May 4-6, 2001 brought an active round severe thunderstorms and tornadoes to the state of Oklahoma...as a strong upper level storm system became established near the four corners region. Severe storms developed along a dryline near the Texas Panhandle and Oklahoma border late in the afternoon of the 5th. The intitial storm was an isolated low topped LP storm north of Mangum. The first views of the storm were taken from the small community of Rocky, Oklahoma.This low topped supercell displayed a strong updraft...low level inflow features...along with a lowering on the southwest flank. The shallow but intense storm visually showed evidence of storm scale rotation...with striations visible in the low and mid levels.
As the storm moved to the northeast...additional storms developed along the dryline to the south. Very light rain and mid level clouds were being ingested by the storm. The storm actually pulsed down for a short time. The mid level clouds obscured the storm's updraft towers. Thus, during this time...many chasers left the storm in favor of the southern storms.
The storm began to become much more organized as it moved northeast toward Cordell. This view shows the organization of the storm's low level features...including a well established wall cloud, and developing storm scale inflow features.
From a veiwing site 5 miles southeast of Cordell...intense upward motion was observed along the front edge of the wall cloud. A brief needle shaped tornado developed near the center of the wall cloud just north of the city.
After the first brief tornado dissipated...the wall cloud began to broaden. A better defined clear slot began to wrap around the south side of the highly sheared updraft tower. A "classic" shaped tornado developed rapidly, and was located northeast of the city. The tornado persisted for nearly 5 minutes. Moderate rain was falling at the filming site...making photography difficult.
