Linear Crapfest in TX Panhandle

Chase Recap:

Foreward

The 29th was a day with high hopes and ended up being quite the bust. SPC had a MDT risk with a 15% Hatched area for tornadoes over the eastern Texas panhandle and Western Oklahoma. After the bust the previous day and missing Bennington, we were ready for redemption.

Waking up in Dodge City was a little slow due to the mass quantities of alcohol consumed the night before, but soon we were on the road to Canadian, TX.

On the road to the TX Panhandle

We sat for quite awhile in Canadian, TX before heading towards the storm coming out of Amarillo. It had great structure and a brief funnel cloud before becoming more linear west of Mobeetie, TX.

JR was a driving ace and drove us through some crappy winds and hail on a back road before getting back out in front of the line on 152.

We gave up shortly into Western Oklahoma and started heading eastbound on I-40 to return home before Dick McGowan messaged me and said to get back to the southern most cell, that it was starting to look good.

We turned around and headed south of Erick, OK where we watched the storm try to remain discrete as it slowly moved east out of the TX Panhandle. Eventually it started dropping hail on a bunch of us as we hung out on highway 30 in the canyons south of Erick.

I have a hard time calling it a tornado, but dust started swirling along the ground with some movement above in the clouds. If it was a tornado, it never fully condensed, however, multiple people witnessed it and we radioed it into the NWS.

Eventually we followed the storm north and east to south of Sayre where the storm got pretty wrapped up again. We saw power flashes, but I am not convinced it ever touched down as the wall cloud seemed pretty ragged at this point.

End of night and pulling Gabe Garfield out of the mud

We ended the night back near Sayre where we had to pull Gabe Garfield out of the mud on a side road near the Sayre Airport.