There is something to be said about Memorial Day weekend in Oklahoma.  Given that 1999 makes four years in a row that we have had an outbreak, it should be obvious.

Left Oklahoma City and headed west on I-40.  Talked to a few friends chasing up in Colorado.  Reached Burns Flat near I-40 and HWY 44, held up there for awhile.  Sky conditions showed cirrus to the west and southwest with some cumulus.  Storms developed around 17:15 near Hollis.  Activity moved northeast with continued development in the Texas panhandle.

Drove south on HWY 44 and over to Mangum.  Was heading to a storm coming out of the Texas panhandle when Storm 1 intercepted us at Mangum.  Storm was part of the initial development near Hollis, though parent cell split.  The right mover went towards Altus while the left mover headed our way (towards Mangum).  Received hail was we drove into Mangum, eventually found an old Sonic to hide the vehicle.  Measured a few hail stones, came up with about 1.25 inches, most smaller than that.  Left the hideout and went east to watch the storm  Storm features lacked definition.  Saw a clear slot develop with the storm, though not impressed.

Left Mangum storm and headed back towards our original target moving out of Collinsworth County, TX, Storm 2.  Went north of Mangum on HWY 34 to a section line road about 12 miles north of Mangum.  Went west about 15 miles, to meet up with the storm.  Noted several wall clouds with this storm.  Lightning was very intense, with frequent cloud to ground contacts.  Rotation was very pronounced in the wall cloud.  Funnels cycled during the time we were with the storm.  Started pulling back east as the rotation area moved towards us.  Two brief tornadoes occurred around 19:15.  Helped someone out of the ditch as we progressed back east.  Storm appeared to take on HP characteristics, so moved south out of the way.  Looking back it appears this was a cycle with the rotation redeveloping to the southeast, right on top of us, despite our attempts to get away.  Clear slot formation noted to our west about 3-4 miles.  Moved quickly towards us as we headed south towards Reed and HWY 9.  Shortly after leaving the new rotation area, spotters reported a tornado.  Fearing a rain wrapped tornado, we left the storm.

Our third storm had developed just south of Hollis moving east-northeast towards Altus.  We worked to line up with it, though rotation reports from many different areas made that difficult.  Eventually we were able to make out storm structure as we approached Altus.  A tornado was reported north of Altus about 10 minutes before we got close.  When we did get within range, low hanging clouds were noted in the updraft region.  A spotter did report a tornado about the time we were in this area.  Followed this storm on the southwest flank through Altus and east along HWY 62.  Storm appeared to lose rotation characteristics, but wrote that off to night time, as it was about 21:15.  Storm eventually turned east-southeast and moved along HWY 62.  So we played tag with the wrap around rain/hail area.  Got a few extra dents due to this effort.  Measured 1.75 inch hail near Snyder.  Heard reports of 100mph winds, but weren't sure about it.  We had northerly winds up to 60mph during the drive into Lawton.  As we approached the western side of Lawton we noted power outages, signs down, and a dumpster in the median.  We followed Cache road east into town and noted several businesses damaged and a lot of tree damage.  Damage assessment from Lawton on June 1, would indicate about 208 homes and several businesses affected by this storm.

Made a brief stop at KSWO-TV and headed home.

Note:  Video review has revealed some interesting occurrences.  Apparently lightning struck within 6 feet of the vehicle.