Tornadic Supercell - South Hutchinson, KS - May 23, 2008
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- Опубликовано: 23 янв 2025
- After nightfall on the evening of May 23, 2008, numerous long-track supercell thunderstorms developed over south-central Kansas, rapidly becoming tornadic. One of these cells produced an ominously well-defined hook echo on radar, headed straight for the tornado ravaged town of Greensburg, Kansas, with another tornadic cell to the east near Medicine Lodge. While the Greensburg cell did initially produce a tornado that impacted Protection, Kansas, luckily that tornado lifted before the cell reached Greensburg and the meso moved over the previously stricken town producing only minor damage.
Meanwhile the eastern cell (which had started west of Medicine Lodge) was headed north-northeast towards Pratt, Kansas. This cyclic cell produced a strong tornado which crossed highway 54 just to the east of Pratt, causing two fatalities. As the cell moved on, it turned towards the northeast, paralleling highway K61 towards Hutchinson, Kansas. As the cell approached the city, spotters frequently reported a large tornado on the ground.
At this time, our chase team (Michael Laca, Jim Leonard, Ray Walker, Eric Baker, Max Hagen and Mike Ratliff) was headed east on highway 50, on an intercept path, that brought us into South Hutchinson a few minutes before midnight, just as the cell arrived. We observed a strong rotational couplet on radar and, as we stopped on the side of the highway, could see a large wall cloud illuminated by the frequent lightning. At this point, sirens began blaring loudly throughout Hutchinson and we decided to move off the highway. We exited on S. Main Street and proceeded north, stopping briefly in the parking lot of a motel where, in the light of increasingly intense lightning, we spotted a very broad conical funnel just to the southwest of highway 50, with an intense precipitation core close behind. With the core rapidly approaching, we continued a few more blocks north and found some minimal shelter in a self-serve car wash. Once inside, the core quickly overtook us producing intense rainfall and winds gusting to 60-65 mph, while sirens wailed eerily in the background. Luckily for Hutchinson, the funnel likely remained aloft, since no significant damage was observed.
On May 25th, our chase team surveyed the tornadic damage path from this cell, just to the east of Pratt, Kansas. Tragically, the fatalities had occurred when the tornado threw a car and its two occupants into an open field about ¼ mile to the north of the road. The mangled remains of the vehicle were still out in the field when we surveyed the area. Based on the severity of the tree damage we observed, and the distance the vehicle was thrown, our team estimated that the tornado was at least a high EF3, possibly EF4, at the time it crossed highway 54.
That;s got to be one of the most eerie and strangest siren systems I've ever heard. I've never heard a siren system that switches between signals throughout the event like that. Using both Steady and Wail would really grab someone's attention for sure. Nice video!
Fantastic video Michael - a very very eerie scene at night with the sirens going off. Brilliant!
I used to live in Hutchinson and always wondered what was happening when the sirens went off, where the funnel might be. Luckily our house was never struck, but we did have some close calls. You never forget what it is like huddled in your basement, hearing those sirens go off, hoping that it misses you.
Love the sound of the civil defense emergency tornado warning sirens sounding and wailing in d flat and other note sounds of the sirens in Hutchinson, Kansas, during and arriving of the Tornadic Supercell Thunderstorm. It's important to have the civil defense emergency tornado warning sirens going off during the storm, like this one, to let everyone and everybody to seek shelter in the basement, storm cellar, and small interior room as of closet and bathroom for before and during the storm.
Ilove the combo of sirens both the Thunderbolts and 2001s sound great together
Yes they sound so damn good i know this an old comment but do you guys still have your thunderbolts. or have they changed them to that federal 5 crap?
WOW...that's awesome, you did a great job on the air that night, we were listening to you guys for quite awhile!
Thanks Mike! Knowing that a large long-track tornado had been on the ground with this particular cell, and seeing such strong rotation on radar as it approached, was definitely scary. Glad you enjoyed the clip.
Thanks Lori! We actually stopped in Greensburg a couple of times during the four days we were out there, the community's spirit is amazing. We were all horrified, when we saw such an ominous supercell approaching them again on May 23, Luckily things worked out much better this time.
I am the severe weather anchor that you hear on the radio at the beginning of this clip. The sirens in Hutchinson/South Hutchinson are all 2001s except for 2 of them. Model 5 on top of Plaza Towers in Downtown Hutch and a Thunderbolt siren at the South Hutch Elementary School. At one time, we had a few thunderbeams and majority of them at one time were Thunderbolts but all were replaced by 2001s except for the one Model 5 and Thunderbolt previously mentioned. Approx. 25-30 Sirens in Hutchinson.
Was this a siren 01:31 or a car wash blower?
I love it. Some of the best non tornadic chase footage ever recorded. Plus you got the guy on the radio saying "If you're in Hutchinson get underground!"
