Finally got on the board this previous Friday (April 29th) after a month and a half of chasing progressively better setups from March onward. An HP supercell that formed in Comanche County produced a brief multi-vortex tornado that we were able to view from just east of Cement as it traipsed northeast and wrapped up. I also saw some of the most intense inflow just off the deck that I've seen in years. Moisture was visibly streaming in from miles outside of the updraft.
While the tornado was brief and I didn't manage to get any salvageable pictures of it (It was twilight lighting at 4 PM CDT), it was nice to get the monkey off my back and enjoy a quick chase within an hour of Norman.
Looking ahead, the pattern begins to take a nosedive. 2016 so far has been notable for it's seeming lack of tornado/supercell productions on the Great Plains. Outside of the Eads, Colorado tornado and the Eva, Oklahoma tornadoes on April 15th, this year has been a pretty big letdown. The Plains look to go between systems in the next week and come under the influence of a cutoff low sitting in the center of a pretty persistent omega block. Funnily enough, after an open Gulf of Mexico the past week with rich moisture streaming all the way to Nebraska, we look to struggle to regain a foothold with respect to moisture content on the prairie. It's been a strange year and it looks like we might be waiting until the end of May into June to really get going.
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