Chasecation 2016, Day 5: Everything’s bigger in Texas…

…Including the “busts.” Ok, it wasn’t a full bust, but we missed the tornadoes, again.

We planned on targeting storms in northwest Oklahoma yesterday morning while heading out of northern Kansas.

Once we got to northwest Oklahoma, we got impatient. Patience is one of the biggest part of storm chasing. Often the days with the best outcomes for a chaser are the ones in which you’re able to sit and watch things happen around you without reacting.

On Monday, we had lunch in Shattuck, OK and waited. Then a storm fired up in the central Texas panhandle about 120 miles away. We waited.

Alas, the stream of chasers headed that way and the lack of additional development right away likely helped push us toward the distant storm ourselves. Another truth about chasing is that you want to at least see a storm and not a “blue sky bust.”

As we reached the storm, it promptly fizzled. We then basically made a u-turn back to where we were earlier. More storms fired. We watched them. They didn’t do a whole lot.

Eventually a storm formed near Woodward, Oklahoma and dropped a few tornadoes. Another storm way south in the Texas panhandle did the same after dark.

We missed again.

But, we still saw cool scenes and hopefully learned from our mistakes. Today’s another day. And so far, it looks like it might be one of the more sure things of the trip. Of course you can never really think that as a chaser as it doesn’t take a lot to mess up “the look.”

Nonetheless, I’ve got a tornado shirt on. We shall see.