Last Day

Fir 2013, Monday was the last day chasing storms on the plains.

It turned out to be an active day and our lack of time hindered our ability to see the one tornadic cell that formed along the KS-NE border. Still, it was a busy day and we got to see a couple of great cells south of the most severe area. With more time, we probably could have worked out way in behind the largest, meanest cell of the day, but that was not meant to be as work and reality called us back to the east.

The day's activity was setting up along a stationary front that was just north of I-70, and just south of the NE-KS border. Storm could form on either side of this convergence zone, and it would likely to be enhanced by the outflow from the MCS (mesoscale convective system) that had formed the night before. There was likely to be widespread activity and with a lot of available mositure, there would be many storms and it would be hard to view the storms without being in the storms. This makes chasing and viewing more difficult and photography more challenging if not almost impossible.

In the mid afternoon, storms started to pop up, with the most instense nearby storms developing along the KS-NE line. We were south of I-70, looking for the tail end of the line that would likely develop or to find the storm that would develop in front of the line of storms, similar to Sunday's chase. Although a few cells did develop to the south of the line, none were all that powerful and the KS-NE line of storms soon became tornadic and long lived. The storms to the south would ebb and flow and the 90 minute drive to NE would prove too difficult considering the number of HP cells and out limited time. Instead we waiting for further development to the south. Unfortunately, relatively little development occurred to the south, while the cell at the tail end of the KS-NE line continued as a torndado-warned storm for the next hour.

We took some pictures of the nearby severe thunderstorms and looked at our options for trying to see the tornadic cell, but time was against us and it was time to start the 1300-mile journey home. We made it back in just over 26 hours. Once along Lake Erie, we encountered more tornado warned storms where we could see rotation among the heavy rain and low visibility.

For the entire trip, we traveled 5,500 miles in 8 days, visiting NY, PA, OH, IN, IL, MO, NE, KS, OK and TX.

A Big Show

Things started up late today, but once they did, the show was a good one. We spent the whole day in NE, heading from Alliance to just east of Broken Bow.

We were able to follow one storm for about 4 hours from about 6pm until after dark, seeing a supercell, funnel cloud, rainbows and lots of lightning. All afternoon we waited for convection to begin as a cap repressed early and mid afternoon storms. A stationary pseudo-warm front over central NE was the focus point for storm formation. A dryline coming in from the desert southwest would push into the area, interacting with a small shortwave of energy from a low pressure system over the Pacific. together these ingredients could spawn tornadoes and lots of severe thunderstorms. Indeed, once the storms got going, they did produce one short-lived tornado from the cell to our north.

When the chase began, we had to choose between two growing cells -- one to the north and one to the southeast. We chose the southeast one as it was better developed and it was all alone. In the end, there was no right answer as all the storms developed rapidly. Even though we missed a brief tornado, it would have been hard to see and there was a lot of rain and many cells to contend with to the north. The isolated storm we followed put down baseball sized hail and a funnel cloud. It was tornado warned, but there never was a tornado.

The cell we shased was a great storm as it was alone and moved slow enough that we could keep up with it. A couple of times it looked like it might drop a tornado, but it never did quite get its act toghether. The cell did wrap up to look like a spaceship by the end of the night. It was by the far the most picturesque storm of the trip. By the time darkness fell, lightning filled the sky, keep the storm lit almost constatnly. As night came on, all the storms merged into an MCS and dumped rain on east-central NE. We headed back to North Platte to bed down for the night.

In total, we traveled about 450 miles for the day all in NE, bringing our trip total to about 3,300 miles.

If we are lucky, we will get one last day of chasing in before heading back east.

May 25 Caught in the Middle

Caught in the Middle

When we started Saturday morning, we hoped to be in the right place for the best storms of the day and headed for far western NE. The most heating and energy should have been there. Some high base storms were expected with great viewing. Unfortunately, mother nature out thought us today and we wound up with less than we expected. Still, the day was not without its highlights.



As the morning began, the forecast called for a surge of energy to come out of the northern Rockies and set off storms that would evolve and move onto the high plains. This would make SD and NE the best places to see severe weather. We headed northwest of I-80 and US-26, passing from KS into NE. The storms began to form as predicted, especially up north. We waited for storms to continue to form to the south in the Alliance/Scottbluff region. Meanwhile to the south, a new line of storms started to form in western KS. These storms, while not severe, turned out to be strong enough to reduce the amount of energy available to the NE storms. Very little formed in NE. The upper air winds from the KS storms kept puling apart the NE storms that tried to form. The one storm that came out of WY later in the day could never establish its upper air dynamics. Father north much stonger storms evolved free of the southern storms' inflience, but these storms did not spawn any tornadoes either.

Around Alliance, NE, we watched a couple of compact storms develop and then fall apart. Their updafts showed some signs of rotation, but the stroms could not maintain their momentum. After an hour or so, the storm fell apart. The next nearest storm was more than 3 hours away in SD and there was not enough daylight to make it. Instead we visited Carhenge, an accurate recreatation of Stonehenge made out of junked cars. While we explored this monument to Detroit and ancient England, another storm develped in WY and worked its way east. We headed out to intersect this new storm. It developed into a supercell, its spaceship form well-defined against an otherwise clear sky. It had enough energy (the day's heating and moisture) to remain intact, but its upper half was too was caught up in the upper air currents of the KS storm complex and could not become the severe behemoth we hoped for. Into the pictureque hills of far northwest NE we headed and saw the storm up close. It showed some rotation, include one impressive funnel-like formation, but then that updraft faded as well. Out day ended with the sunset backlighting the storm. It was a breathtaking scene of the American west. We then headed back to Alliance for the night.
 

