April 25, 2016 Chase

This was the first day of Tempest Tour 1, starting from Oklahoma City.  It was a pretty quiet day, but the high resolution forecast models were showing a lone storm to pop up west of Enid, OK.  We drove up to Enid to have a leisurely lunch, but the spot where we wanted to eat (Phil's Bar-B-Que) was closed, so we found another location in the downtown area (On The Sidewalk Bar and Grill).  It was a fine lunch, and we left there content.

Garfield County Courthouse.

We drove west-southwestward to Ames, OK to wait for storm initiation and to take a few photographs. We spent several hours meandering around that area, including a convenience store stop at the Lahoma Corner Store in Lahoma, but as evening approached, the cumulus decreased in both size and number. The mythical storm that the models showed would not materialize. We headed north to Pratt, KS to spend the night there (Comfort Suites) and to be in position for storms the next day.  On the way, we drove along some of the route that Tempest took on the famed May 12, 2004 chase that saw about a dozen tornadoes, including Anthony and Attica, KS.

In Pratt, we had dinner at Legends Cafe.  I had the Lasagna, which was pretty tasty, but it had only thin layers of pasta between mounds of meat and cheese.  I could not finish all of it.

Run-down buildings in Ames, OK.

Approximate route of travel.

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