STORM TRACK: January 31, 1987 (Volume 10 Issue 2)

Tom Johnson writes about a severe storm which hit southern portions of Kansas City, September 23, 1986. "I was working that day and could only watch and listen as the whole spectacular scene passed overhead. My lips were chewed raw by the end of the day. I interviewed several people who witnessed the storm from various directions. Along the southeast-east flank of the storm were these incredible cloud striations numbering four or six. As the elongated cloud passed, the sky became extremely dark, then hail up to golfball- size fell accompanied by a downpour of extreme intensity. A large dark cloud, about a half mile wide, dropped out of the southwest corner of the storm and moved northeastward. No rotation in the cloud was noted. However, many people got in their cars and drove away. The storm moved southeastward under northwest flow aloft and produced a microburst which tore the roof off a shopping center in Prairie Village, KS. I went out the next day to inspect the damage and saw mostly downed power lines, and missing roof tiles. Trees up to six feet in diameter were snapped like twigs and downed in the northeast direction."

Editors note: The editor spent about a week in Kansas City surveying the storm damage. This was a typical downburst, as the damage had a straight-line, diverging pattern. I stopped by the Severe Storms Forecast Center and Dr. Fred Ostby said he had wind gusts to near 70 mph from the northwest at his house in Leawood, Kansas with hail over an inch in diameter.

Charles Vlcek was flying from Washington to Oregon with a stop over in Minneapolis. "The plane had to detour a thunderstorm inbound which proceeded to go over us while we were on the ground delaying our takeoff. When we did take off, we had to detour again around the south edge of the thunderstorms now illuminated by the setting sun. The view was spectacular! The southern-most cell, I later learned, produced 2" diameter hail and 65 kt winds near Rochester, MN at the time of our flyby. I had a super 8 camera in hand; the towers were on my side of the plane, but I was in the middle seat. Between me and the window was a 10 year old girl reading a paperback entitled 'Crash Landing'. She was very nonchalant about it all and was nice enough to lean back when I wanted to shoot out the window. Occasionally she looked out the window too, engaging the view, making me think of Dave Hoadley's daughter Sarah. As we flew around the towers to the DARK SIDE, I could see lightning flashing within the tower at a modest height, about eye level, in streaks of electric blue."

Dan Mummert doesn't want his subscription cancelled. So he sent his renewal check and a poem:

No rain will fall, no funnels will form, My mail box a "high", no convective storm, Bi-monthly despair, no hope in sight, I must renew, six bucks of mite, Lightning flashes, I reach for a check, I scribble in panic, I'm not out yet, Here's my payment, for another great year, OK, STORM TRACK, the air is clear.