Salina, KS — Travis Farncombe — Highways & Hailstones

Published on April 24, 2016

Our target on the morning of April 24 was somewhere around Harper or Kingman, Kansas. It looked like a day when large hail would be the primary threat, although we expected there to a be a window of opportunity in the evening for tornadoes to develop. We positioned at Wichita as storms began to form a few counties to our west. They would initiate and then and race off to the northeast, so we decided to make our way to Sylvia to catch the southernmost developing storm.

A cell tries to initiate near Silvia Kansas

For a while our storm seemed to really be getting its act together, but it underwent a cell split and began dying; to our surprise, this was the beginning of a downward trend near our target. The southern extent of the cumulous field struggled to develop as expected, towers began to collapse, and so we had to race north to catch up with the earlier storms.

We made our way to Salina and finally caught up with a storm that had become tornado warned. For the next several hours we stayed with the supercell which produced massive hail, solid storm structure, several wall clouds, a few brief funnel clouds and an awesome display of lightning.

Above: An RFD cut carves a broad notch out of the base of the supercell near Salina

Above: Pretty colours and storm structure as inflow increases

Above: A brief funnel cloud develops as the storm tightens up east of town

Above: An awesome lightning show caps a long but fun chase day

Did storms initiate as expected? Not exactly. Did they live up to their tornado potential? Nope. But, it was still an active and fun day out in Tornado Alley. It was one of those days out chasing when you just have to go with the flow and enjoy what Mother Nature gives you.

Travis Farncombe

I am the founder Highways & Hailstones. I live with my family in Toronto, Ontario - about 2000 miles from Oklahoma City and the heart of Tornado Alley. Every spring and summer, I travel down there, to the American Midwest, to witness the most awe-inspiring weather on the planet.

The first time I chased was ten years ago; I signed up as a guest with a storm chase tour company, and joined that group for a week on the plains. I saw my first tornado on that trip. It was a silhouette on a dark Kansas night, betrayed by strobes of lightning flickering in the distance. While the rest of the tour guides and group scanned the storm to the south, a lingering flash drew my glance to the north, and there, unmistakable, was a backlit cone. It was serendipity. I yelled cone tornado!, and a storm chaser was born.

After chasing for a few years as a guest with Silver Lining Tours, I gradually began to spread my wings and chase on my own, having learned enough from Roger Hill and other veterans to chase safely and responsibly. I became a guide with SLT in 2015. Now, I am a certified spotter and chase locally in Southern Ontario, as well as down in Tornado Alley. I am always meeting new people, always learning, and always humbled by the power of nature.

Community Comments