On 5/24/11, this EF4 tornado hit areas near Criner & Goldsby, OK.

Despite its narrowness, this vortex displayed incredible power.

It leveled houses completely, tossed vehicles extreme distances, and caused some of the most severe ground scouring I've ever surveyed. 1/6 The day after the tornado, I assisted the National Weather Service in conducting a damage survey.

We observed many homes that had been leveled, with one of the most severely affected located near Criner.

2/6

Officially, the Houston-Port Arthur long-track EF3 tornado tracked 48 miles and lasted 78 minutes.

But there is reason to believe that it could have been longer – potentially much longer. 🧵

1/9 The start of the tornado is taken to be 10 South of Anahuac to 5 south of Port Arthur.

Time: 2:35-3:53p CST
Distance: 41 miles

2/9

In storm chasing, overconfidence can be deadly.

On April 13, 2012, we saw this rather unimpressive storm near Cooperton, Oklahoma. It was "only" severe-warned, so we decided to enter the Bear's Cage to see what was inside the rain.

Here's what happened next:

1/12 We punched north through a high-precip supercell near Cooperton, OK and saw this low visibility tornado.

It didn't seem like a bad choice...

2/12

Routines for forecasting tornadoes vary from person to person.

I prefer a basic approach -- at least at the outset.

I start by looking at map charts to understand the big picture. Then I dig into the details with forecast soundings.

Here's how it works:

1/9 500 mb

Here I look for a few things:

*Longwave troughs - large dips in the height contours
* Shortwave troughs - flow >25 kts
* Flow geometry - tilt of trough/ridge, meridional vs zonal flow

2/9

I’ve chased tornadoes for almost 25 years. And in that time, only one has ever chased me.

It was, of course, the El Reno, OK tornado of 5/31/13.

It was 2.6 miles at its widest, had winds > 300 mph, and moved faster than 50 mph.

For the first time, here is my full story:

1/25 To be honest, I really wasn't aware of how volatile it looked until it came.

Reason being, the weather had been crazy. I'd been chasing more than a half-dozen times since May 18th.

And frankly, I was exhausted. I wasn't very interested in forecasting.

2/25

It has taken me 11 years to post this.

On 4/13/12, an aggressive chase maneuver I made almost ended badly.

We punched north through a high-precip supercell near Cooperton, OK and saw this low visibility tornado. It didn't seem like a bad choice...

1/11 ... because the tornado was moving northeast -- or at worst, east. We were south of it, so I figured we were safe.

And since the contrast was getting worse, I asked our crew to inch closer for a better view.

2/11