Met up with Blair in LWC to observe a line of elevated convection just west of Topeka. Exiting off I-70 at MM338 in between Paxico and Maple Hill, we observed semi-frequent lightning and surprising mammatus on the west side of the developing line. We then relocated ahead of the line on the west side of Lawrence, noticing an impressive ‘whales-mouth’ shelf cloud structure developing as we drove beneath. We were able to capture several lightning/structre stills before the line overtook our location.
Burtis and I met up with Blair in LWC and headed toward south central Kansas near the anticipated dryline/cold front intersection. Enhanced cu soon developed near the dryline bulge near the OK/KS border with convection developing shortly after. A supercell eventually evolved near Kingman, KS with the updraft coming into view near Burrton. We followed it to Hesston, KS before letting it go as it seemed to struggle once it propagated off the dryline. Dropped south to a new storm near Medford, OK that appeared impressive via radar observations. About 5 miles east of Winfield, KS, we observed the approaching updraft to the southwest with a blocky wall cloud with wrapping rain soon coming into view. We then moved to near Cambridge, KS where a new area of rotation organized. However, precipitation soon wrapped around this region as well eliminating it from our view. One last updraft was observed to the northeast, south of Severy, KS along Hwy 400 with a brief moment of low level rotation before the storm became outflow dominant.
Departed Goodland, KS with an initial target near Pratt, KS near the triple point as a developing sfc low began to eject into south central Kansas. Weak convection emanating from SW KS began to intensify as it interacted with deep low level moisture and a subsequent more unstable air mass as it approached St. John, KS. Soon after, the storm began to intensify rapidly, taking on supercell characteristics as it neared Abbyville, KS. Observed a tornado fairly early on in the storm’s life cycle when it was just NW of Patridge. The entire formation occurred rapidly with an initial benign looking base but intensifying core. Soon after, a large chunk of scud developed and rapidly lifted beneath the updraft region with a dust bowl soon forming. The circulation then quickly tightened with rapid cloud base rotation above. There was not enough evidence from my perspective to determine if there were additional “tornadic” circulations or if these were resulting from the RFD surge. I lost the updraft region as it passed through Hutchinson and caught back up with it prior to it crossing I 135. Ended the day observing dime to nickel sized hail south of Lawrence.
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