Excerpts from NOWCASTS transmitted by email from Principal Investigator Erik Rasmussen to VORTEX-99 field teams on May 3, 1999

1610 CDT - The armada is at Geronimo, OK (south of Lawton) observing very strong CB (cumulonimbus) growth W and SW, with very hard anvils and light rain. OK mesonet shows a band of backed surface winds from south of Ardmore to the Lawton area. The teams are going to continue to watch for one storm to become dominant.

1720 CDT - TORNADO! The armada is intercepting a tornado at close range approximately 2 miles east of Apache, OK. 1734 CDT- The armada is reporting a tornado doing a lot of damage, lofting large debris...0.5mi WNW of lat 34.96N 98.26W (decimal degrees) Someone in Norman please convey this to NWS.

1751 CDT - Second tornado forming; first has dissipated. The armada has observed a possible brief large cone tornado 2.5 [miles] NNE of Cement. At this moment it is a large rotating wall cloud. Condensation is occasionally to the ground.

1800 CDT - Large tornado west of Chickasha. VORTEX-99 is intercepting a large tornado at this time to the west of Chickasha, OK.

1844 CDT - The armada is now heading for Anadarko; there is an intense near-ground mesocyclone southwest of town. The pursuit of the Chickasha storm ended at a point where the road was so clogged with debris that a bulldozer will be required to determine where this damage path is.

2045 CDT - All chasers: for our research, we will need extensive documentation (esp. photographic) of the supercell from Lawton to Chickasha, and the storm from SW of Anadarko up to E of El Reno. Several tornadoes were intercepted on these supercells by the mobile mesonet. More details to follow in the next several days. For tonight, please scribble down notes or transcribe tapes while your memory is fresh.