DAY 15 – Storm over Lake Oologah – 20080607

The morning SPC outlook maps looked like this: 1300Z 1300Z

  • 0700C – Check yeswterday’s storm reports. My target area produced tornadoes. Arrrgh!
  • 0800C – Showered and grabbed a quick con-brekkie. Grumbling a bit about our missed opportunities in Nebraska (and being too far south the play today’s illinois-Iowa options).
  • 1000C – Daily Briefing:
  • 1030C – Left Super 8 Motel at Pryor, OK, moving toward the ‘jungles’ of Oklahoma to chase marginally severe prospects and hope for some good photo opportunities.
  • ____C – Lunch at Braum’s ice creaqm parlor (imagine “Dairy Queen but with better food”).
  • ____C –  We stop at a convenience store for a bathroom break, refills on snacks, and to top off the tank on out way toward the Oologah  (“OO-luh-guh”)  area.
  • ____C – As we travel east acoss the bridge that bisects the lake, we see a photogenic hail core to our north and snap some photos and video.  We try to get another view past the east shore of the lake but we are totally blocked from the lower part of the sky by trees. “Welcome to the Jungle” (Oklahoma style).
  • ____C – We check out a camping area on the south side of Lake Oologah, but our view is obscured, so we move on.
  • ____C – We continue circling Lake Oologah, until we find a nice boat launch area just past the dam on the south end of the lake.
  • ____C – I’m moping a bit over yesterday’s disappointments, but a photogenic shot of the lake draws me outside. While I’m there, a superb rainbow forms over the lake. Everyody is snapping photos and taking video. Here is our shot of the day! I remind myslf that storms are only a part of the storm chase experience: one learns to appreciate the little miracles all around us. (Yes, I feel better now. Cool)
  • ____C – Arrive at our base motel, the Wingate near OKC airport.
  • ____C – We dine at Charleston’s, definitely more upscale than anywhere we’ve dined in a few days. The prime rib is every bit as deliciouis as I remember it (though the service was better when I was last here two years ago).
    (NOTE: I’ll have to use the timestamps on my photos to reconstruct the timeline here!)

ESTIMATED TRAVEL

START TIME START ODOM. S.TART LOC.
__:__ ______ (T1 Chase Van) Pryor, OK
FINISH TIME FINISH ODOM. FINISH LOC.
__:__ ______ (T1 Chase Van) OKC, OK
ELAP. TIME MILES TTL. REMARKS
__:__ ______ mi (T1 Chase Van) Base to our base city

Day 15 – Murphy’s Law in Action – 20080607

Murphy’s Law: You drive 7000 miles and see no tornadoes. Meanwhile, back home, a big tornado shows up.

While Scott and i were looking (independently)  at the forecast for tomorrow, Scott looked over the 07 June Storm Reports at SPC and called me about the Chicago area reports of a ‘large tornado runing parallel to I-55’. Here’s the map of what he saw:

June 7,  2008 Storm Reports

and the full storm report text:

http://www.spc.noaa.gov/climo/reports/080607_rpts.html

and the damage surveys: Results from Storm Surveys of June 7th Tornadoes

Side note: I am catching up entries for DAYS 11-17 from paper notes, which I had to take due to failure of my broadband modem and/or drivers on the road. (Bummer, eh?)

DAY 14 – One Last Chance for Storms – 20080606

The morning SPC outlook maps looked like this: 1300Z 1300Z

  • 0700C – Wake up and get con-brekkie
  • 1000C – Daily Briefing: ______ (I forget … not much to discuss, I suppose)
  • 1030C – Left motel.
  • OK – I LOST A DAY HERE! I’ll have to reconstruct it looking at receipts, photos, etc. – SORRY
  • ____C – Arrive at motel for a night’s sleep

ESTIMATED TRAVEL

START TIME START ODOM. START LOC.
__:__ ______ (T1 Chase Van) ______, __
FINISH TIME FINISH ODOM. FINISH LOC.
__:__ ______ (T1 Chase Van) Pryor, OK?
ELAP. TIME MILES TTL. REMARKS
__:__ ______ mi (T1 Chase Van) ______

