5/8/9 DISC: KS,OK,MO,AR

[Robert Dewey]

Wow, what an incredible bow echo earlier. Was going through some METAR reports, and found this:http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KJLN/2009/5/8/DailyHistory.html

Nearly an hour of winds gusting AOA 65knts!

[David Mikulec]

Observed the derecho all day from work in Lexington watching it weaken as it trekked east and by the time it reached us it was little more than lightning and rain with little wind. Left work at 1800 and "chased" what was left of the backside of the MCV as it was exiting the area, shooting some video of the cloud structure.

One cell that had passed quietly over home base earlier in the afternoon quickly strengthened (impressive radar signature) and went on to cause some structural damage to some homes and barns next door in Garrard county while Madison county just to the east reported 80mph winds from the same cell.

[Mike Krzywonski]

4 people killed by severe weather:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,519557,00.html

[Jeff House]

Thursday night into Friday the derecho checklist was met from Kansas through Missouri. In a nutshell extreme instability combined with westerly 500 mb winds; there is more to it though. Actually I did not look very closely Thu night because my met mind was only looking for overnight convection in Kansas to lay an outflow for Oklahoma storm chasing Friday. The big story obviously became the derecho by Friday morning.

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/sgf/?n=severe_weather_checklist_paper is a link to the Johns and Hirt Derecho checklist within an overall severe weather forecasting guide. Scroll down a little over a third of the way to 6-A-3 on the Outline to find the derecho checklist. Sorry I cannot find a link to just the Derecho checklist, but the whole thing is good reading. Thank you SGF NWS.

Back on Thu night one of my chase partners commented on storms developing in NW Kansas. I jokingly said there would be a derecho that would munch Wichita by morning since we both are from Wichita originally, and it almost happened. Wichita saw 60-65 mph winds; another meteorologist and friend of mine on duty there verified a nice wind storm. It was just transitioning from bow to textbook derecho as it moved over Wichita. Just east of town in El Dorado the 80+ mph winds cranked up. Per SPC reports 80 mph was also observed in western Kansas, but the sustained derecho started at/east of Wichita.

Overnight Kansas radar showed an MCS moving south into the LLJ, with severe weather reports starting around midnight. By about 2 am it was a bigger more well organized MCC and severe winds were becoming widespread as it moved southeast. The LLJ was cranking with authority, feeding the monster. Then around Wichita the turn and acceleration east started; derecho! The complex raced along with the 500 mb flow as a textbook derecho should. All the while the LLJ continued to pump it full of fuel. By the time it reached Missouri it was very wrapped up and in MO the cinnamon roll evolved into the inland hurricane look. It was such a classic wind storm that I am sure will go down with the greats.

Obviously prayers go out to those injured and those with property damage. From a meteorological standpoint it was a fascinating day.

[Bill Tabor]

Concerning the Brownwood Tx boundary backbuilding / propagating storm / tornado....I was wondering if anyone has any details on the strength of this tornado, pics, account, etc. I noticed on Spotter net that Bob Cozemius (sp?) was nearby the tornado was logged near Early. I always hate to miss the Jarrell, Castell, Lake Whitney type backbuilders. They are usually very strong tornadoes.

[Justin Avery]

Captured this video of the derecho as it sped through Joplin, MO(2 miles east of KSN's tower collapse). Power just restored to my neighborhood. Video I took shows how quickly it approached with several evident power flashes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnsxAXowu3g

[Laura Duchesne]

This morning we visited Early and only saw some straight line or RFD wind damage... all of the debris was facing one direction, no twisted trees, no broken windows... a roof or two got damaged, but it appeared it was not tornadic, at least to us. In fact, most things were still standing.

P.S. Is there a reason why there are two DISC threads for the same day and areas?

[William Reid]

Edit : Ooops --- this was placed into the wrong thread for May 8. Moderators---feel free to delete this one!

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Okay, lets try this again! The link I gave previously to my web page opened okay in Firefox, but not in Internet Explorer. I made a new page and it appears to be okay now. Here is the link to my chase account and images for the Brown County supercell on Friday:

http://stormbruiser.com/chase/2009/05/09/may-8-2009-brown-county-tx-supercell/

Bob Conzemius and I were leading the Tempest Tours group on this chase day, and targeted the boundary in north TX. Initial thinking was east of Wichita Falls a little, and we waited at Saint Jo. We dashed SSW towards the cumulus field near Possum Kingdom Lake, and wound up well south of Interstate 20 at the end of the day.

Bill Reid

[Glenn Schubert]

Mod can we add IL to this discussion>

By the time this derecho reached SO IL, it was quite powerful. According to the NWS in Paducah, KY "this was an unusually large bookend vortex about 34-46 miles in diameter. Most of the damaging winds occurred on southwest and southern end of the comma head". Winds at the Southern Illinois Airport in Carbondale were measured at 106mph. Most of the locals were calling this an "Inland Hurricane" because of the storms appearance on radar. Damage was widespread and extensive over 6 counties. One fatality occured in Murphysboro, IL when a large tree limb fell through the roof of a house and struck the elderly occupant. The power at my house south of Carbondale was out for 6 days. My chase report and video link from the event are posted in the "Storm Reports" section for 5/8/09. I have attached a few pictured of damage from the Carbondale area. The first one is the roof of an apartment building that was blown off near my office, which is in the right background. The second one is a car and truck crushed by a tree near my office.
Added radar frame from NWS in Paducah that shows an "eye" in the storm.