10
May
May 10, 2010 – Multi-vortex tornado near Wakita, OK
My chase vacation was originally scheduled to start May 6th, however for a couple of days everyone was talking about a huge severe weather outbreak at the beginning of the following week. I decided to shift my vacation so I could jump right in on Monday the 10th. I left Michigan on the 8th, spent the night in Iowa, then drove to Wichita, KS on the 9th. My original chase target was Enid, OK, but I was tired of driving, wimped out and stayed in Wichita.
The 10th rolls around and the Storm Prediction Center had upgraded eastern Oklahoma to high risk. Their outlook talked about strong, violent tornadoes being likely. The weather in Wichita when I awoke was low 50s, the MCS from the night before left a cloud shield over much of the state and it was even foggy. Concerned with the cloud cover hanging around leading to lower instability, I decided Wichita might be too far north, despite the SPC saying the clouds would clear rapidly and instability would skyrocket.