MAY 6TH
Overbrook, OK
The setup was basically a high cape marginal shear day. The upper flow was very rather weak so 2 things made me target the Gainesville, TX to Ardmore, OK area. One was a weak outflow boundary left over from the day before which stretched from the Ardmore area west towards Wichita Falls, TX. The other was a dryline bulge near the Wichita Falls area and just north. The combination of these two would provide backed surface winds and greater forcing. My initial target was Gainesville with an eye north of the river. I left Ft. Worth around 2:20pm. From Gainesville I wandered west on hwy. 82 looking for targets. I found a growing CB to my NW as I left Muenster, TX. and heard a tornado warning for the storm to it's NE so I headed up FM 677 from St. Jo, TX. remembering the new bridge over the river which isn't on all maps yet. (Beware, this road is not as straight as indicated on the maps and is being repaved. Also be sure to make the right turn and stay on 577 or you'll just follow the river west.) I crossed the river and went east on hwy. 32 and left on hwy. 76.
image from Sony TRV-900 miniDV image from Sony TRV-900 miniDV image from Sony TRV-900 miniDV
image from Sony TRV-900 miniDV image from Sony TRV-900 miniDV image from Sony TRV-900 miniDV
SW Love county driving north on hwy. 76 from hwy. 32. Pronounced RFD clear slot pushing into the back side of the wall cloud. I went back south to hwy. 32 and east to get back to I 35 and go north. Rotation was observed.
image from Sony TRV-900 miniDV image from Sony TRV-900 miniDV image from Sony TRV-900 miniDV
image from Sony TRV-900 miniDV     image from Sony TRV-900 miniDV
On I 35 northbound from hwy. 32. A visual "hook" could be seen as brief funnels formed. The meso appeared to be occluding with a rather large visual gap between the updraft and precip core as I got set up to shoot. Then!! (&#!!@*#%!! that REC/STBY button. I hit it as I got out of the car and of course edited the best video out. Thank god for slides!!)
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Scans above from 35mm slides
image from Sony TRV-900 miniDV image from Sony TRV-900 miniDV image from Sony TRV-900 miniDV
image from Sony TRV-900 miniDV image from Sony TRV-900 miniDV image from Sony TRV-900 miniDV
image from Sony TRV-900 miniDV     image from Sony TRV-900 miniDV
While shooting from the hill on the east side of I 35 scattered hail began to fall and one conked me in the back of the neck so I moved back to the car and relocated to the southbound side. The tornado was moving to the SE also. I finally got on the right side of the REC/STBY button and got some video as it needled and roped.