2012-06-22 REPORTS: SD/NE/CO

[Chip Redmond]

Started out in Chadron only to have storms fail. Drifted northwest to watch the storm sit on the SD/WY border for over an hour. Got a great timelapse. Storm finally started rotating and became a beautiful beast which went on to drop three tornadoes near Ardmore, SD. Here are a few shots. Timelapse and many more shots can be found at my blog http://chip-redmond.blogspot.com





Chip

 

[Chad Alcares]

Great job Chip! I was inching towards that area via Nebraska Panhandle throughout the day and got there just in time. I saw you set up for the timelapse - so I tried to set up maybe a mile or two north. You guys were in perfect! position to capture the timelapse and see the storms change in structure and then with the sun backlighting the tornado. I toured Chimney rock, then checked out the Agate Fossil Beds for a brief moment then saw the tower go up in Wyoming and it looked 100% better than any of the stuff in Nebraska, so I headed that way. Only armed with a Sony Cybershot and no tripod, my pictures aren't nearly as professional, just point and shoot (I was there type) - but just being there was most important. I had live webcam going but was only getting 1 bar on 1X so maybe 1 or 2 screen shots a minute were actually posting - GRLevel3 wouldn't update for 30 minutes after the tornado formed. You guys went east at Ardmore, I continued down 71... the storms didn't cross southeast like i was hoping for and went more east at that point. Again great shots and thank you!! Was wondering what things looked like from your vantage point. This is my first post, I think. Long time lurker.



More here

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.320806308006839.74699.103495769737895&type=3

 

[Skip Talbot]

Jennifer Brindley Ubl and I targeted northeast Colorado as forecast instability, moisture convergence, and upslope lift looked maximized along the dryline bulge there, while bulk shear, effective srh, and low level instability were about even across the warm sector (you see I'm trying to rationalize why I missed the tornadoes). We left Wall, SD that morning after a couple days touring the Badlands, drove right past where the evening tornado show would take place in the grasslands south of the Black Hills, and proceeded to the road and data void of northeast Colorado, arriving just as storms were going up. Our first storm on the NE/CO border southwest of Sydney, NE exhibited a nice updraft base and small, high based lowering, the one behind it was a little smaller in size, but had a lot better low level organization, rotation, and what looked like a brief attempt at a funnel. It was small, and while we were close I couldn't directly discern the rotation, and it didn't persist, so I didn't bother reporting it. That storm started to fizzle so we dropped down to a much more robust supercell southwest of Holyoke, CO. We couldn't get in front of it until after nightfall due to the road grid. It had some great striated structure and lightning, however. The CG triggered a wildfire on the NE/KS border which we stopped to shoot as well:

Updraft base on the first storm:

Maybe a small point funnel on the left:

En route to the southern storm we saw this column of dust underneath an updraft in the wake of the main supercell. Not sure if it was an outflow plume being pulled into the updraft or maybe a weak landspout:

Wildfire and distant lightning:

Would have liked to have seen the SD tornadoes, but we had a fantastic chase and were very happy with the shots we got.

 

[Skip Talbot]

Here's timelapse video of the supercells we witnessed as well as the wildfire. If you look closely when the scene switches at 1:35 there is what appears to be a small funnel as well.

Watch video >

 

[William Reid]

Our group wound up on the pretty LP/classic supercell in the southern Nebraska Panhandle. A chase account and images are now posted on my web site.

Watch video >

William Reid/Westlake Village, CA/KG6FWX
www.stormbruiser.com

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