My first storm chase was nothing to write home about (but I am writing it here) and would hardly qualify as such. In early June of 2015 I was training for my new job at Dillon’s in Topeka, KS. I had to drive to the other side of town for training early that morning. After I was done, I took a look at my newly-acquired app RadarScope (love it, by the way) and saw a telltale supercell storm moving southeast across southeast Wabaunsee County and southwest Shawnee County. Seeing that the storm wasn’t far away, and having time to spare, I drove south into northwestern Osage County to take a look at it. Driving between the towns of Carbondale and Scranton, I saw a magnificent sight. To the right of the road was an impressive hail shaft containing golf ball size hail and heavy rain, and to the left of the road was a fantastic mid-level mesocyclone. At one point as I was looking at the storm a bolt of lightning shot from my right to left, which would have made a beautiful picture. I drove on a gravel road, as the storm began to dissipate, and I got into some nickel and dime size hail. I took some pictures of it, and drove home. For my first chase, I got some nice structure and some small hail-could be worse.
WindsTwisted 