October 9, 2001 - Two tornadoes near Albert, Oklahoma
At the start of the day... it looked likely that a severe weather event would be in store for the plains. I’ve never really been one to chase storms in the fall... usually already having had my fill from the previous spring. So... I went into work as scheduled with expectations of watching it unfold on radar from our office.
By early afternoon.... morning thunderstorm activity was clearing out of the area and an isolated supercell thunderstorm formed along the dryline near the western Oklahoma/Texas border. It didn’t take long before this storm started producing tornadoes near Elk City. Meanwhile other storms were forming in southwest Oklahoma... quickly becoming severe... and rotating. As numerous reports of tornadoes poured in during the afternoon... it was becoming clear that this was going to be a small but significant fall tornado event for the state.
My fellow co-workers finally got tired of me going nuts watching radar and the reports and sent me home. But... I didn’t have time to go home and get any chase gear. So... I looked at one final view of radar and started driving quickly west on I-40. I stopped at the Hinton exit and purchased a 12 exposure disposable camera and road map of Oklahoma. There... they had the TV on local news and I was able to get an updated look at the radar. I knew that I wouldn’t have to drive very far south to put myself in position to see the storm coming up from the Fort Cobb lake area. My timing was perfect!. About the time I reached Albert... strong rotation was evident to the southwest. A few miles south of Albert and I saw an explosion of debris not far to the south southwest. In this picture... the debris is evident on the right side of the road near the power poles. I had excellent contrast and the pictures came out great despite being taken with a $10 camera. Here is the tornado after it had crossed the road. Picture Picture
I followed the tornado east and watched it weaken... while another tornado formed to the northeast. This time the contrast wasn’t as good and I ended up getting the kind of pictures I would expect from the camera I was using. Soon it was dark enough to prevent me from seeing very many details and I started toward home.
I was able to see a couple of F1 tornadoes... with no chase gear... very few miles driven and I had the rest of the night off. Not a bad October day in Oklahoma...
