2017-05-22 REPORTS: NM/TX

[John Farley]

Days like this are why I love storm chasing/photography in New Mexico! All these pictures were taken within about 30 miles of Santa Rosa. Storm after storm, most of them supercells. And I saw two, maybe three other chaser vehicles all day - in the third week of May! I will get a full chase report for this day written up as time permits. In the meantime, here are a few of my favorite pics.

Storm 1, just WNW of Santa Rosa as I approach from the west:

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This small funnel cloud formed under Storm 1. Never got much bigger than this and didn't last long, so no real threat:




Storm 2 - Left split supercell from a storm that formed southwest of Fort Sumner:



Unlike most left splits, this one became dominant, dropping 2-inch hail as it crossed U.S. 84 moving NE. A little after this, it also absorbed Storm 1, which was moving SE as did most of this day's storms. Here is a picture of the 2-inch hail:

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Storm 3 - this began as a line of storms that formed in outflow from the first two, but gradually consolidated into a more cellular structure. It also went severe and dropped 1-inch hail near House, NM:



Storm 4 - LP supercell near Santa Rosa (wide angle shot). Doesn't look like there is much precipitation under the cloud, but a pretty good barrage of 1-inch hail had just fallen from it where I took this picture. Luckily I was under a roof for most of the time the hail was falling:

[Broken External Image]:http://www.johnefarley.com/chase52217-fb5.jpg"

(Note: this one and the next one say "broken external image" but they work when I click on them. Not sure what is going on here, but the links do not really appear to be broken.)

The mammatus in the distance were under the anvil of this LP supercell, well to the southeast.

Storm 5 - the only storm of the day to get a tornado warning (though well after this picture was taken):
[Broken External Image]:http://www.johnefarley.com/chase52217-fb6.jpg"

This is the one that eventually moved east of Roswell. I took this picture from about 40 miles from the storm - that only seems to work in places like NM and CO.

 

[John Farley]

I have now completed a full-write-up on my observations of the storms around Santa Rosa, NM Monday. In addition to a detailed report of what I observed, there are also a number of new pictures in addition to ones posted previously, and video of the hail from the LP supercell near Santa Rosa. You can access my report at:

http://www.johnefarley.com/chase52217.htm

 

[cdcollura]

Good day all,

One of many late posts on here. But here is the chase logs for May 22, 2017...

Summary: May 22 was a pretty good chase day with two supercell storms intercepted in eastern New Mexico mainly in Chaves County. I forecasted and found the best play for the day was the upslope convection in eastern New Mexico, throwing away the previous day’s target of Lubbock. The SPC had a slight risk area, stretching from eastern New Mexico into western Texas, with a 2% tornado, and 15% for both wind and hail for their probabilities as of 1630z. I headed out of Amarillo during the early afternoon via I-27 south to 70 west out of Plainview. I continued west on 70 to Roosevelt County, New Mexico. Supercells were intercepted there in the afternoon, with the chase heading down 70 to 285, then through Roswell and east on Highway 380. I wrapped up the chase meeting with Dan Shaw for photography. I continued east to near Tatum, then north on SR 206 back to Highway 70 near Portales. I continued to Clovis, taking Highway 60 out of Farwell, Texas northeast to Canyon, then finally north on I-27 back into Amarillo for the night.

1). May 22, 5:00 PM - Interception and observation a strong thunderstorm over rural areas of Roosevelt County, New Mexico and west of Highway 70 near Delphos and Portales. The storm was a small LP supercell. Conditions encountered were occasional lightning, light rains, 30 MPH winds, and hail up to penny sized. One CG lightning bolt started a grass fire in an open field after it hit. Conditions causing the storm were surface heating, upslope wind flow, a stationary boundary, a low pressure trough, and upper trough. A 2016 Jeep Wrangler was used to chase the storms. Documentation was digital stills. A severe thunderstorm watch was in effect for the area until 8 PM MDT.

2). May 22, 7:00 PM - Interception and observation a very severe thunderstorm from west of Delphos and Kenna, New Mexico in Chaves County along and near Highways 70 and 285, and ultimately eastward along Highway 380 east of Roswell. The storm was an intense LP to classic supercell storm. The storm had a very striking visual appearance during all stages of its lifecycle, including RFD, hail shafts, rock-hard updraft, and rotating high-based wall clouds. The core of the storm was not penetrated, but contained large hail to at least 2". Copious amounts of quarter sized hail was noted along Highway 380 behind the storm. Other conditions were winds over 50 MPH (with dust), light rain, and frequent lightning. Conditions causing the storm were surface heating, upslope wind flow, a stationary boundary, a low pressure trough, and upper trough. A 2016 Jeep Wrangler was used to chase the storms. Documentation was digital stills. A severe thunderstorm watch was in effect for the area until 8 PM MDT.



Above: Intensifying LP supercell storm to the northwest of Highway 70 near Kenna, New Mexico. The storm is producing large hail at this time. The view is to the west.



Above: Incredible updraft of the supercell storm moving southeast over Chaves County, New Mexico east of Roswell. The storm was tornado warned at this time. The view is to the east on Highway 380.



Above: View of weakening LP supercell storm south of Highway 380 and mammatus / anvil blowing off to the left. The view is to the south.



Above: Dan Shaw on Highway 380 east of Roswell, New Mexico in his chase vehicle, as the supercell storm weakens in the background over Chaves County.