5/21/08 REPORTS: SD/WY/CO/NE/TX

[Jason Persoff]

TARGET: Burlington CO

REASON: Dry punch, boundary on radar, etc...see forecast thread

SHORT: Bust

LONGER: Hung around on I-76 most of the day in CO. Couldn't quite understand why things were firing in Kit Carson, CO, so stuck to my target until 4pm MDT. The only Cu that formed along that boundary were flat and never achieved even remotely healthy status. It was clear that I probably need to deal the harsh reality that is was real, ongoing convection versus wishcasting.

I saw the storm in Kit Carson beginning to get its act together, but was still in an ugly environment of low Tds, high LCLs, and poor directional shear. But, mesoanalysis showed winds in the NE corner of CO were highly backed (out of the east at a brisk 15-20) and I began to entertain the idea that as the multicell cluster moved further north into the more easterly flow at the surface, we'd start to see that directional shear increase, potentially salvaging the day. But that never really materialized and the storms just crappily rolled along.

TUMBLEWEEDS: I gotta comment on the unbelievable tumbleweed infestation today. The sfc winds were screaming out of the ESE (at one point almost ripping my car door from the hinges). The tumbleweeds were hysterical in their incredible density. I was unable to dodge them and am personally responsible for a large amount of tumbleweed carnage along US 61. I'll take personal responsibility for my actions, though. But fortunately, left no survivors to claim damages against me...Seriously: lots of tumbleweeds. Lots of 'em.

I gave up the ghost in Sterling CO...I stayed up late last night w/ my folks and so I'm pretty sleepy today. Given tomorrow's chase prospects, I wanted to be rested.

I guess the thing I still don't get is why things didn't unfold at all in my original target. And for that matter, why everything went up in an area with no obvious trigger (i.e., Kit Carson). There weren't really any signs that led me to consider that area, and I was surprised to see the sustained, albeit multicellular, convection. The speed shear was there, but what triggered this today?

CLASSIC CLOSING CLICHE: Didn't really care that I'd busted today. After all, I'm here, on the Plains. I got to test all my equipment and got to listen to a terrific ghost story (books on tape) whilst listening to the wind careen around my car. Perfection. Lots of comfort comes from the evolution of tomorrow and the subsequent chasefest to follow. Not too shabby.

FIN

 

[Bob Schafer]

I earlier posted (in the FCST thread) that I was going to sit today out if nothing happened within about 50 miles of me in SE CO, but seeing convection occurring all over E CO got me out the door... at 5PM.

The RUC had upgraded the progged moisture just a bit for NE CO, so I headed for Burlington, then Stratton. I arrived in time to sit a couple miles N of Stratton for almost an hour before the sun set and observe some moderately cool striations and a bit of lightning from the high-based "RFB", but nothing much else. No wall clouds or anything remotely adrenaline inducing.

Yep, crunched a bit of tumbleweed myself, but nothing like April 24 in KS. April 24 was insane for the tumbleweed. I bet I ran over 1000 that night. At least.

I took a couple pics of the striations tonight, but they aren't worth posting.

P.S. I just checked Spotter Network. Goodland is the ant's nest tonight, LMAO.

 

[sdienst]

I was on the storms in eastern Colorado like many others. Managed to get some nice lightning pics near Yuma. Spending the night in Burlington and will head into Kansas with the crowds tomorrow.

 

[Andrew Pritchard]

No wall clouds or anything remotely adrenaline inducing.

Actually... just north of Stratton:

Storm developed a wall cloud for about 10 minutes and had rotation on srv. Not much for words, but about the same story as most. Played around with elevated storms and got hailed on a few times. Will upload more photos tonite.

 

[Paul Sherman]

Actually ours was'nt bad either, we targeted Burlington as well and one of the Tumbleweeds I hit resembled a small tree

Some Pics of the Kit Carson cell near to I70 At dusk

 

[Kevin Myatt]

After staying the night before for a second straight night in Sterling, Colorado, we (the 12-member Virginia Tech-aligned team) originally targeted Limon, but quickly shifted eastward when we noticed storms firing toward the Colorado-Kansas line and also better CAPE and moisture convergence (such as it was with low dew points) in Colorado's eastern tier of counties. The first cell formed in Kit Carson County and moved northeast, then north, then even north-northwest into Yuma County; we let it go, not wanting to get pulled too far north with a drive east to Kansas ahead of us. We then watched as cells developed to the south headed toward I-70 both east and west of where we were near Stratton, Colorado. We decided we had time to reach both by zipping up and down I-70, and headed west first to a cell approaching Flagler, Colorado (photo above). We arrived in time to see it cycle upward, with obvious storm rotation, rain-free bases and even some developing frisbee stacks. The storm sent down lots of CG lightning, and became severe-warned shortly after it moved north of the interstate. The cell that was east of us fell apart, but another cell soon moved on a similar track as the one we had just watched. We lingered a bit to see it to our west, but with the sun fading, continued east on I-70 to WaKeeney, Kansas, where the chaser convergence is in full force tonight for Thursday's event.

We second all the reports about the dust-and-tumbleweed storm on I-70. We had a little trouble keeping the vans in their lanes at times. Quite an interesting afternoon that we're glad we didn't run past, especially after a week of wandering the Plains waiting to chase again.

