Throckmorton, TX — Travis Farncombe

Published on May 8, 2015

Following a somewhat frustrating chase on May 6, we were bound and determined to kick ass on May 8! We woke up to a moderate risk area issued by the SPC for portions of Oklahoma and Texas on either side of the Red River. It included a 10% risk area for tornadoes.

Despite the favourable forecast for severe, we knew that this wouldn’t be an easy chase; while supercells and tornadoes appeared likely, we were expecting numerous storms in a highly saturated environment, and high precip modes appeared likely. An outflow boundary spread from the Texas Panhandle southeastward into North Central Texas and we decided to target north of the Abilene area.

As storms began to fire along the boundary, we picked up on a dominant cell that exploded upward near Abilene. It became a beastly HP supercell that barrelled its way toward Throckmorton. Just north of town we raced directly into the notch and were perfectly positioned as a multi-vortex / cone tornado touched down.

The base of the storm was incredibly low and cloud motion was intense. The tornado was visible for about five minutes, oscillating in form between a single cone, a multiple vortex and a broad bowl. The tornado sirens were wailing. I was concerned that this might become a violent tornado and big trouble for the town. Fortunately this was not to be; it wrapped in rain and dissipated before reaching Throckmorton.

As it turned out, we lucked out in finding a needle-in-the-hay-stack; only a handful of rain-wrapped tornadoes ended up touching on this day, and several other chasers on our storm did not even catch the tornado which was only visible from a position directly in the notch. It was far from the best chase day of 2015, but given how the day unfolded with messy storms and few tornadoes, we were very successful all the same.

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.

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