures with my camera this evening. I have attached the updated gallery below.

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Public Information Statement issued by the National Weather Service as of Midnight 2/12/10:

...Snow event one for the record books...

At midnight...dfw Airport had recorded 11.2 inches of snow today.
This breaks the previous daily record for February 11 of 1.4 inches
set in 1988. This also breaks the previous 24-hour record for
February...7.5 inches on February 17, 1978 and February 25, 1924.

This is the greatest calendar-day snowfall total on record for
Dallas/Fort Worth. The previous record was 7.8 inches on January 15,
1964 and January 14, 1917.

This brings the seasonal snowfall total to 14.4 inches...which is
the 3rd highest seasonal total on record for Dallas/Fort Worth. This
is the snowiest winter in 32 seasons (since 1977-1978).

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Dallas/Fort Worth - snowiest seasons

   1   17.6   1977-78
   2   15.3   1963-64
   3   14.4   2009-10*
   4   13.5   1923-24
   5   10.4   1976-77
   6    9.5   1909-10
   7    9.2   1916-17
   8    8.8   1947-48
   9    8.1   1937-38
  10    7.3   1965-66
        7.3   1941-42

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Dallas/Fort Worth - most snow in February

   1   13.5   1978
   2   11.2   2010*
   3    7.5   1924

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Dallas/Fort Worth - greatest 24-hour snowfall totals

   1   12.1   January 15-16, 1964
   2   11.2   February 12, 2010*
   3    8.2   January 14-15, 1917
   4    7.5   February 17, 1978
        7.5   February 25, 1924
   6    6.0   March 13, 1924
   7    5.5   December 9, 1898
   8    5.0   November 22, 1937
        5.0   January 5, 1910
  10    4.7   November 13, 1976

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Some images from my Flickr of this record breaking snowfall for the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex.

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Another photo safari, this time to Mineral Wells State Park, west of the DFW metroplex. Didn’t find too many worthwhile pictures till the end when it was already sunset.

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Boredom induced photo safari to a nearby park in The Colony, TX… along Lake Lewisville. The ducks came over to say hi, and I found a staging area for the coming avian assault.

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Got a nice early morning wakeup call today to take a look outside… to a nice wet snowfall. Air temps are 34 degrees, while surface soil temperatures are higher. This means the snow that falls will still continue to generate a low amount of accumulation, but areas of accumulating slush on sidewalks and roadways will still pose a safety hazard. Be careful on the roads everyone! Provide ample stopping time and take your time around corners. It may not be ice, but it is still slippery.

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Heavier snow is possible across the region on Friday now as well… the immediate DFW Metroplex may receive only a light snow shower on Friday. Areas outside the urban heat bubble that are south of I-20 will receive heavier snow up to 2 inches.

…Snow expected Friday for much of North Texas…

A strong upper level storm system will move across North Texas on
Friday. With a cold airmass established over the region…the potent
upper level disturbance will trigger areas of snow on Friday.

Flurries will be possible late Thursday night and early Friday
morning over far western sections of North Texas…generally along
and west of a Bowie to Weatherford to Lampasas line. Little to no
accumulation is expected with this activity.

Heavier snow will likely develop by the mid morning hours Friday and
continue through the evening…mainly south of Interstate 20.
Periods of flurries and some light snow showers will also be
possible Friday in the immediate Dallas Fort Worth Metro area.

Locations along and south of a line from Cisco to Hillsboro to
Palestine will have the best chance at witnessing accumulating
snowfall…with around one inch possible. Isolated locations may
receive up to 2 inches of snow.

This event continues to develop. The timing and location of the
snowfall…as well as expected accumulations may change over the
coming days. Please keep updated with the latest forecasts and any
possible winter weather advisories from your National Weather
Service in Fort Worth.

New photo gallery added… took a trip to Ray Roberts Lake State Park north of the D/FW Metroplex. Captured some beautiful fall colors during sunset.

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