|
Chase Photos Tornado View chase map Tornado Gallery Home |
Mead/Yutan Nebraska April 8, 1999 This storm was associated with a system that produced multiple deadly tornadoes from Nebraska to Ohio. These storms fired on a dry line moving across Nebraska. They began to develop around noon near Lincoln and produced these two tornadoes while moving to the northeast at a phenomenal speed of 55 m.p.h. We began our chase around the same time from Fremont eventually taking up position in the country about 3 miles to the southeast of Cedar Bluffs. A tornado was spotted on the ground to the north of Lincoln heading towards the Wahoo area. We decided to try to intercept the storm at Mead around 1:00. As we headed south on highway 77, a radio report stated that a tornado was spotted near Yutan and Mead. South of the highway 77 and 64 junction, the rain became intense forcing us to pull over, which was also a clue that the tornado wasn't far. About a minute later, the rain quit suddenly and confirmed our suspicion, because the tornado was crossing the highway about 150-200 yards to the south of our position, moving southeast to northwest(backward!). It quickly became enshrouded in the immense rain storm making it impossible to detect. Almost by accident, the low fog/cloud deck cleared making it possilble to see the second tornado roping out about a mile east of our position. Our chase ended to the northeast of Arlington Nebraska due to a time constraint which we had. |