Jun 28, 2011

Tags:"Tropical Storm Bret","Tropical Storm Don","Tropical Storm Don" Tropics Weather Meteorology.,"Tropical Storm Emily",AO,Earthquake,East Pacific,El Nino,Hurricane Irene,Hurricane Season 2011,La Nina,Meteorology,NAO,Tropical Depression Thirteen,Tropics,Weather,Winter

IMPORTANT NOTE: Storm Chasing is a dangerous activity and should not be attempted without extensive training. It was my own decision to chase and it was not sanctioned or endorsed by Early Alert Inc.

My name is Jeremy Gilchrist and as a Meteorologist with Early Alert Inc. I encounter hazardous conditions on a daily basis but usually from behind a computer screen. In that environment the greatest risk might be a little Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and some coffee gone cold. April 16th, 2011 was a different story however, and a day I won’t soon forget. This was the day North Carolina was impacted by one of its worst tornado outbreaks on record.

By Friday April 15th it was becoming clear that Saturday the 16th would be no ordinary day in Carolina.  On Friday night the Storm Prediction Center had already issued a moderate risk for the 16th with the possibility of tornadoes across Central and Eastern areas of  the state.  That in and of itself was a rarity in this part of the country. It was  just after noon on Saturday that the moderate was upgraded to a high risk with a dangerous tornado outbreak expected.

As a Meteorologist I am compelled to chase extreme weather when possible and I couldn’t help but feel both excited and anxious when word of the high risk came.  I was also honestly worried there would be substantial loss of life and unfortunately that would indeed occur.  The chase began in Newton Grove, NC with myself and two partners who were along for the ride.

At first glance it appeared things may not pan out as on radar storms were organized in a line rather than discrete supercells (rotating thunderstorms). Very quickly between 2-3 pm that all changed and the line broke into a series of supercells lined up from Northeast to Southwest. Our chase began with disturbing reports coming out of Sanford as a powerful EF-3 tornado leveled and heavily damaged buildings. The storm that produced this monster was then heading Northeast right for the city of Raleigh.

This was the first storm we decided to go after so we headed back north toward Raleigh up I-40. Sure enough we got there just in time following a series of damage reports coming across my chase partner’s ham radio of damage and debris falling from the sky. As we reached the Beltline (a highway that surrounds Raleigh in a loop) we saw a large rainshaft and a series of power flashes.  It was at this point we realized the tornado was wrapped in rain and not visible. This meant we were in a dangerous situation. We had to bail out on this particular storm. Unfortunately this tornado is what resulted in the first fatalities of the day.

It was decided based on the radar we had on the car to head South and a bit East to get ahead of the next storm down the line. When you are chasing tornadoes the last thing you want to do is get stuck in the rain and hail. We reached our target just south of Wilson, NC at around 5pm on I-795. With slow adjustments back north as the storm moved in we got our first glimpse of a large tornado!  At first the contrast was low and it was a few miles away across fields so I wasn’t 100% sure it was in fact a funnel. It had a reddish tinge reflecting the color of our southern soil on the NC Coastal Plain. We creeped north a few hundred feet again for our next glimpse and there it was! Large tornado on the ground! At 5:15pm my chase partner radioed our report to the NWS in Raleigh via Central NC SKYWARN’s ham radio net.  It was at this point when it became clear the tornado may cross the road and hit the city of Wilson. The contrast was much better and it was clearly visible as a grey cone ahead of us. We only hoped our report could have saved someone’s life as there were no fatalities with this particular storm. There was some damage but the tornado apparently peaked before reaching the town (thankfully). It was officially rated as a strong tornado at EF-2 however we never got a first hand look at the damage there. I took video of the funnel crossing our path about 1.5 – 2 miles away and we watched it fade into the rain.

Since the supercell thunderstorms producing these tornadoes were moving at 60 mph they were near impossible to keep up with so our only choice was to keep leapfrogging down the line of them.  Again we tried to get ahead of a storm by heading South and East but this time we were not as successful. The road options became limited and we were hit by the core of rain and hail (exactly where you don’t want to be) on our 3rd attempt of the day. This occurred at Farmville, NC (which is closer to Greenville). A look at the radar while we were getting pounded showed a tornadic circulation VERY close to our location so we used our escape route north and got out of there. There is no way to see it in our position. After it passed we immediately turned around and headed into the town. It quickly became apparent they were hit.

We came across the damage path including many large trees snapped off, significant roof damage, downed power poles and lines, and a van upended leaning on a tree and a house just south of the town’s center. It was the first time I have seen tornado damage up close and personal. Emergency crews were already on the scene which was a relief to see and we got out and snapped a few photos. We were also checking to be sure people were ok that may not have been checked yet by EMS etc. It appeared injury was minimal and people were mostly shaken up. This was hard seeing the human toll first hand but it makes you remember how real it is. Thankfully again nobody seemed to be hurt. One very nice man came out of his house and asked if he could use my phone to call his family which I of course did. He offered to give me something for that but I declined. I didn’t think that was necessary and I could tell he probably had hard times to deal with aside from this disaster. We were then hit by strong wind gusts of 50-60 mph and had to leave because of all the loose debris around.

This is where our chase ended on what was a historic day. Later we would get word of the tragedy’s full scope and loss so many suffered.  I feel the loss of life would have been far greater had it not been for plenty of lead time in warnings etc. In terms of Early Alert I will always keep this day in mind when working for our clients as I have now seen what disaster is like first hand. It is a company I am proud to be a part of as we strive to keep those we serve better prepared and ready for when hazardous conditions arise.  Below is video I took of the tornado near Wilson, NC:

Uneditied: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LC52No_LdKw

Enhanced Contrast (edited): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUNmW8Td2Bc