The past several days have been fairly active for severe weather across the Central Plains. The reason being is that for the first time all year, we have had favorable mid level and lower level synoptic flow across much of the Midwest, and we have had substantial moisture return across the Central Plains.
On Saturday, this resulted in a monster supercell forming in western Kansas along a warm frontal boundary, specifically in Leoti, KS. The Leoti Supercell essentially developed and was sustained by a warm front, and sat stationary for several hours on along this boundary. Wind shear is enhanced along warm frontal boundaries, as the wind direction typically shifts more easterly along and north of the boundary.
The combination of deep boundary layer moisture, and an enhanced shear profile along the warm front created the conditions necessary to develop and sustain a long lived, monster supercell. And the Leoti supercell was that. Storm Chasers, including WKU’s own Storm Chase class, flocked to the storm, and this resulted in some of the coolest images of a supercell I have ever seen.
Leoti, KS supercell cluster and the eventual dominant cell that rooted on the warm front. pic.twitter.com/CKGN9kSTCz
— Ian Livingston (@islivingston) May 22, 2016
Video: Leoti, KS area tornado that @islivingston & I chased today. 4x speed. In progress 7:06-7:07 p.m. @NWSGoodland https://t.co/pioYLXb0jw
— Quincy Vagell (@stormchaserQ) May 22, 2016
Incredible structure north of Leoti KS yesterday. #KSwx pic.twitter.com/aGi1WB7WoD
— D☈D (@drdabroholos) May 22, 2016
https://t.co/gxioRENDRu – More images from @btsullivan91 from a beautiful supercell yesterday near Leoti, KS! Time… pic.twitter.com/yyEkSBMrw5
— TornadoTitans.com (@TornadoTitans) May 22, 2016
Leoti, KS tornado with INSANE structure. One of the better storms I ever chased. Many more pictures to follow! #kswx pic.twitter.com/k5px9eJLfA
— Brett Wright (@WxMstr) May 22, 2016
Beast mode pic.twitter.com/tsrAHgsLH6
— Ian Livingston (@islivingston) May 22, 2016
https://t.co/0x5Q1GnzBp – @wxmstr captured this really impressive structure yesterday shortly after the 3rd tornad… pic.twitter.com/fyKmf5nAya
— TornadoTitans.com (@TornadoTitans) May 22, 2016
Safe and sound in Colby, KS. Incredible day! #WKU @JohnDeere pic.twitter.com/XjJWa21lu2
— WKU Sto☈m Chase☈s (@wkustormchase) May 22, 2016
It was especially cool because the storm sat over an open field for the majority of its lifespan. Storms like these don’t come along often, but they are awesome when they do.