Storms were a bust.....

Today is a chase day.... SPC continues to show a 30% risk area over parts of northeastern Kansas. We have decided on Osborne, Kansas for are target area.
Unfortunately storms did not develop to the levels that were expected, but we did get a few great structural shots of some of the cells that briefly went severe warned.

 

 

 

We tried to stay ahead of the rain, but this storm was moving quite quickly and that was just not possible.

Not much of a chase day today so we called it early and headed back west towards Colby, Kansas.

Tomorrow we start our journey a bit further north as we go through Nebraska and into South Dakota.



Suprise storm with gorgeous rainbow in Kansas

Today is a travel day as there is not expected to be much in the way of weather in our area. We left Amarillo and headed back north into Kansas. A little sightseeing today will put us in good position for a chase on Saturday in northeastern Kansas to southeastern Nebraska. SPC has a 30% area over that region for severe weather on Saturday....

While at a gas stop... we noticed there were severe thunderstorm warnings posted in western Kansas around Dodge City. Well, we can't miss an opportunity to chase a storm, even if we had other plans for the day. So off we went heading west.


It was quite the drive to get there and we were hoping the storm would stay together by the time we got there.
Unfortunately it started to die off, but we did manage to get some nice shots of tower cumulus around Garden City, Kansas.

 

 

Then the crème de la crème appeared shortly after as we were heading north. The most beautiful rainbow I have ever seen backdropped with rain and hail falling from a storm over the plains.

 

 

 

 

We finished the day heading back to Hays, Kansas for the night. 

Roswell to White Sands, New Mexico

They aren't kidding about aliens in Roswell....


Aliens are everywhere around this city. I wish we could have gone to the UFO museum while we were here, but it was on the way to White Sands, New Mexico today. Chances were small for any development of thunderstorms, but should they fire up, it would likely be along the mountain ranges.



White sands is located about 50miles north of El Paso, Texas/Juarez, Mexico, but in order to get they we have to go over a beautiful mountain range, climbing to about 7000 feet.

The following picture is from Kimberly Fuller Dehart...

White sands is a beautiful white sand dune area of SW New Mexico. It's an area of gypsum sand that gives the appearance that you are in a snowy mountain area.

This is certainly not an area you want to forget your sunglasses and sunscreen. Especially today with clear skies.

 

Convection began developing quickly over the mountain range to our east. There is hope yet for a chase....

 

These storms put out a few lightning bolts, but nothing major.
Now we have the long 7hour drive back to Amarillo, Texas.

New Mexico: High Desert Storms to a Haboob near Roswell.

Today we leave Texas behind as we head west into New Mexico...
I gotta tell ya, at first the scenery was nice with some hilly terrain,



 but once we got over that there was nothing but FLAT for miles on end with literally nothing around.



 We were headed to the central area of the state waiting for storms to develop in the later afternoon.
We made a pit stop in Clovis, New Mexico to take a gander at the computer models to try an pin point a location for storm development. It appeared that the southern point of storms, or what's called the "Tailend Charlie" storm would have the best chance for development into something severe.

So off we went towards Roswell, New Mexico in search for a storm, and perhaps a few aliens while we were at it.
What a boring ride that was.... there is absolutely nothing around. Not even a tree for MILES upon MILES down this highway. This picture really puts the meaning into "Road to Nowhere" doesn't it.

Storms started to fire up in the later afternoon as expected and we managed to catch some shots in the high desert plains.....

Not really a doozy of a storm, but picturesque, nonetheless. This particular storm started to produce quite the downdraft which kicked up quite the dust storm ahead of it. As the storm intensified, the outflow created a mini Haboob which swept all the way to Rosewell. We positioned ourselves on the interstate to let the Haboob over take us. That's not something you want to be caught in, at least on the leading edge. Winds gusty quite strong with dust and dirt at it's leading edge.

It was amazing to be in as you couldn't see 30feet in front of you at one point. Winds gusty upwards of 80-90km/h for awhile ushering in cooler air across the region.

The storms developed quickly into a squall line as they headed east into Texas.



Tonight we are staying in Roswell, New Mexico.
Tomorrow looks like a sight seeing day as there isn't much severe weather expected to develop around the region.

Texas to Colorado and Back.... June 4th 2013

We are headed towards the Oklahoma Panhandle region today as our target. Modelling is showing three areas of possible outbreaks with one down into Texas, one over the panhandle, and the other in extreme southeastern Colorado. We are choosing the southern location. SPC has a slight risk of severe weather over the region, however tornado probability is low.

On our way to the target area, we received word from the National Weather Service that the tornado in El Reno, OK last Friday would be upgraded to an EF-5. The OU RAXPOL radar had detected wind speeds of 296mph or 476km/h. The tornado also had a maximum width of 4.2km making this the largest tornado ever recorded in history. There was also word that it went from less than a mile wide to 2.6miles in about 30 seconds.

It's no wonder that this tornado caught everyone off guard. There was literally no way to escape.
My heart goes out to the families and friends who lost loved ones in this storm. It was a freak of nature. I thank my lucky stars that I am still here to talk about it, given are location in the outer circulation of the tornado.

 

We are down in the Texas panhandle and wow, is it ever hot. Temperatures are around 36°C, but dewpoints are quite low, so humidity is not an issue. We pick a target area, but after analysing some data, it's decided that the dewpoint spread is way to high, meaning the air is very dry. This doesn't bode well for storm initiation.

 

So.. back up north we go through Oklahoma and into southeastern Colorado.

There are a few severe warned cells into Colorado with one cell being tornado warned. 

As we get into the region some incredible cloud structure developed.

Take a look...

 

We also witnessed a dust storm ahead of a thunderstorm outflow in southeastern Colorado.

 

 

 

All in all, not a bad day going between Texas, Oklahoma and Colorado and going between Central and Mountain Time.

It's off to Amarillo, Texas for the night as we target the region of western Texas to New Mexico on Wednesday.

Monday June 3rd - Southwestern Kansas.

Today we are chasing in Southwestern Kansas, however we have quite some time to wait until storm initiation. So with that in mind, what a great time to have some fun in the land of OZ in Liberal, Kansas.

 

Storms started to fire up in the later afternoon and we headed out to a spot to wait.

This is typical in chasing. You want to find a spot ahead of the target area and wait for storms to fire up and become somewhat severe as they approach.

 



 

After waiting for a bit, it was decided that this wasn't the best area to target and we move on.
We did however pass through some thunderstorms with nice cloudy to ground lightning....


Later in the day a departing storm gave some BEAUTIFUL picture opportunities with a windfarm in the background.

 

The departing storm also produced some great mammatus clouds...

 

 

As the storm moved on, this provided for a wonderful sunset opportunity.



Staying in Great Bend, Kansas for the night.

June 2nd 2013 = Garden of the Gods and Pikes Peak, Colorado.

A beautiful morning in Colorado Springs, Colorado.... but nothing prepared me for the news I was about to hear.
The El Reno, Oklahoma tornado that we were in on Friday took the lives of veteran storm chasers Tim Samaras, Paul Samaras and Carl Young. You may remember them from the Discovery Channel show Storm Chasers, they were team Twistex. 0
Tim was a pioneer in the storm chasing industry. His understanding of storms was second to none and his goal was to save lives from mother natures intense fury. Unfortunately the El Reno tornado caught him and many others off guard as it made a quick turn and overtook those in it's path.
Tim will always be remember as the best of the best. RIP Tim and Paul Samaras & Carl Young.