February appetizers for spring

   Although there's been no sign of anything like the blizzard that ushered in February 2011, this month has been eventful enough to tease chasers all over Oklahoma with the prospect of an active spring.  A poor chase day on the 3rd led me all the way to Fort Worth--we didn't chase that far, but we were close enough that I was told I had to try In-N-Out for the first time.  Totally worth it.  Thanks to Branden for driving and Sydney for introducing me to animal-style fries.  As far as the storms, we closed in on what looked like it would be a discrete, long-lived supercell in far N TX just as it began lining out like all the other storms in this low-CAPE environment.  Here's some of what we saw:

Supercell from north of Bowie, TX:

Other side of the storm:

Outflow boundary on the west side of Bowie:

Linear storms approaching Bowie:

Updraft trying to strengthen along the squall line, near Chico, TX:

   That about does it for that day.  On the night of the 12th into the morning of the 13th, Norman picked up about 2" of snow.  The lack of moisture near the surface prevented higher snowfall totals but also allowed the surface to cool enough, via the wet-bulb effect, for snow to accumulate.  Though all the snow was gone within 24 hours, roads were dangerous overnight.  A couple shots from OU:

  On the 20th, central OK through S KS was impacted by a round of marginally severe thunderstorms associated with a low up in KS.  Cold-core action around Wichita was limited, but a nice cell managed to get going from OKC to points just northeast.  We caught it as it passed over the city, produced a downburst (Mesonet in W OKC recorded 69 mph gust), and began looking like a solid supercell as it lost us in city traffic.  Tim, who was driving, managed to keep it in view until the far eastern suburbs.

Rainbow over Devon Tower:

Downburst over downtown:

Wall cloud (?) high over OKC.  This should give you an idea of what it's like chasing in a metro area.

  Sadly, one woman was killed in Ada when straight-line winds destroyed a mobile home on this day.