• After witnessing the continued decrease of involvement in the SpotterNetwork staff in serving SN members with troubleshooting issues recently, I have unilaterally decided to terminate the relationship between SpotterNetwork's support and Stormtrack. I have witnessed multiple users unable to receive support weeks after initiating help threads on the forum. I find this lack of response from SpotterNetwork officials disappointing and a failure to hold up their end of the agreement that was made years ago, before I took over management of this site. In my opinion, having Stormtrack users sit and wait for so long to receive help on SpotterNetwork issues on the Stormtrack forums reflects poorly not only on SpotterNetwork, but on Stormtrack and (by association) me as well. Since the issue has not been satisfactorily addressed, I no longer wish for the Stormtrack forum to be associated with SpotterNetwork.

    I apologize to those who continue to have issues with the service and continue to see their issues left unaddressed. Please understand that the connection between ST and SN was put in place long before I had any say over it. But now that I am the "captain of this ship," it is within my right (nay, duty) to make adjustments as I see necessary. Ending this relationship is such an adjustment.

    For those who continue to need help, I recommend navigating a web browswer to SpotterNetwork's About page, and seeking the individuals listed on that page for all further inquiries about SpotterNetwork.

    From this moment forward, the SpotterNetwork sub-forum has been hidden/deleted and there will be no assurance that any SpotterNetwork issues brought up in any of Stormtrack's other sub-forums will be addressed. Do not rely on Stormtrack for help with SpotterNetwork issues.

    Sincerely, Jeff D.

07/10/10 NOW: SD / MN / NE / KS / CO

Jeff Duda

site owner, PhD
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Ingredients for severe weather are coming together in the high and northern plains right now.

19Z SPC mesoanalyses showing over 5000 J/kg SBCAPE in SE SD with above 3500 J/kg in a region from just south of Grand Forks, ND SWWD through about Kearney/North Platte and vicinity. However, the area to the north - in E SD - appears much more likely to see storm development soon. There is some sort of boundary, a dryline of sorts, pushing east across C SD providing plenty of surface convergence. This area is also under 20 kt southerlies at 925 mb, up to 30 kt southwesterlies at 850 mb, 30 - 35 kt west-southwesterlies at 700 mb and generally 30 kt westerlies at 500 mb. Temps aloft are plenty cool enough to preclude capping. Effective deep layer shear values are > 40 kts across most of E SD, with 15 - 30 kt 0-1 km shear from NE SD through WC MN. 0-1 km, 0-3 km, and effective SRH values are also in the sufficient-for-severe-weather ranges. Lastly, low-level CAPE is in abundance from SE ND all the way south through NC KS. Supercell compsite, significant tornado, and EHI values are all jumping to reflect the overlapping of such good parameters. It looks to me like some supercells with tornadoes are a distinct possibility before multiple storms coalesce and evolve upscale into an MCS late tonight (DCAPE values are rather high in the area, too). I'm actually kind of surprised that the watch SPC just issued for the area wasn't a tornado watch.
 
Looks like initiation is underway in C SD in two areas: near Kadoka and I-90 and just northwest of Chamberlain. Both areas are right along that dry boundary extending a short distance west-east across the central part of the state. The storm to the east is in a much better sheared environment and is right on the doorstep of the region of greatest instability, which has now climbed to > 5500 J/kg surface based! Thus it has a greater chance of becoming severe.
 
The area of great instability and good shear has maintained itself as it has moved east into W MN. Looks like SPC has finally decided to issue a tornado watch, and in fact, a warning has popped up (two now) for storms in WC MN, all have weak couplets.
 
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