Guest Post: Jessica's Birthday Tornado, by Sara Anbari

Sara Anbari is an author who currently resides in Austin, TX and has been on several tornado chasing adventures. Please note, Video #3 has strong language.

If you've kept up with Miss Jessica's posts about storm tour (I'm from Texas; I have to throw in a "Miss" every now and then), you know that it ended without a tornado sighting. All twenty-one of us on this trip were sorely disappointed. Ya pays yer money and ya takes yer chances, and there's about a twenty-percent chance you won't see a tornado on your chosen tour. It was a fabulous journey nevertheless; just without the T.

Thanks to being unconventionally employed, three of us twister-deprived storm junkies were able to stick around two extra days to tag along with the next tour. I promised Jessica that if I saw a tornado, it would be her Birthday Tornado. As you probably know, her thirtieth birthday is in July, and this trip was her present to herself. Since she didn't get to see one, I'd do my darndest to get it for her. 

An ideal meteorological setup and the uncanny tornado-hunting skills of Roger Hill at Silver Lining Tours put us face-to-face with an EF-4 monster, the strongest tornado of the year to date. At first, everyone was jubilant, posing for pictures and crowing success. I was so excited, I did no fewer than three takes proclaiming the twister Jessica's Birthday Tornado. Ominously, one take mentioned the possibility of tragedy.

 As the tornado neared, voices became breathless with sailor-cursing and invoking God alike. The tornado crossed the road less than a mile behind us--so close we could hear it. (It sounded like an industrial fan to me; I didn't get the sense of a freight train or jet engine or waterfall.) It was overwhelming to see the awesome power of nature and to be that close to a massive tornado. 

Warning: strong language

Just after the roiling maelstrom crossed the road, it hit a structure. Pieces of sheet metal shot out of the violently rotating column. Groans, wails, and a collective "oh, no" arose from the spectators, followed by hopes expressed aloud to ourselves and our videos.

As storm aficionados, we venture out in rain, hail, and lightning to seek the perfect tornado: strong, photogenic, structurally aesthetic... and far out in a field or unpopulated area where it can't harm people or property. It's awful to see someone's life affected by what we wished for. Later, I learned that even though this tornado didn't kill anyone, the same storm's next tornado killed a man across Interstate 35 in Wynnewood, Oklahoma.

My dilemma: how could I designate this Jessica's Birthday Tornado after it caused terrible damage and destruction? I didn't want that for her. I wanted the pretty tornado out in a field doing no harm; that's what a birthday tornado ought to be, for heaven's sake. 

But that's not what I witnessed. 

Then I thought about the other purpose Jessica had for her trip besides celebrating a birthday: raising money for Portlight Strategies. For Jessica, the true gift to herself--and this makes her a better person than I am--wasn't just the storm tour; it was turning her vacation into an opportunity to help victims of disaster. Someday it might even be you, me, or loved ones emerging from a basement to soggy wreckage, ears ringing, breath catching, blood trickling from cuts you didn't realize you'd suffered, unsure what to do next.

As I agonized over whether or not to dub this twister her birthday tornado, the revelation struck me like lightning: for Jessica, this is the right tornado. It's the tornado that shows both the beautiful and sobering sides of nature, reminding us that whether we chase or not, it has turned lives upside-down, and those affected need our help to recover.

Please join me in celebrating generous Jessica, her big 3-0 birthday, and our collective penchant for wild weather by donating to Portlight Strategies today. Miss Jessica, this is it--your Birthday Tornado! From Tour 2, the Super Sexy Seven, "Van 4," your blessed family, and everyone else who knows and loves you--Happy Birthday, babydoll.

Campaign Update

After spending the better part of this week in Orlando for work, I'm excited to catch up on the Portlight campaign and see where we are after the first couple of weeks. Our goal is $2,000.

A very sincere THANK YOU to our first batch of donors:

The one and only Mother Unit, Nancy B. Katz

Brilliant wrangler of canines Stephanie Beilke

RW, the tripmate who was kind enough to take pictures of ALL the birds and share them with me

My fantastic colleague MaryAnn Merikoski

Matthew Harbage, who I've only seen once in the past 8 years- your generosity is an inspiration!

The Neander-Isches, love you lots!

David Metzer, AKA Travels 'n Chases AKA "you really need to sign up for two chase trips in a row."

Total to date:  $320

We're off to an excellent start! Thanks again to everyone mentioned above.

