Wichita KS — Travis Farncombe — Highways & Hailstones

Published on October 4, 2016

October 4 was an enhanced risk setup across the Central Plains and, feeling storm deprived after a month or two without chasing, I decided to pull the trigger. I connected with friends from Forever Chasing and we made our way west from Wichita by mid afternoon, initially targeting the Hutchinson area. It appeared this would be a day where Tail End Charlie would be the storm to be on, so the thinking was that we would need to chase south down the line as storms initiated and merged.

We intercepted our first storm near Pretty Prairie. It had some decent structure as it developed, but soon became disorganized as it was interfered with by a storm that was exploding to its south. We raced east and south to intercept this new storm as it moved toward the north side of the Wichita metro, getting out ahead of it near the town of Maize. As it moved across the north side of the city, rotation increased rapidly and for about ten minutes it appeared a tornado was imminent but, fortunately that was not to be. For the next two hours we were treated to a beautiful supercell with pretty structure and colouring.

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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