DAY 13 – Another High Risk Day: Two Targets, Twice the Fun – 20080605

The morning SPC outlook maps looked like this: 1300Z 1300Z

  • 0930C – I check the models (my target for the day: Beatrice, NE area, about 2/3 of the way from Omaha, southeast toward the Nebraska-Kansas border). I like the Omaha option also because of the potential for Illinois and Iowa storms expected for the two days following, despite the long drive. Then grab a continental breakfast (‘con-brekkie’). My targets for the last two days were Wichita, KS (6/3: a bust, due to anvil blowoff killing the storm, as many folks witnessed) and south central Nebraska — between Beloit, KS and Hastings, NE (6/4: Per http://www.spc.noaa.gov/climo/reports/080604_rpts.html, a prolific tornado day there).
  • 1000C – Daily Briefing: We discuss two targets: south-central Nebraska (near my target) and the area where the dryline is expected (in mid/south Kansas). Storms will be fast-moving in either location, and we will be lucky to catch any storm long enough to get a good view of it. We will probably sit and let successive storms blow by us all day. *groan* Our strategy: start at the western edge of [cloud] clearing then slide east as storms move by us.
  • 1030C – Left Super 8 Motel at Hays, KS.
  • 1155C – Lunch. Depart Hays, KS east on I-70
  • 1228C – Scott checks storm to the southwest, but Sc obscures our view. We continue east on I-70.
  • 1231C – Cone zone! (Chasers hate delays and detours on storm days.) .We are at mile 203, but exit at 206 (KS232). We are under the anvil of a storm SW of great Bend.  Our storm look very elongated on GRlevel3 (base reflectivity on radar), due to upper level winds over 50 kts
  • 1237C – In Wilson, KS, heading west on old US40 (27th St.) then south.
  • 1201-1313C – (I need to revew times on the camcorder for the mssing entries here)
  • 1335C – We are passed by a fellow chaser sporting a lightbar with yellow flashers. Zoom!
  • 1341-1400C – (I need to revew times on the camcorder for the mssing entries here)
  • 1439C – East of Nickerson on US50, after another construction delay. (I see I’m not the only one using a hardhat for hail protection! Laughing)
  • 1519C – We depart Nickerson after about 15 minutes of shooting video and stils of the approaching storms.
  • 1740C – Leaving Newton, KS eastbound for _35 on KS96.
  • 2000C – Arrived at our motel and I’m online for the first time in several evenings

ESTIMATED TRAVEL

START TIME START ODOM. START LOC.
10:30C 67347 (T1 Chase Van) Hays, KS
FINISH TIME FINISH ODOM. FINISH LOC.
19:30C es. 67608 (T1 Chase Van) Wichita, KS
MILES TTL. ELAP. TIME REMARKS
9:00 est. 261 (T1 Chase Van) Haven’t we been here before?

DAY 12 – Chasing the Colorado High Plains – 20080604

The morning SPC outlook maps looked like this:

CONVECTIVE OUTLOOK:

1300Z

TORNADO OUTLOOK:

1300Z

  • 0930C – Grab a continental breakfast (‘con-brekkie’). Learn that my hypothesis that WaKenney is the amalgam of two names is correct. Walter+Kenney=Wa-Keeney (yes, the early settlers apparently were spelling-challenged, but that was the least of their worries).
  • 1000C – Daily Briefing: Our target is northeast Colorado (again)
  • 1100C – Left Days Inn at WaKeeney, KS, moving toward Goodland, KS and the eastern plains of Colorado
  • 1123C – Moving east (!) on I-70
  • 1142C – On US183 at Hays, KS. we take lunch, then go west to Burlington, CO
  • 1715C – 2 miles west of Wray, CO, we double back into town, then move north, following a promising storm. It moves beyod our road network. Boo! (We snap some roadside photos of penny-sized hail, however).
  • 1724C – We return to Wray.
  • 1801C – We move west to Yuma, nearly missing the next storm due to construction narrow the highway to a single reversible lane. We turn south apause to take photos of foot-deep hail drifts, with hail nearing golfball size. We apparently just missed a spectacular hailstorm. We turn south, hoping to go east and catch this storm.
  • 1830C – We continue east through Vernon.
  • 1908C – After watching our storm from about 3 miles SE of Yuma, we return to Wray for a brief bathroom stop.
  • ____C – During our bathroom stop at the Wray 7-11 (translation: 20 people in a single file waiting to use the lone restroom), it starts to hail.  I get some video from inside the van, while others wait out the storm under the 7-11 roof. As hail reaches nickel size, we hear the tornado sirens go off, but see nothing. (Wray is in a bowl-shaped valley, so I’d be surprised if we had seen anything.)  After 2 minutes, then siren stops, as does the hail.
  • ____C – We move 3 miles east of Wray for photos of the back side of the hailstorm.  We are treated to brilliant gold and white clouds rising on the back of the storm anvil. with a prominent pileus cloud above. I shoot a 10-piece panoramic`shot (to glue together later).
  • ____C – Arrive at our motel for a night’s sleep

