May 10th Tornado Outbreak Report

Vortex 2 deployed on destructive tornadic supercells monday. We started the day with a plan of intercepting the storms as they moved E/NE from the I-35 urban corridor. We spent most of the day in Stroud Oklahoma, just Northeast of OKC. Storms fired and we dropped Southeast, ending up East of Seminole Oklahoma. Probe 8 intercepted a large tornado just north of the Highway 56/9 intersection. 22 tornadoes have been confirmed with widespread damage to several counties in Oklahoma and Kansas. 2 deaths were reported from this outbreak.

Paul Markowski, Associate Professor of Meteorology at Penn State briefs Vortex 2 participants about the action plan of the day.

Last minute repairs and modifications shortly before the chase.

The Vortex 2 Probe team awaiting initiation in Stroud Oklahoma.

Large tornado about to cross highway 56, just north of highway 9, East of Seminole.

Outflow dominant storm. This was the 2nd target storm of the day for V2.

Tornado damage on the north side of Seminole.


Monday was simply crazy, terrifying, and horrible, especially for the residents who were affected by these storms. Extremely fast storm motions and unfavorable terrain made a very difficult deployment for V2. Hopefully, our data collection efforts will prove valuable and further the cause to improve warning times and accuracy for the general public.

I have several more chase reports upcoming...