It will take months to analyze the video and photos and digest all the experiences from Storm Chase 2008. But for the most part in this blog, I'm ending the discussion of it today. Compared to previous storm chases, this was certainly the most prolific of the four I've been a part of in terms of tornado production, and also in terms of truly powerful supercell thunderstorms. I think many of the storms we caught in 2007 were structurally more photogenic, but these were definitely more beast-like in sheer power.

So far, in regard to tornadoes, I've only posted photos of our major tornado intercept late on May 22. If you haven't already, click here to see video and an account of that day. I am also writing about that encounter in Friday's "Weather Journal" column for print. I don't have photos of all of our tornado sightings, which we conservatively count as nine over May 22-23, all in the same general area of west-central Kansas from WaKeeney and Quinter south to Ness City and Dighton.

The first tornado we caught didn't even have a full condensation funnel, but just a slight cone above and a swirl of dust in a field below.

This is a photo near the time of our second tornado, though maybe not exactly when it was on the ground. You can see the rounded, lowered structure from which it sprang ahead of us.

Tornado No. 3 developed on a storm in between the first one we were chasing and the second we were planning to intercept. We had seen the lowerings and considered it to have potential, but considered it harder to reach between two other storms. Before heading south to the next storm, we watched a tornado develop west of Quinter, Kan., near a town called Grainfield. We were at some distance, but saw a cone dip down and eventually turn into more of a rope-like structure.

Two tornadoes developed in the storm we headed south to intercept southwest of WaKeeney. Tornado No. 4 was a white cone against a dark background. It doesn't look to be on the ground in the linked photo, but video shows a debris cloud at the surface, confirming touchdown.

Tornado No. 5 was a dark funnel against a dark background, a little hard to make out, but menacing. Here is another look at the same tornado a few minutes earlier. We encountered screaming east winds blowing into this storm as these tornadoes were going on. Both No. 4 and No. 5 were on the ground at the same time for a little while.

I don't have photos of the sixth and seventh tornadoes that formed in the same storm as it moved north of Interstate 70. We were on the move, and they were hard to see on a poor contrast background. We'll be looking at video and some of the other chasers' photos for these. The count could go up or down based on what we see in video.

Tornado No. 8 was the big intercept for us. The entry on my blog after that day and my Weather Journal column for May 30 best recount that, but here is one additional photo by Jordan Rollins showing the tornado out our front windshield. That's me taking a photo on the left.

Tornado No. 9 the next day was very large the next day, moving northeast near Ransom, Kan., on its way toward Ellis, but also very far away and very late. We still haven't found a great shot of it, but this video still frame showing part of it on the left gives you an idea of its size. We'll keep looking. (ADDED ON 6/2: Click here for a small video still from the wedge tornado ... and here's a second shot of the same wedge as well, which may even be multivortex with a couple of side funnels.)

In all we chased and caught supercell storms on 5 days: May 13 near Jacksboro in northern Texas; May 14 near Big Spring in western Texas (with additional video linked here); May 21 near Flagler in eastern Colorado (the prettiest storm, in my opinion); and of course May 22 and May 23 in and around WaKeeney, Kan.

Thanks to the wonderful group of chasers that joined us this year, shown here in a group photo at Palo Duro Canyon near Amarillo, Texas, during one of our many slow days between chases. From left to right, they are (bottom row) Jessica Burchard, Virginia Tech student; Sandy LaCorte, recent North Carolina-Asheville graduate (meteorologist!); Taylor White, Tech student; Marielle Taft, Walt Whitman High School student in Maryland; Morgan Weeks of Floyd, North Carolina-Asheville student; Jennifer Henderson, Tech instructor researching a book on tornadoes; (top row) Dave Carroll, Pulaski County High School meteorology teacher and trip leader; Joel Willis, Pulaski County High School student; Andrew Smith, Tech student; Trevor Owen, Tech student; me; and Jordan "J-Roll" Rollins, Tech student and National Guardsman.

For a little bit different perspective on our trip, check out the blogs kept by Taylor White and Sandy LaCorte.

America is in good hands with young people like these ... and with the many wonderful people who treated us so friendly in our travels. We were greeted everywhere we went, and many people, ranging from farmers to police to travelers to firemen, came to us seeking information about storms. God bless all of you.

Now ... let's turn back to local weather ... and there is actually a potential severe weather threat cropping up for Virginia come Saturday ... more on that as it develops ...

Re-trace Kevin's progress on this map.

For more on Storm Chase 2008, click here.

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• Posted by Kevin Myatt in Storm chasing
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