ESTIMATED TRAVEL

START TIME START ODOM. START LOC.
11:00 66754 (T1 Chase Van) WaKeeney, KS
FINISH TIME FINISH ODOM. FINISH LOC.
23:00 est 67347 (T1 Chase Van) Ogallala, NE
ELAP. TIME MILES TTL. REMARKS
12:00 est. 593 (per Faye) ______

DAY 11 – Can you say Wa-Kee-ney? – 20080603

The morning SPC outlook maps looked like this: 1300Z 1300Z SUMMARY:

  • 1000C – Daily Briefing:
  • 1030C – Left Ogallala, NE (Super 8 Motel) – fueled partially ($4.289/gallon!) – Dove S to Imperial,NE via Grant, NE. An illegal U-turn with 3 highly ‘decorated’ vans attracts the attention of a Nebraska state patrolman and we spend about 20 minutes roadside while Woody successfully negotiates for 3 written warnings (one per van).Exciting!
  • 1338C – S on NE61, crossing the NE/KS border and mving to Bird City, KS.
  • 1354C – We observe a large. reddish dust devil — several hundred feet high! — to our SE as we come into Bird City.
  • 1355C – We jog west on US36 then S to Goodland, KS on KS27. MD1179 is issued.
  • 1501C – Lunch at the Goodland,KS Subway. I am 20th in line. Ugh!
  • 1542C -We continue west on I-70 (about mile 437), crossing into Colorado.
  • 1647C – After lunch we stop S of Arriba, CO. EB storm outflow catches us, bringing huge plumes of black dust with it.
  • 1652C – Jog west 1/4 mile then south
  • 1700C – Our storm weakens and decayes into a loose cluster of cells aligned SW-NE
  • 1702C – Headed E on US40/287.
  • 1752C – Held for road maintenance about 15 minutes. Took “Little (Out)House on the Prairie” photos, as some of our group take a pit stop at a Porta-Potty along this lonely stretch of highway.
  • 1753C – Exit Kit Carson, CO, on the east side of town
  • 1828C – Exit Cheyenne Wells, CO after a bathroom break at “Penitentiary Park” baseball field. Coldest toilet seat of the trip, so far! (about 45 degF!)
  • 2010C – Blasting S on US83, trying to outrun a storm. We get spectacular dusty outflow video, including a drive in near-zero visibility. Coal dust blowing off a pasing train adds to the dusty darkness.
  • 2030C – E os KS4. The sun makes a brief cameo appearance.
  • 2230C – Arrive at motel in WaKeeney, KS as the storm does. We get strong winds, heavy rain, and a good lightning show as the storm pounds the hotel while we unload our bags. After we check in, we double back one exit to grab a late dinner of omlettes, acon, eges, and our breakfast treats.

ESTIMATED TRAVEL

START TIME START ODOM. START LOC.
1030C ______ (T1 Chase Van) Ogallala, NE
FINISH TIME FINISH ODOM. FINISH LOC.
2230C ______ (T1 Chase Van) WaKeeney, KS
ELAP. TIME MILES TTL. REMARKS
12:00 _____ ______

DAY 10 – A Shot at Distant Storms – 20080602

The morning SPC outlook maps looked like this:

1300Z 1300Z

  • 0700C – Got about 6 hours sleep. Grabbed a light continental breakfast. Checked the models.
    My target: NE panhandle, west of I-76/I-80 junction.
  • 1000C – Group met. we looked at surface obs, model data etc. as follows:
    • RAP surface obs (wind, dew point, etc.)
      Discussed wind convergence, location of front, storm genesis, rotating storms, and supercells
    • GOES visible satellite image for Nebraska (hi-res image, Weathertap)
    • UCAR/RAP/ETA model
      • 500mb winds — eastward trough to our west — supportive of storms; southwest inflow we like
      • 700mb (10,000 feet MSL) — turning winds in NE Colorado
      • 0000Z CAPE – Nebraska panhandle has CAPE bullseye (less CAPE needed, due to altitude)
      • 0000Z Theta E (available moisture) – identified moisture axis runnng NW-SE north of NE panhandle
      • 0000Z 12-hr precips – storm area in Nebraska panhandle, NE Colorado
      • 0000Z Storm relative helicity (SRH)
    • SPC Day 1 (D1) Outlook
      • Target west edge of best risk in our chase range: NE Colorado, Nebraska panhandle
      • D1 Wind Outlook
      • D1 Hail Outlook
      • D1 Tornado Outlook
    • Glance D2 Outlook for planning/logistical purposes
      • 700mb – -10 degC isotherm indicates where cap should hols storms for the afternoon
        Cap too strong(-15 degC isotherm): no/weak storms, Cap too weak: unfocused, widespread storms, Ideal: explosive, focused storms
      • 500 mb winds – only good strength and direction on SE Kansas
    • D3 Outlook
      • E Nebraska / W Iowa (start by Lincoln, NE?)
      • 500 mb winds – only good strength and direction on SE Kansas
    • D4-D6: A cahnce for severe weather
  • 1030C – Left Super 8 Motel at Colby, KS, moving toward far western KS and eastern Colorado.
  • 1630C – Double back S from Wray, CO through Burlington, CO. 3-inch (baseball-size) hail seen scattered on lawns there, as well as sporadic street flooding. Full sun at Burlington. We blast east on I-70, following the storm that dropped the hail. We turn around about at Goodland, KS.
  • 1840C – Returned to Burlington, CO after blasting east to Goodland, S following hailer. Storm fizzled.
  • 1953C – North from Wray, CO (again) toward Julesburg, CO, I-76 and our next decision point. Storms develop just south of he NE panhandle.
  • 2101C – Lv US6 for CO14 at Sterling, CO — moving west — stopped at N road to Kimball for lightning/sunset photos