All I can say is WOW! Great video. The sound of the sirens in town just makes it perfect. There is always something creepy about hearing the sirens going off in a dark and deserted small town in Kansas.
*shivers* that night was a VERY SCARY drive home from Wichita! And we sought shelter in Haven! how appropriate :)
"THIS IS NOT A DRILL..." I remember this. I watched this storm on the news come straight up highway K-61, as mentioned in the video. Reno County was under a Tornado Warning for a little over an hour that night. Quite terrifying but all's well that ends well I suppose. Great video of what was happening outside while my family and I were hiding in the basement. :)
Thanks so much Dan! Glad you enjoyed the video. I may go back and create another clip of sirens going off in Dighton, Kansas, that I also filmed during this trip.
I am from Hutch...live in the frigid North now...thanks for letting me walk memory lane....nice footage
you know what makes that part when they were sitting in the parking lot eerie? the fact that no one else was out on that street but them. it made it look so dead.
Very nice siren system in Hutchinson.
I was living there at the time, I had 2 jobs, a day job delivering lawn equipment around a few Kansas counties and a night job, taking care of a disabled lady. I was at her house and took her and her cats into her storm shelter attached to her garage. Had the radio on in there. Hutch really dodged a bullet that night. My day job took me to the Pratt area a few days later and I stopped right where those pictures were taken (I have some myself), tragically, a young couple were killed in that car that you see out in the field. They had pulled to the side of the road, right where the tornado came through. Btw, those making cruel comments about the bird, are quite creepy, it's anything but funny.
Night Time rotation, sirens, wicked CG strikes.....this is a scary video!!!! Awesome job Mike!
SCM
Thank you very much Felix!
Now that's an eerie sound.
Thanks so much Eric, glad you liked the clip! The sirens wailing definitely made this particular intercept very creepy.
Tropmet | Storm Chasing this is a perfect real life representation of the Nighttime Gas Station Scene from the 🌪 Movie
That was actually my first time in Hutchinson, Kansas so, unfortunately, I don't know much about the sirens there.
Thanks so much James!!! Chasing at night is always freaky, especially with a cyclic cell that has a history of long-track violent tornadoes...haha. Between 1:00 - 1:15 in the clip, there's actually a large conical funnel just off to the left of my shot. It was obscured from my view, but another chaser who was with us got a good shot of it as it briefly touched down.
Thanks so much Max!
This particular storm was definitely quite an experience. Being a night chase it was obviously more of a logistical challenge... and the continual spotter reports of a large tornado definitely added to the tension. Hutchinson was really lucky this thing didn't have a big wedge on the ground when it got there.
Best footage ive seen from you in a long time, pretty darn violent thunderstorms, pretty darn right, a basement is where i would want to be if that thing were going anywhere near me, 5/5 & favs!
Nice footage! I love the sound of the sirens and the flashes of lightning!
yes its a 2001...it's in wail mode because it's running DC power....when the AC power became available It ran alert.
just looked up the date and weather reports for the next day and it reports 70 tornadoes were reported with this storm cell on may 23rd, 2008 in Kansas.
Ditto. Summers are a thrill here in central KS. I live in Rice County. We get some pretty awesome storms around here.
Thanks so much!
This video gave me goosebumbs.... Nice stuff bro!
have you noticed after every tornado at night the next morning is always clear blue lol
That is some Twister opening scene stuff going on here
Hard to believe this was over 10 years ago...
Sometimes I think they TRY to make the sirens sound as eerie as possible... This is my worst nightmare, being stuck in a tornado.
Aodan Sinclair well that's the idea. The whole point of a siren is to get your attention. And when something sounds scary it's going to catch you off guard.
That is the first one I've heard in Hutchinson do that setting.
I love how there's almost always either a trailer park or a Best Western in chase videos
Poor birdy at 2:25 - 2:32
was that a car at the end
Thanks so much! The sirens definitely make this video come to life.
Thanks Evan! This was definitely pretty high up on the creepy meter...haha! It would have been a real 'nightmare' if the the wedge that had accompanied this cell for most of its life had plowed through Hutchinson.
I am never ever ever chasing a supercell at night, EVER lol.
Those sirens definitely make the video incredibly sinister. Thunderbolts and lightning, very very frightening me!
amazing vid. you captured the moment perfectly. *****
scene from the movie twister
What Time Did This Tornado Happen At Night Was It 9:00PM 10:00PM 11:00PM Or 12:00AM Saturday?
Our chase team arrived in South Hutchinson (at the start of this video) a few minutes after midnight on the 25th. The cell we intercepted had started a few hours prior, on the night of the 24th.
that shit was crazy i remember that night...of course my dad and I were outside drinking beer and trying to spot a tornado from outside our house in south hutch.
