2 April 2014 / Anthony, Kansas Supercell

Looking west from 3.6 miles east of Anthony, KS (7:09 pm CDT)

Looking west from 3.6 miles east of Anthony, KS (7:09 pm CDT)

VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cng9yc21HRA

After a drive south on Highway 81 the day before, I figured it was time to head north.   A warm front which extended from Southern Kansas to Northwest Oklahoma was going to be the focus for late afternoon thunderstorm development.  I drove north of Enid and sat at a favorite turn out, the road to Kremlin.  From about 4:30 to 5 pm, I watched towering cumulus steadily organize until it was clear we had young storms.  I continued north and crossed into Kansas at Caldwell, and then worked northwest to just east of Anthony.

From a few miles east of Anthony, I observed a supercell storm to the west, send off a left split which had a large hail threat.   For about 20 minutes after the storm had split, the right mover displayed some very nice structure.

A downburst is visible near the end of the time lapse video I have put together.  That downburst signaled the start of rapid weakening.  Other storms in the area were less interesting and I started home after making sure there wasn’t another play in the neighborhood.