STORM TRACK: May 31, 1984 (Volume 7 Issue 4)

Tim Marshall wrote about mid-April that the first half of that month "will go down as a bust! There was no chasing, due to cold northwesterly flow ... I mean I've been walking around with a heavy jacket all week. We manage to get up into the 60's during the day. ... March only had two exciting chases, with March 18th being the best. Kay and I chased

three storms west and north of Dallas and saw three nice wall clouds and two nice funnels. The storms were all collapsing supercells and became gust fronts, when they hit Dallas. They did manage to drop some golf ball and baseball hail nearby. It was a nice chase and very close to home. I've enclosed a few photos," one of which is illustrated above.

Collapsing supercell, 5:30 PM, March 18, 1984; Grapevine, Texas

Lou Wicker has written of an interesting storm that he encountered on June 13, 1983. "... I saw a very unusual tornado at Manitou, Oklahoma (north of Frederick). I broke the core from the north, after seeing some tennis ball hail at Burns Flat. The Manitou storm was isolated on the dryline/frontal intersection. As precipitation lessened, I looked to the southeast and saw that the gust front had bulged northwest into a pseudo warm front (i.e. the mesocyclone was not up against the main rain core). To the south, and coming across the road, was a cylindrical type lowering protruding from the gust front base.

Very strong westerly winds were blowing across the road. Sand and light debris were being picked up, while light rain was beginning to wrap around the cylinder wall-cloud. Occasionally, one could pick out something which looked like a funnel. As this area moved over a dirt field, a ring of debris formed, and an inflow band of debris formed on the north side of this ring, extending northeastward. This assymetric inflow was very strong. As rain began to envelop the circulation, sand and dirt (mud?)were still being lifted off the ground as high as 50 or 60 feet. All of this activity was taking place underneath a very ragged, still cylindrical-like lowering. Besides myself, an NSSL crew of Dan Burgess, Bob Davies-Jones, Eric and Neal Rasmussen and Lisa Walters also observed this tornadic circulation for approximately five minutes."

Dave Gallaher wrote ST in January regarding his 1983 chase experience, which was none too successful, but "I did have a couple of interesting encounters of the 'rotating' kind. On April 25th (my birthday), I witnessed a 12:00 PM whirlwind or dust devil that occurred in Davenport, Iowa. I had been looking at a pair of windmills, installed above a store that dealt in alternative energy devices -- one at an approximate height of 35 feet, the other 50 or 60 feet. Under a clear sky and with temperatures in the upper 40's, the higher windmill was turning moderately in a northeasterly wind, while the lower one spun much faster in an easterly flow. I thought briefly about the strangeness of this diversity at such close proximity (the two windmills were about 40 feet apart and only 25-30% feet different,in height). Suddenly, a vortex, about twenty feet in diameter at ground level, spun up in the vacant lot adjacent to the store and quickly carried dust to about 150 feet. The dust was transparent at the top of the column but thick and creamy textured at the bottom. The entire column began to move toward a street, engulfing a white car and leaving it tan in color. It then swept through a row of houses, towering over the trees and bending as much as 15 deg from the vertical. After lasting about one minute, it swiftly dissipated. ...altogether a unique and valued birthday gift."

Also, Dave is interested in securing video tapes, if any chasers have good copy of tornadoes and severe storms. He will observe any constraints regarding copyright status with great care, since his interest is entirely in private viewing and study. If any ST readers have such tapes and are willing to share them, please contact Dave at: Route 3, Box 228B, Grant, Alabama 35747.