Day 7: Wray, CO

Yesterday was the longest day of all- 16 hours of driving from Colby, KS up to Wray, CO and back down to Oklahoma City. It's so important to enjoy the people you're with when you're stuck in a van for that many hours, and after an entire week of being in the aforementioned van with Sara, Stephanie, Evans, Vincent, and Victoria I wanted to send some special recognition their way. The Sexy Six will ride again someday, I hope!

By the time we made it up to Wray the storms were still in the early stages. We repositioned several times, and it was interesting to see others in the chase community arrive. We watched as Josh Wurman & the DOW with Sean Casey & the TIV steamed in the opposite direction ("Just like on TV!" I squealed). Why were we travelling in the opposite direction from these veteran storm chasers? 

The answer is simple and gut-wrenching: we ran out of time. Roger knew we had a 10+ hour drive back to OKC to finish the trip, and so it was time to go.

Wall cloud (above) and mammatus clouds (below) on the storm that would go on to produce the extremely photogenic Wray tornado about an hour after we left the area. At the time of these photos, the storm was severe warned.

As photos from other chasers began blowing up the online community- a rusty brown elephant trunk tornado with excellent structure, amazing forward motion, and even the satellite vortices that indicate a very strong tornado- the morale of the group dimmed. A half dozen of the group are going chasing with Roger today, but I have to head back home to Chicago. I hope today's storms form in their favor.

I can't even remember what town we were in when we stopped to watch our last supercell of the day and take a group photo, but these parting shots make me glad to have been where I was, even if I did miss the storm in Wray.

As I begin the journey home from this epic adventure, I'm taking a moment to reflect on those who may have been impacted by the tornado in Wray, and hoping that there were no injuries or fatalities. Portlight has provided aid in tornado-ravaged towns such as Joplin, MO, and their mission was on my mind as I reviewed my photos of the storm.

It looks like I missed my chance of seeing a tornado, so I guess I'll have to turn 30 a time or two before I make this dream come true. Nevertheless, it was an amazing week filled with simply fantastic people and experiences.

My next post will be the first honor roll of donors. It's time to head to the airport- onward and upward!

Day 6: Torrington, WY

I added another new state to my collection yesterday, and I have to say- my introduction to Wyoming was tempestuous indeed. It was a 600 mile day from Colby to Torrington and back again, and we didn't roll into the hotel until after 1 this morning.

As Roger steered us into position the storm we were following seemed to wait politely for us to arrive. It was moving slowly- only 15mph or so- and hovering at the edge of a mountain range. We parked several miles away and watched it rotate slowly to our northeast. The photographers set up their equipment, and at one point I found myself standing next to the meteorologist, Brad Nelson.

"I can't believe this," I chirped, "I'm here, watching a storm with an actual meteorologist!" Being able to geek out over the structure of this storm with 19 other people was a phenomenal feeling. As we observed the cell mature and decay, the only sounds that could be heard beyond our conversations were the wind and an occasional Western Meadowlark call.

These two pictures were taken at roughly the same time. Note how clear the sky over my trip mates is compared to the supercell structure below. The lowered wall cloud base in the center-left part of the shot is the part of the storm that would have produced a tornado, had the conditions been right.

The forecast models for today have been going crazy for storms in Colorado and Kansas, and our plans for the day have gone through several revisions. Our call for the last chase day is at 10; I'm not sure where we're off to, but the setup looks good and I'm really excited for this last day. We'll be getting into OKC very late tonight, so my next post will likely be late morning or early afternoon tomorrow.

If you haven't already, please take a gander at the Portlight campaign page. With the possibility of a tornado outbreak over the next couple of days, Portlight's services may be called upon to provide aid to areas that could be impacted by this weekend's severe weather.

Day 5: Amarillo, TX - Colby, KS

Good evening from Colby, Kansas. I know I'm in Kansas because there are Jayhawks everywhere- it's too bad my birding field guide doesn't cover that particular species!

Today was a transit day as we moved into position for what seem to be the most promising days of our trip- tomorrow and Saturday. The best part of my day by far was finding out that the Portlight campaign page is live! as well as learning that one of my tripmates was kind enough to give to the cause (thanks again RW). That tornado cake is pretty fantastic!

A couple of highlights:

Much hilarity ensued over this town's somewhat unfortunate name

I'm off to bed filled with hope that tomorrow will be rife with severe weather adventures. There are only a couple of days left on the tour, and I can't wait to enjoy them to the fullest potential with my tripmates and our guides.

Day 4: Capulin National Monument

Today was another beautiful day with blue skies, calm winds, and tolerable temperatures. Eight months ago when I was trying to decide on a tour I ended up chosing this particular trip because some notorious tornadic events have happened in the first week of May in previous years...Who would have thought that I would spend part of my trip going from the floor of a desert canyon one day and to the top of an extinct volcano the next?

