Bill Tabor
EF5
I made a brief excursion from my home north to intercept a couple of cells showing rotation south of Lampasas. Basically I jumped in the car, shot north and there I was! Can't get much easier than this. From home I really couldn't tell there was a strong storm to the north as sky was hazy and overcast, but not that dark. Upon reaching the areas of rotation due north and due west of me by a few miles it was very dark. Ahead near Lampasas I really couldn't make out much detail. There was some stuff hanging down and heavy precip - but no big deal. I realized the area to the west was getting close so I backed off to the south and found a nice remote road facing due west. Precipitation swept along from north, northwest, west, and southwest in the background; however in the foreground I was able to see the dark area of rotation and associated wallcloud. I watched it for awhile and ran the dashcam a bit. A few brilliant bolts of lightning struck nearby around the wallcloud feature. After awhile I could see what appeared to be an almost black cone shaped funnel that was mostly up behind the wallcloud. It was tough to see. I ran the dashcam on it, but I doubt it got it. I also saw the beginnings of another weak funnel back in the precip but that broke up as well. I stayed until it was almost on top of me, and I noticed Threatnet was showing that it was building to the south and rather than the storm moving northeast as it had been it was now moving due east. I got ready to bail and looked north across the field to realize I almost waited too long. Threatnet had been showing over 100mph shear for awhile and I could now see that precip and wind on that side of me was almost on top of me. Also the area to the southwest appeared to be starting to wrap around. I punched it and got a little wind and precip, but managed to beat the extreme turbulence and large hail. That was fine with me. I watched it a bit more and headed home.
Not a lot to see, but then not a lot of effort either so it was a quick thrill - and that is better than none.
There were some other cells around Austin today, but the urban area, traffic and roads made me not want to mess with them. I hate trying to chase while being stuck in traffic. It drives me insane.
Guess so far we haven't had that much. Some fairly large hail and probably some wind but not much that I am aware of in tornadoes verifying.
EDIT: Eh, maybe I spoke too soon. Looks like I have a TVS to my west headed this way in the dark. Hmmm....will have to watch this one.
Not a lot to see, but then not a lot of effort either so it was a quick thrill - and that is better than none.
There were some other cells around Austin today, but the urban area, traffic and roads made me not want to mess with them. I hate trying to chase while being stuck in traffic. It drives me insane.
Guess so far we haven't had that much. Some fairly large hail and probably some wind but not much that I am aware of in tornadoes verifying.
EDIT: Eh, maybe I spoke too soon. Looks like I have a TVS to my west headed this way in the dark. Hmmm....will have to watch this one.
