4/26/09 Disc: TX/OK/KS/NE/IA

[Mike Peregrine]

Well that's pretty interesting ... aren't the anticylonic rotations typically BEHIND the cyclonic meso?

We also noted inflow problems (I think I mentioned it in the NOW thread). Inflow winds were generally weak and when they became stronger, the storms also pulsed. I'm thinking that sfc winds were the primary culprit in the weirdness out there on Sunday.

 

[Kevin Crawmer]

I was in SC KS on Sunday and in that area I just noticed that anything ahead of the line of storms that tried to form discretely would really try to get its act together then really fizzle, spread out, and turn into a complex of thundershowers. I was in some real nice inflow (maybe a little cool), but since I was further northeast from most of the rest of the people posting on here I think that the atmosphere may not have quite recovered efficiently enough to overcome the weak midlevel winds. I had noticed that in the SC KS area for a few days and was concerned about it, but when I saw the first two tornado warned storms really fizzle out before my eyes I realized I had practically wasted my time in terms of discrete, tornadic supercells. I literally turned around and drove home at that point. I was pretty bummed about leaving my wife and kids that I don't get to see much at home while I drove out to Wichita and literally turned around and came back home. I was back home at 10:30 though...and the drive home wasn't filled with regret as nothing else happened (I was out of position for the tornado that touched down just west of Wichita...just before it was overtaken by the squall line).

Like someone said though, how bad can it really be if you see a couple of storms in some beautiful countryside. My "Sunday Drive" was about 14 hours than what others think of as a "Sunday Drive"!