My first exciting moment of the day came when we entered New Mexico- my very first time in that particular state:

"The Land of Enchantment is wherever Tour 2 happens to be"

We drove 2.5 hours west from Amarillo and arrived at the Capulin National Monument, where I added a new species to my steadily growing western bird list: the beautiful Mountain Bluebird. Bless my photographer tripmates who also took pictures of the Spotted Towhees in the caldera of the volcano and brought them to me for identification- I have now solidified my reputation as The Bird Girl of the group.

After a few minutes at the visitor's center we drove up the rim of the volcano to the caldera, which was simply stunning in the late afternoon light. Some people went hiking around the rim, but I chose to stay behind and take in the sights from yet another gorgeous southwestern vista:

As we meandered back towards Amarillo I found myself immensely grateful to have fallen into such a fantastic group of people- we come from all over the US, as well as France, the UK, Canada, and China, and are a mostly even mix of chase newbies and returning chasers. There were bad pun wars in the van, and I have found myself laughing frequently at my tripmates' antics. It's plain to see- whether the skies are blue or stormy, Tour 2 is rocking it!

Tomorrow is a travel day, and the more diehard chasers in the group are chomping at the bit for the weather to ramp up. I guess we'll see where the roads (and the meteorological models!) take us. I can definitely say that my 3 days in and around Amarillo were filled with picturesque experiences.

Day 3: Palo Duro Canyon

As an optimist, I think it's impossible to feel berefit at the lack of severe weather. Although this is a storm chasing tour, there are bound to be days like these, and we are making the best of it. I look at it this way- I'm getting to see parts of the country I'd never see otherwise with an excellent group of people, and a lack of destructive storms means more time for Portlight Strategies to prepare for when disaster does strike.

Today Roger took us to a park outside of Amarillo, Palo Duro canyon. It was unlike anywhere else I've ever been before- I'm a mermaid, give me a beach over desert scrub any day...or so I thought.

We arrived at the visitor's center before splitting off into groups to go hiking according to preference- I decided on a ~3 mile hike with several of the others. I saw several new species of bird (which I haven't had the time to ID yet, alas!) and two species of lizard. It was breezy and warm, around 80*, and there wasn't much shade. It took us a couple of hours, and it was simply a stunning experience. I felt immensely humbled by the scenery.

Now that I've cleaned up and had some time to relax, we're off to the Big Texan for some Lone Star steak. I think we've earned it!

Day 2: Sonora, TX - Amarillo, TX

Good evening from Amarillo! The next few days look like they will prove stubborn for storm initiation, so today was a driving day; we got a late start and had a leisurely drive north. I can't get over how diverse Texas is- we've traversed ~1100 miles in 2 days, most of which have been in the Lone Star State.

It appears that we'll be here in Amarillo for tonight and tomorrow night; the guides will be taking us to a scenic area close by for hiking and photographic opportunities (and birding adventures for me!), so tomorrow should be exciting despite the lack of storms.

We're here at the Ashmore Inn in Amarillo and the internet connection is choppy, but I'll try and post more pictures tomorrow. If you haven't already, please consider visiting the Portlight home page to make a donation.

Day 1: OKC-Del Rio, TX-Sonora, TX

Man oh man, we just drove ~800 miles in 16 hours. I am happily ensconced in my hotel room here in Sonora, and it's just before midnight central time.

We departed OKC at 8a.m. and drove south to Del Rio, TX with intermittant stops along the way (shout out to my associates at CPA- who'd ever think that I'd end up in Del Rio?). Around 4p.m. a supercell thunderstorm formed just west of the Mexico/US border at Acuna, and as it slowly meandered east it weakened into several different storm structures. We followed the southernmost storm for a little while until it decayed and Roger called it a day.

Although there was only a 2% tornado probability today, Roger brought us to the action, and it was positively thrilling to be around other people who were just as excited about the storm's structure on radar. Some tripmates took great pictures of the lightning associated with this storm as well.

An added bonus for me comes in form of birdwatching- as an avid birder, I heard unfamiliar birdsong every time we pulled over to view the storm, and my binoculars will come in handy both meteorologically and ornithologically speaking!

After dinner in some small South Texas town, we drove 2.5 hours to Sonora. It is now after midnight, and I'm incredibly grateful that the call for tomorrow isn't until 11a.m. We will be heading to a state I've never been to before (!) to spend a day or two in green/non-chase mode until the atmopshere reboots.

 Approaching the storm from the east

 With the approach of the storm, the

 landscape seemed positively tempestuous

Inflow into one of the storms