Where I'm from (Massachusetts), there's no tornado sirens. So if a strong tornado would to occur, people wouldn't have time to seek shelter.
Wow!! That bird didn't have a chance!!
Awesome video!
They aren't all that rare on the Great Plains.... Many of them are just hailers or rainers and don't produce tornadoes. Less than 10% of supercells are strong enough to produce tornadoes. The ones that do... are unstoppable.
2:30 poor bird :(
Fuck birds to Hell.
Cat Mario rude
I'm not being rude..I'm just being truthful. They're annoying winged vermin.
Ya I remember this day me a some friends were out at cheney fising we waited till the tornado warning was clear then we went out to our spot by the rufuge. Its about a good 30 min walk not raining at all untill we get almost there and ya you know you seen the rain in the clip not fun lol. But we caught some nice wipers. The lighting was scary also :) Good video thanks
Jesus..thats freaking intense!
It looks like a centrifugal blower they use to dry cars.
Is that one of the sirens because i was also thinking it was a blower at a car wash.
those sirens make it all look freaky
What do you mean
Brian Hill lightning, thunder, high winds and tornado sirens used to scare the pants off of me when I was a kid
I was afraid of thunder and lightning and high winds as a child myself sirens never really bothered me
Derek Wall Especially those raspy sounding sirens
Oh my fucking god there's always a Best Western hotel or a trailer park in every tornado video! At 0:38 you can see the sign for the hotel off to the top right of the car in front
1:44 and on seems like those scarey rides at those amusment parks
I love the sirens!
the sirens give me the crappy creeps...
Awesome winds and sirens sounds spooky i like it and the winds were about 80 mph or more
Definatly what I am most scared of in Chasing
I don't remember this this was on my birthday and I live there what a coincidence
I already didn't reccomend chasing tornadic super cells but going in one is just a awful idea.
YES!! THUNDERBOLTS!!!!
well you can hear tbolts at the beginning and its not what i expected, the first sirens are tbolts.
thunderbolt10031000tfan probably the most effective sounding siren ever. Thunderbolts and 3t22s are beasts at getting your attention!
Indeed, they are. The way the two tones conflict will grab your attention, even from a few kilometers away.
thunderbolt10031000tfan that's why we love them. It's much better than hearing the pieces of crap called 2001's that FS makes today.
You get me, man.
Damn nice sirens.
I love my state never a dull moment! I wish Topeka kept their sirens going instead of this attack mode shit. I miss the days of the Thunderbolts and t22s 1:30-2:22 attack mode go into wail so damn awesome how that play out!
IN ARVADA, CO. (1998) They removed all civil defense sirens and scraped them. No replacements were erected. the City council said such sirens were unneeded and that the sirens were being terminated for "bugett cuts (yeah, right!). In 2009, a stormcell came through the area and caused three seperate tornados. Several people died. Several more injured. They MIGHT have managed to get to safety had there been Sirens to warn them! Nice going Arvada cheapskates!
wow.. this is incredible
***** stars / thumbs up
peace,
~Eleven
the kinds that go woooOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooo
Trompet | Storm Chasing
1. I love severe weather
2. I live in Michigan
3. I'm screwed!
Yeah, the poor bird might as well have been trying to fly through a car wash...lol.
i used to live in hutch :(
Me too!
THUNDERBOLT!
finally the siren goes off lol
holy moly
@bookworm1960 uhh no that was real. That storm was on the show stormchasers
Me too
Damn, why do I live in Michigan!?!
Bye bye Birdie
poor irrigation
Madonna Santa ma dovete mettere per forza questi allarmi assordanti? Per un semplice temporale estivo? In Italia dove abito io non esistono questi strumenti, quando viene su un temporale forte si sta in casa e si rispettano le norme di sicurezza senza il procuro di allarmi spacca timpani, io capisco che il temporale era violento però potevate evitare di inventare questi allarmi assordanti Cristo Dio no? 😫😩
lol the bird was funny
thats kansas for you............speaking of that we just had a tornado warning lol
AHHA HAHA i would have never noticed that bird if you wouldn't had pointed it out...it looks like it was on the ground next to this guys car..the best was when it tried to land on the sign and just got blown away by the wind!!
ya this is a good video
2:25 no pigeon! nooooooo!
2:31 pigeoooooon!!
Lol
i was 5 when this happend O_O
the bird. XD
very good video btw
i moved to a safer place close to hutch but its in missouri
Wooooooohohoho🤩🤩
it would have great if that tornado had destroyed hutchinson...there is isn't anything here anyways except a salt...
@pzmtuthcvpvl yeah dude it was crazy you wher like 9blocks away from my house. lol
Tbolt yay
AwesomeDesertTortoises Ikr
i remember that day i was there
Siren head is that you?!!?!;?
@lioness901 LMFAO ROTFLOL LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!