Kurt Hulst
EF5
Watching the CU develope along the OFB i am currently in Woodward, was thinking about headed NW to Rosston, OK. But as of now I will hold up in Woodward at the Days INN on the NW side of town.
Happy birthday to Stormtrack! The newsletter was founded on this day in 1977, which makes the community 47 years old this year! The community has evolved dramatically from a small group of enthusiasts (a combination of "yahoos" and some folks who were beginning to try to understand how tornadoes form and why) as a paper-based newsletter to the online forum today with a few thousand members.
Remember that we are still planning to assemble some kind of 50th anniversary anthology for 2027. The hope is to include short-form essays on a variety of topics spearheaded by those most involved, chaser profiles, a timeline of the forum, and other highlights. Please consider contributing some material, whether it be merely your own story of storm chasing or otherwise.
Am I the only one who sees the likelihood of significant capping issues in TX/OK/srn KS? According to DDC and AMA 18Z soundings, convective temps are soaring to over 30C, 850's near the critical threshold of 24C, 700's near the critical threshold of 12C... either I can't read a sounding or that's not going to support rigorous thunderstorm development (and even if a storm were to somehow breach the cap, there would be high base issues)....
19z:
No, you're not the only one. I have serious concerns about the mega-cap. I am banking (probably in vain) on sfc convergence and boundary lift to weaken the cap. Wishfully, a sounding out of Woodward or Liberal would look a little better wrt the capping issue. I'm encouraged to see some cu building just nw of my location.
That said, nw/nc KS looks better and better. Congestus along the NE border indicates there is certainly no capping issue up there, and the lifting boundary/OFB intersection seems to be kick-starting some action. But I'm gonna hang here and hope for something a little more discrete. I'll stay here in Elmwood, OK for now. If I left now, I could make Hill City by 23z, but I'll stick to plan despite the bust potential.