Storm Chase Details
Chase Date: March 24, 2024
Miles Logged: 458
States Chased: OK
Severe Risks: SPC Outlooks
Chase Recap:
A nice start to the 2024 chase season with a funnel in Western Oklahoma near Hammon. Supercells seemed like a certainty, and it was a Sunday so I started planning to chase a couple days out. A strong dryline with 120+ knot jetstream overhead
Morning Forecast
Like any weekend, I rolled out of bed late and started off with a surface analysis. Moisture was concerning, as expected. Morning soundings were underwhelming. I printed off a 15z map and did the hand analysis below
Just before departing, I checked out the water vapor loop. As the dry air punches into southwest Oklahoma, it started firing off storms just west of Oklahoma City metro.
15Z Mesoanalysis
Morning Models
The 14Z HRRR came in decently strong, with a couple supercells in Western Oklahoma. Moisture would be a limiting factor, and it became quite apparent looking through the models.
14Z HRRR
Departure around noon
I hit the road around noon and picked up Stephen before heading west on I-40. We stopped off for a bit at the Indian Trading Post, trying to decide if we wanted to go west on 40 or northwest towards Seiling. Ultimately, we chose to go northwest towards Seiling as the better storms at that time were along and north of I-40.
We’d make it all the way to Seiling before heading west to highway 34. Dropping south on 34 and west on 47, we found ourselves closing in on a tornado warned supercell coming out of Texas. We made it to roll and dropped south on 283.
On a storm near Sayre
As we continued southbound through Cheyenne, the base was still not in view. Adam and Stephen were watching Jeff Piotrowski’s stream. He was showing a decent wall cloud near Erick. We were able to get into view of the base north of Sayre.
We sat north of Sayre as the storm approached. The storm continued to cycle as it built a nice wall cloud. As it rotated, a brief funnel appeared. The storm was moving around 45-50 MPH so we needed to get back on the road. Luckily we were able to go a couple miles east and jump onto I-40 east. I-40’s northward jaunt was very advantageous for the storm speed and motion.
Funnel near Hammon
As we exited I-40 in Elk City, we turned north onto highway 34. At this point the storm was starting to wrap up again with a growing wall cloud to our northwest. The storm was moving along at a fast pace. As we neared Hammon, we pulled off on a side road to take a look about 4 miles south of Hammon. As we continued north, a funnel started forming and coming down. The funnel was quite beefy and spinning vigorously. I headed west towards the funnel, getting underneath it as it dissipated.
We continued to stick with this storm as we headed eastbound on highway 33. The storm moved away pretty quickly as it gained latitude. We decided to call the chase and head back to OKC.
