Meteorological Breakdown: The Hollister, OK, Tornadic Supercell - April 30, 2024

In-depth meteorological breakdown of the incredible tornadic supercell that produced two significant tornadoes, including an anticyclonic one, near Hollister, OK, on the evening of April 30, 2024. The day began as a fairly conditional setup without a tornado risk outlined in southwest Oklahoma, but concerns over storm initiation were soon quelled, and intense supercells erupted along the dryline. In this video, we'll take a deep dive into the meteorology behind the Hollister supercell, including some reasons why storm initiation became much more likely with time, the unique behaviors that led up to tornadogenesis, and a discussion of the unusually intense and long-lived anticyclonic tornado that this storm spawned.

Thumbnail image from Jared Trupp (X: @JaredTrupp).

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Contents

0:00 Introduction
2:10 Meteorological analysis
12:34 Hollister supercell analysis begins
12:53 Dual mesocyclone structure and its role in tornadogenesis
15:53 Weak-echo column
17:12 Discussion of tornado intensity from radar data
19:57 Anticyclonic tornado
23:41 Proximity sounding analysis
26:22 Wrap-up

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Resources

[zarhle]

Yessir! This will surely be another Convective Chronicles classic. I’ll always remember how nuts the weather community went that evening. Nobody was expecting such a ridiculous environment to set up, let alone a supercell to take advantage of it and produce some of the most insane radar imagery of all time. You’ll obviously dive into it, but the potency of the environment was almost hard to believe when I looked closely at mesoscale analysis that evening. All around a very exciting event for weather enthusiasts, especially as it harmlessly went through a field with little to no impacts. Thanks Trey!

[silentbob]

This is one i'll never forget from this season when I tracked it as it was happening. I never saw anything that looked like a land-hurricane like that in my life.

[giantdwarfulf]

This anti cyclonic tornado had its own hook echo, that’s crazy. Very good video as always!

[BruceDeluxe]

I just can't get enough of these analytical breakdowns :)

[ThunderChasers]

I'll never forget this tornado. We sat and watched it. I think I commented on your previous video about the season. But, I did my best to get as close as I could. We sat and watched the tornado until the RFD surged. I watched the grass and we immediately left. One thing about chasing, having a navigator is critical. It is so easy to get caught up in the moment. Especially at night. What a tornado.

[bluetoad]

I'm glad to see another meteorological breakdown video. I can't get enough of these.

[TRGTornado]

This is one of the more interesting tornadoes, if not the most interesting tornado this year! (So far) Great video!

[JxiCxllinsWx]

WOO!! Another Meteorological Breakdown, super excited!

[ryguy]

The amount of intensity and depth this video went in was even greater than that of the Hollister's weak-echo column

Amazing work and answered so many of my questions. Watching the event in real time made me feel like I was watching a piece of what my town of Grand Island felt before my time (luckily without immense loss and casualties)

[universeBass]

I remember tracking this with buddies and thought “man can’t wait for CC to do an episode on this”

[AllanEvansOfficial]

Trey, you done it again! Fantastic synopsis. Love case studies of surprise events. It’s amazing how the atmosphere can squeeze out a tornado in a nontraditional fashion from time to time.

[DustinTheNow]

Been really looking forward to this one. Thanks for posting!

[StevenHousewright]

Was working my part-time evening job at Walmart that night - in Alabama. But, was watching the local OK news as it happened. What an incredible night and the meteorologists were spot on with their warnings. Thanks Trey!

[dagger-]

Just discovered the channel. The clear and thorough explanations and tons of references and visuals were fantastic. I’ll be watching more!

[kaminky]

Such a peculiar and amazingly stunning event to have spectated live.

[spcoll]

What a concise breakdown. Superb. I remember everyone going crazy over the Fujiwara effect, and I'm guessing this would have been way too dangerous of a storm to chase up close. The anticyclonic twister is the one that really captured my curiosity. Amazing breakdown sir.

[noahlambert]

Thanks for making this. Crazy to watch live

[Stollnews]

Great analysis and thanks for explaining the delta-v/vrot stuff, looked way more intense than it actually was.
I also love the anticyclonic tornado and its behavior, really interesting storm as a whole

[MeteorologyByJW]

Finally! I made an edit in this tornado a few months ago, didn’t know to much about it. Now I know much more thanks for the video!

[WeatherNOAANWSfan]

I love these case studies/meteorological breakdowns! Please keep making them!