May 3 - 11th Chase Trip - A summary of my chase experience for this unbelievable week of severe weather. During these 8 days of chasing an incredible 418 tornadoes were reported to the Storm Prediction Centre in Norman, Oklahoma. Acknowledgements to my pal Karl Schulze, meteorologist from the Plains for the invaluable Nowcasting and his forecasting, which was spot on for the entire trip.

DAY ONE - SATURDAY 3 MAY

SPC predicted tornado watch area & reported tornadoes - 18

Arrived at Dallas Fort Worth at 1430 hrs. By the time we had cleared customs and picked up our chase vehicle it was nearly 1600hrs. As soon as we left the airport a quick call to Karl had us heading for the Texas western panhandle immediately. A tornado watch was in force. We speedily headed north west along highway 81 and 237. As we cleared Wichita Falls two tornado warnings were issued, one in Haskell and the other in Childress. We decided to head to the Haskell cell as this would be closer to target. We would be pushing it. We were slowly losing light. We headed south on the 277 and intercepted the cell. Unfortunately we were on the north side as it was moving east, the wrong side of the reported wall cloud which had already spawned a tornado. We still managed to get some good photos of the cell and hit a lot of heavy precip. Our first storm of the trip and a tornadic cell. If we'd have been 1 hour earlier we could have been on that wall cloud. Still a good start. Overnight stay was in Seymour, close by.

Here's a selection of 7 of the best photos from the day: