02/08/09 REPORTS: NM/TX

[Michael Carlson]

I chased with Tony Laubach and Dann Cianca today in far eastern NM into west TX. We saw pea size hail and high winds pushing 60KT. We got on multiple severe warned parts of the squall line and tried to make the best out of the situation.

I also posted the photos from the day before. We stopped off in Trinidad Colo. to shoot a structure fire.

PHOTOS

 

[Jason Boggs]

At first, I went west on I-40 and stopped at the rest stop for a while at Glenrio. I then backtracked and went south out of Adrian and made it to Hereford as the outflow winds hit town. I would say that gusts were no more than 40 mph or so with moderate rain. As I got about 2 miles west of Canyon, very strong inflow hit me with gusts of about 55-60 mph. As I went north on I-27 towards Amarillo near McCormick road, outflow winds hit me with gusts approaching 65 mph. It actually pushed a semi truck onto the shoulder, but he was able to maintain control of the vehicle.

All in all, not much more to ask from a chase in February that was close to home. I had fun and all the equipment worked like a charm.

 

[Wesley Luginbyhl]

I drove down to the Clovis area this afternoon and drove the whole way back right on the front edge of the line to Amarillo. I was doing 60 mph at one point and was getting 40+ mpg with the tale wind (more than double my normal gas milage). I was in Friona about the time the KVII Schoolnet report a 70 mph gust. My vehicle got caked with dirt and other feedyard debris in Hereford. I probably took out 100+ tumbleweeds and almost got one stuck on the windshield wiper near Hereford. My best pictures of the day were of random NM sights and not the storms. I should have got video driving from Friona to Hereford, it was intense. I was a little too worried about staying on the road to mess with a video camera at the time. For a Feb chase with below 50 dew points, it was definitely a good chase.

 

[Tony Laubach]

Sunday, February 8, 2009 Chase Log Here

Good start to the 2009 season, and one that was definitely more low key than where I kicked off last year. I chased along with Michael Carlson and Dann Cianca, leaving Denver on Saturday and getting back Monday morning at 4:30am after a 16 hour drive-a-thon on Sunday. Our target was Clovis, NM.

More details and pictures can be found on my website. Video uploads to come soon...

 

[Dann Cianca]

Finally (sorry for the delay), I have my report up from the day. It's mostly the same as Michael and Tony's ... but with 17 minutes of awe-inspiring video.

We weren't expecting (or had forecast) anything too severe, but it was a good "warm up" chase and we ended up with surprisingly good results.

http://blog.bigskyconvection.com/2009/02/2009-storm-chase-i-brief.html