April 24, 2015    

A day off work and leaving early in the morning put us out in Overland Park, Kansas just in time to pick up Brian Stertz after he worked a half day.  My son, Ryan Thies, his friend Ryan Hensley, Brian and I then headed out west.  The original goal continued to move slightly west as the afternoon moved on.  After a quick lunch at the Wendy's in Hayes, Kansas, we look up to see a storm developing just to the northwest of town.  We quickly stopped to top off the tank as the storm developed.  It was extremely quick to form and began dropping small hail as we filled the tank.

Storm Beginning to Develop
 Pea to Dime Size Hail Falls

As the storm continued to develop and moved northeast, we jumped back on the highway and shot back east getting out in front of the storm and in a position so we could continue to watch the storm develop.  We positioned ourselves and watched as the storm went through many changes under the base. 
 

Storm Continues to Build
 Lowering Continues to Form
 CConstantly Changing Shapes AAnother Look

We moved a bit further north as the storm approached and began seeing some interesting changes happening under the base.
 

Wall Cloud
 Continues to Change Shapes
 ZoomZoomed Out LookZ
Large Wall Cloud
 Continues to Change
 Continues to Look Ominus


Then out pops a funnel cloud.  Although we did not see the debris, this was a confirmed tornado as chasers that were closer to it confirmed.

Tornado Touches Down
 Another Look At The Tornado
Another Look At The Tornado


Then a few minutes later in another part of the storm....................
Another Funnel Cloud
 Zoomed In Funnel Cloud


As the storm caught up to us, we needed to flee as the storm had large, damaging hail reported.  Road options were not so good and did not give us many options for escape.  As the small hail belted the car, we found a dirt road and made our escape east.
Hail Belting the Car

As we managed to stay ahead of the storm, we continued to take pictures of the storm at various locations.
 


Summary and Location

Total  Trip - 1114 miles

Click on the link below to see video of some of these storms.


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