2008


2008 was a year I don't expect ever to top! (ed note: but we did, in 2010!). Going into the tour the pattern looked good but we could never have expected to see 14 tornadoes over the 10 day tour! Every day was a chase day except for one. In fact, we could have chased all 10 but chose to reposition on day 9 for an even better day the following day instead of chasing, and were rewarded with the fantastic Glen Elder tornado. Not only were 14 tornadoes the most I'd seen in one year, I also saw the largest tornado I'd seen, the strongest, and got the closest I'd even been, only to get even closer 3 days later!

Another unusual thing is the number of days, 4, that we chased in practically the same area. Some days we were chasing on literally the same roads as we'd been chasing the previous day. Very unusual.

2008 Chase Logs / Summary

2008 Photo Album:
 2008 Photo Album with captions

Video:
Quinter, KS Wedge Tornado
Glen Elder Multi-Vortex Tornado

Chase Day Pages:

May 22nd, 2008: A long chase day featuring a blown tire, a tornado or two, and finally a serious whuppin' in a hail core near Wakeeney, KS.

May 23rd, 2008: Another long chase day and wedge tornadoes on consecutive storms near Quinter, Kansas.

May 25th, 2008: Back to the same area as on the 22nd and 23rd for more supercells and a landspout tornado near Timken, KS.

May 26th, 2008: Storms near Greensburg and Pratt, KS including a wild ride through a big hail core and a near miss with a rain wrapped tornado.

May 27th, 2008: Photogenic HP storm near Altus, Oklahoma.

May 29th, 2008: Massive tornado that damaged Kearney, NE and the most exciting 15 minutes of chasing I've ever experienced, the multi-vortex tornado between Tipton and Glen Elder, KS.

All pictures (C) Richard Hamel 2017.

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