06/24/2021
They say everything is bigger in Texas and boy did Texas deliver on it's motto! Without a doubt this year's award for best and longest chase of 2021 produced this GORGEOUS multi-vortex EF-2 twister near Sterling City, TX on May 17th!! About an hour after this photo was taken I was hit with 2" hail (roughly the size of a lime) which cracked my windshield and covered my car in dents (most weren't to deep) and winds in excess of 80mph. Just the sound of hail the size of limes hitting the car was honestly one of the most unnerving sounds I've ever had to sit and listen through. I don't normally get a sense of uneasiness when chasing however with all of this happening in the dark of night, with a storm that had produced and was still capable of producing a tornado, made even worse by the fact that it would most likely be rain wrapped all bets were off and I was just along for the ride. I wasn't intentionally playing with fire one this one, but I could've got burned a lot worse. My road options to dodge and evade were few and I sat back on it for much too long, allowing it to quickly close the time and distance from where I was. Lesson learned!
CRAZY STATS AND CHASE RECAP:
# of tornadoes: 8 reported ( 1 observed)
Highest Tornado rating: EF-2 (est winds 111-135mph) (observed)
Largest hail reported: 2.75" (baseball sized)
Highest wind gust reported: 84 mph
Tornado damage reported: Structural damage to a gas plant and 1 home.
Total miles driven round trip: 1,270
Total drive time round trip: 22 hours 33 minutes
Total miles on the chase: 213
Total time on the chase: 4 hours 25 minutes
Starting location: Wichita, KS
Furthest location from start: Andrews, TX
Target area: West Texas/Southern Plains