Click here for more on our 2008 storm chase trip on my Roanoke.com blog

 

[Tony Laubach]

First chase all year where I never left my resident state; 397 miles from start-to-finish and a fun way to kill off an afternoon. I picked up Ed Grubb about 230pm and we headed out I-76 to Sterling where we topped off, grabbed a candy bar, and ventured east and eventually south to Yuma where we stopped to enjoy the DOW circus and chat with Bill Hark and Chris Collura. We drifted back north a bit when a wall cloud-type feature appeared, but decided to intercept the storms moving north near Flagler. We caught up with them in Siebert where we let several rounds go before finally getting into a core of some substance. Reports of golfball hail surprised us as we saw quarters at best, most of them fairly mushy. The smaller stones had some bite to them and they came down in a deluge for a bit before the storm finally drifted north of the interstate and we headed back west on I-70 to Denver.

A fun afternoon and putz around and warm up for the next several days. My new maximumsignal wireless amp arrived an hour before I left, so I was able to test her out with success today! That pretty much was the extent of usefulness of today's venture, however Ed and I enjoyed some hilarity throughout the evening!

 

[Bill Hark]

Although a marginal day, I was hoping for some nice supercells forming from upslope surface flow toward the mountains. Moisture was very limited but would improve during the day. Picking a target was difficult as I am not as experienced with upslope storms on the High Plains. I initially picked the Fort Morgan area of northeastern Colorado. Many chasers picked farther north into southeastern Wyoming. I wasn’t that enthusiastic about today and didn’t want to get too out of position for Thursday. In Limon, Colorado I checked data and still liked the Fort Morgan to Sterling area. After lunch, I drove north on 71 toward Last Chance. I noticed a Cu field off to my east. A severe thunderstorm watch was issued for areas north of my location into Nebraska. Eventually a small storm developed west of Burlington, Colorado. It was moving northward, with additional storms to the south. Nothing was going on in my target area. At Brush, just east of Fort Morgan, I decided to blow off my original target and go for the intensifying storm in Kit Carson, County. It was moving north. I drove east on 34. The main storm to the south was developing some rotation and intensifying. The storm was approaching the town of Yuma, Colorado. I stopped in Yuma for gas, then I headed south to watch the storm. I wanted to be on the south side of the storm but road options were terrible. I also didn’t want to risk hail damage before the expected series of tornado outbreak days. I drove back into town, then a few miles west to let the storm pass to my east. I saw a weird horizontal funnel extending outward from the storm. The storm structure wasn’t impressive and the base was high. While watching the storm, I ran into fellow chasers Tony Laubach, Chris Collura, and Ed. We watched the storm move northward and lose strength. Another storm was forming to the east of Yuma. When the core safely passed, I drove east for awhile. The second storm also had a very high base and was losing strength. I decided to end the chase. I continued east to Wray, then south. I planned on going directly to I-70 in Burlington when I noticed another large storm crossing I-70 near Siebert. I couldn’t resist going west on 36, then south through Kirk to observe the storm to my west. I couldn’t get any closer due to the poor road network. The storm was linear but was producing great lightning. I briefly stopped by some Italian chasers to photograph the storm. While watching the storm, I noticed my radar was not updating. The power inverter stopped working. Arrghhh. I could have stayed to photograph lighting but I had to end the chase to prepare for tomorrow. Earlier in the evening, I called multiple hotels looking for a place to stay. All the hotels in Colby are booked along with most other area hotels mainly due to chasers. I got the last room at the Super 8 in Goodland. Tomorrow, I will buy another inverter just in case. Thursday should be a very good chase day. Tornadic storms are likely tomorrow though storm motion will be fairly rapid.

Gotta love the open roads of The Plains. Route 71 toward Last Chance, Colorado
http://www.harkphoto.com/052108openroad.jpg

Weird horizontal funnel near Yuma, CO.
http://www.harkphoto.com/052108horizontalfunnel.jpg

The Tornado Intercept Vehicle and Doppler On Wheels (DOW) plus crew just west of Yuma at 4:51 Mountain Time
http://www.harkphoto.com/052108tivdow.jpg

The storm with hail shaft and some inflow features crossing 34. View is eastward toward Yuma at 5:00 PM MDT.
http://www.harkphoto.com/052108storm.jpg

Chaser convergence haming it up for my dashcam. left to right: Me, Chris Collura, Ed, Tony Laubach
http://www.harkphoto.com/052108chaserconverg.jpg

group of Italian storm chasers watching storm at 7:17 MDT in Washington County, Colorado north of Stratton.
http://www.harkphoto.com/052108italianstormchasers.jpg

Another view of the storm in Washington County at 7:30 MDT.
http://www.harkphoto.com/052108washingtoncostorm.jpg


Bill Hark

 

[cdcollura]

Good day all,

I began chasing today in Cheyenne, WY but abandoned that target and quickly dropped SE into NE Colorado and got the LP supercell storm in Yuma County.

Above: Yuma County, CO LP supercell.

Above: Small funnel cloud associated with the Yuma County LP storm.

After the Yuma county storm weakened, I intercepted another supercell storm in Kit Carson county near I-70 and towards Stratton.

Above: Marble sized hail covers ground near I-70 and Highway 59.

Above: Wall cloud / large funnel associated with HP storm as it was north of Stratton, CO ... Anyone else see this?

 

[Mike Kovalchick]

I was on the Yuma LP(left split) storm also. Saw a couple of nice high base(shear?) funnels and was briefly pounded by 1" hail stones.
See attached.

(Road Hazard Note: Route 34 East of Yuma is being resurfaced..expect a LONG wait to get through if you happen to be chasing in that area in the near future.)