Local area severe storms (Possible tornado?) – May 23, 2011

Our chase kept us pretty close to home – in some ways – too close.  Storms had already formed over West Central Oklahoma when we departed to the northwest, expecting additional development across Northwest Oklahoma.  Widespread storms blew up around 3:20 pm from Grant County to Custer County.  We adjusted our route slightly and worked into Northwest Kingfisher County where we watched a severe storm get organized over Northern Blaine and Southeast Major counties.  This storm produced a brief tornado in Northern Blaine County.  It was quite a distance from us and we were unable to see debris on the ground despite observing a well organized funnel cloud.  Media spotters closer to the tornado could see debris on the ground with this feature.

The storms quickly became a “messy blob” over Garfield and Major counties and we started moving south toward more isolated storms forming in Kingfisher and Southern Blaine counties.  A well organized supercell – with quite impressive structure – formed about 15 miles west of Okarche.  The storm wobbled in its movement to the southeast and east and produced large hail within a mile of the house.  There also appeared to be a minor tornado threat with the storm as it approached Okarche.  When the storm started a rapid weakening trend – we returned to the house and were home by 7 pm.

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