ENGLEWOOD, Kan. — Rotating supercell thunderstorms danced across the southwest Kansas prairie on Thursday, putting on epic displays of furious atmospheric splendor amid what many storm chasers have considered an otherwise dull month for activity. Baseball-size hail and epic lightning barrages accompanied the storms, which also produced several short-lived, weak tornadoes.
Kansas more than lived up to its tempestuous legacy. Longtime storm chaser Mike Olbinski remarked that the storms yielded a “top 10 chase day.” Meteorologist Gabe Garfield agreed, tweeting: “Definitely a Top 10 structure day!”
Other chasers described the storm scenes as “utterly fantastic,” “most incredible,” “unreal” and “insane.”
“Today had it all!!!!” tweeted @omahastormchaser.
Storms fired shortly after 4 p.m. south of Highway 50 in southwest Kansas and southeast Colorado, prompting a tornado warning for Holly, Colo. The cells initiated along the leading edge of encroaching dry air from the west, enhanced by a nearby cold front. Several “landspout” tornadoes formed beneath the developing storms, a distant cousin of true tornadoes. Landspouts form when eddies or small whirls near the surface are stretched vertically and entrained into the updraft of a developing storm.
From there, storms quickly grew powerful, towering to more than 55,000 feet in height along the Colorado-Kansas border. Several rotating supercell thunderstorms developed, producing massive hail up to the size of baseballs and winds estimated by radar at more than 70 mph.
The dominant storm of the day exploded in intensity about 90 minutes before sunset south of Johnson, Kan., transitioning into a beastly supercell as it neared the town of Lakin. The structure evolved into what storm chasers refer to as a “mother ship,” with tiers of elegantly-sculpted striations feeding into the rapidly rotating storm. Beneath the whirring cylinder, an eerie aquamarine sky heralded the approach of destructive hail.
At one point, a tornado warning was issued for the storm as a rotating wall cloud developed. That appendage, indicative of a more concentrated area of tight rotation, is visible at the bottom right of the image. Meanwhile, an oddly soothing amber sunset bathed the storms’ underside in a peach-colored hue.
The storm’s rear flank downdraft, a descending plume of rain-cooled air on a cell’s southwest side, can be seen kicking up dust. A number of small fires were also ignited by rogue lightning strikes. It was one of the most impressive light shows that many storm chasers had ever seen.
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Farther to the south, a pair of “LP supercells,” or low-precipitation supercells, formed near the communities of Sublette, Kismet, Plains and Copeland, Kan.
An LP supercell is a rotating supercell thunderstorm that manages to separate its precipitation entirely from its rotating updraft, revealing the incredible layered structure of the storm’s spinning core. It’s that rotating updraft that is a storm’s life force, a barber pole ingesting warm, moist air for sustenance. Meanwhile, an impressive assemblage of pouch-like mammatus clouds hung down from the storms’ anvils, illustrative of pockets of sinking air.
Overnight, storms merged into a “mesoscale convective complex,” or an arcing line of storms, that sagged southeastward and impacted much of northern Oklahoma with severe winds.
The day’s threat had been labeled a “slight risk” by the National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center and the atmosphere performed sublime scenes of Mother Nature’s power. More storms, with the risk of strong tornadoes, were expected as the same upper-air disturbance impacted southeastern Oklahoma, north Texas and western Arkansas on Friday.
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Below find an assortment of stunning Kansas supercell photos from storm chasers.
Santanta, Kan.
Ulysses, Kan.
Kismet, Kan.
Lakin, Kan.
Tornado warned storm near Lakin, KS 5/21/20.
Best chase day besides my bigger tornado days.
Landspouts, tornadoes, baseball hail, insane structure on 3 storms, LP storms, stationary storms, insane lightning, near zero vis in blowing dust.
Today had it all!!!!#kswx pic.twitter.com/Qf0NVYbuvw
Sublette, Kansas
The beast of Sublette, KS last night, one of the final shots I took of this insane supercell after a long time-lapse right in the vault area. Going to be an unreal time-lapse. What a friggin’ day! #kswx pic.twitter.com/yryqnByKUw
— Mike Olbinski (@MikeOlbinski) May 22, 202015 spectacular supercell thunderstorms (PHOTOS)
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Jason Samenow contributed to this report.
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