For Saturday we traveled 495 miles through KS and NE, bringing our total for the trip to just over 3200 miles.

A Nice Finish

It was a long haul. Abilene was warm and wet in the morning, the last night's storms keeping the area wet and humid. The morning forecast showed the storms persisting to the south and down into Mexico, but those storms were not of interest to us. The best chance for severe storms was in the area where KS, NE and CO come together. There, a small bundle of energy coming out of the Rockies would interact with the turning of the jet stream as it went from south to east. Add to that the day's heat, and the rising air could break through the cap and storms could form.

We left Abilene and headed north along US-83. We made good time as the speed limit on Texas' rural roads is 75. By the time we made it up to I-40, the area for severe weather had been expanded south to the northeast corner of the TX panhandle. So we headed west on I-40, hoping to see and partake in the rumored 80mph TX interstate speed limits. This also ensured we had every possible chance to see developing storms. Sadly, we did not see either of them in TX.

We did get a quick stop in at The Texan. There, if you can eat the 72oz. steak dinner in one hour, the meal is free. It is one of those fun tourist spots that chasing allows us to experience. The weather was calling us, so we headed north.

It was clear from the evolving weather discussions and data that the best chance for action that we could reach would be in northwestern KS. All around us were clear skies and the temperature lifted into the low 90s. We traveled through OK and far western KS, heading up along OK-95 and KS-27. We crossed a number of small rivers on oversized bridges -- a testament to large volumes of water that can fill these seemingly small watercourses.

Around 4pm central time, a set of storms formed in CO and moved into far western NE and KS. The storms moved slowly and gave us time to catch them. We headed through Syracuse, a dusty cow town and still had another hour to go. We finally reached the storm just north of I-70 and Goodland. Stronger storms grew in NE, where the vorticity max (bending winds) were stronger, but that was too far for us to reach.

The storm continued to improve as evening progressed. We were able to watch the storm for about an hour, following it north along KS-27. We had two updrafts to watch, the closer one being slightly weaker until the end of the day. Then, the storm intensified and developed a strong updraft and distinct striations. Although it never got close to forming a tornado, it became photogenic. The setting sun provided stark backlight accented by sporadic lightning and a full moon. It was by far the most picturesque storm of the trip so far.


We then bedded down in Wakeeney, KS. Saturday promises a similar set up, except with the energy focused slightly more to the north.

For the day, we travelled 950 miles in TX, OK, and KS. Our three day total has covered over 2,500 miles.

Big Tex, Few Results.

This morning we left Wichita and headed southwest. A row of morning storms greeted us, which played a big role in the day's events. The morning line of storms lined up along I-35 and slowed us down as we went south. As the storms continued to grow and backbuild to the west, we decided to go father west to escape the heavy rain.

This first line of storms would set up an outflow boundary, similar to a ripple moving through a pond. The main ripple, when it hit the hot capped air east of the Lubbock, created a high precipitation supercell. There was also a dryline sitting to the west that could initiate storm formation, but it never exerted itself. As a result, this first cell became the focus. It was a large cell, but with few good roads in the area and a lot of rain and hail, it was difficult to the approach the storm.

In the small town of Crowell, we stopped and looked at our options. There was almost no cell phone reception or data available. There was a new cell developing near Amarillo. It's top surged to 55,000 feet and looked promising, but it was 2 hours away and moving north, which was odd. We debated our options and then decided to chase the storm complex to our south, even if it was moving out of the area most favorable for development. It was a good decision as the Amarillo storm dissipated.


The storm was large. It was the size of an entire county. The storm did put down a couple of short lived tornadoes, but we were not in a position to see them. There was a lot of hail, but not near us. Soon other cells formed as well, but they grew and died quickly as well. By the time we finally worked out way around the storm, we had made it down to I-20, threading the needed between the two largest cells. Unfortunately, it was getting dark and the storms were outflow dominant with lots of wind. We decided to bed down in Abilene, TX.

This long chase, which included about 570 miles and 10 hours of driving, provided only limited storm viewing. Just as frustrating is the fact that tomorrow's best chance for action is about 600 miles to the north, around the area where NE, CO, and KS come together.

Another year chasing storms begins! We started out from Syracuse by way of Grove City, PA, on Tuesday evening. The severe storms recently devastating the plains were now moving into the Northeast, even as we headed west.

I got a Nissan Altima for the chase this year. It is a good enough car for the job, getting just over 35mpg. Gas is expensive this year, with even less expensive places like MO above $3.60 per gallon.

The models show that there is a good chance for storms in OK and TX panhandles tomorrow (see map below), so we are heading that way and need to get there by mid afternoon, Thursday (tomorrow). The predictions show that conditions are ripe for explosive development of isolated storms in the afternoon, after the day's heating causes rapidly rising air to lift into winds that twist with height. Tonight we plan to bed down in Wichita after having burgers at Spangles, one of our favorite places to eat while on the road.