ESTIMATED TRAVEL

START TIME START ODOM. START LOC.
10:30C 17876 (TT4 Uplander) Colby, KS
FINISH TIME FINISH ODOM. FINISH LOC.
22:30C 18311 (TT4 Uplander) Ogallala, NE
ELAP. TIME MILES TTL. REMARKS
8:01 est. 435 miles TT4 Uplander – finally, Scott gets a turn at driving

DAY 9 – We Get Tempestuous – 20080601

We are on our way. There are about 20 people with the group:

  • T1 van: 8 people
  • U1 van: 6 people
  • U2 van: 6 people – Scott (Driving), Maria, Diane, Barton, Howard, Lisa

The morning SPC outlook maps looked like this: 1300Z 1300Z

  • Started near I-40 at the Wingate Hotel in OKC (on Meridian Blvd.)
  • Charged off to western Kansas, a move to position for storms in central Nebraska on Monday afternoon
  • Looked over severe- and tornado-warned storms near North Platte, NE. One storm looks like we might catch up to it in far northwest KS, but it fizzles before we get the chance. It’s diurnal, that is grows or fades based on available daylight; as our sun fades, so does our storm.

ESTIMATED TRAVEL

START TIME START ODOM. START LOC.
1300 est. 17451 (TT4 Uplander) Oklahoma City, OK
FINISH TIME FINISH ODOM. FINISH LOC.
2101 17876 (TT4 Uplander) Colby, KS
MILES TTL. ELAP. TIME REMARKS
8:01 est. 435 miles TT4 Uplander – finally, Scott gets a turn at driving

DAY 8 – Tulsa Trek – 20080531

Storm Prediction Center May 31, 2008 1300 UTC Day 1 Convective Outlook

The morning SPC outlook maps looked like this:

CONVECTIVE OUTLOOK:

1300Z Convective Outlook for 20080531

TORNADO OUTLOOK:

ESTIMATED TRAVEL

START TIME START ODOM. START LOC.
10:00 est no est. Pittsburg, KS
FINISH TIME FINISH ODOM. FINISH LOC.
00:01 no est. Oklahoma City, OK
ELAP. TIME MILES TTL. REMARKS
14:00 est no est. Over 300 miles for this period

DAY 7 – Yes, Dorothy, We’re Back in Kansas – 20080530

(Yawn)

The morning SPC outlook maps looked like this:

CONVECTIVE OUTLOOK:
1300Z Probabalistic Outlook

TORNADO OUTLOOK: 1300Z Tornado Outlook  for 20080530

  • Started along side I-70 in central Kansas
  • Wandered down to Chanute, KS and Fort Scott, KS. Tried a shortcut down Scott Road only to discover it was washed out. I got practice rocking the van out of one rut and into the next until we could back down the road. (It’s now obvious to place less trust in Scot’s namesake than Scott himself. We watch the sky and the radar for a while.
  • Meandered to Nevada (“neh-VAY-da”), Missouri, then back into Kansas.
  • Got some beautiful late day shots of our storm (and that’s basically all we got besides rain). I’ll add the pictures when I get time on the road (since I’m not driving again until DAY 16 or so).
  • Checked into the Super 8 Motel in Pittsburg, KS. Got a bit of a lightning show as a severe storm passed to our south.

ESTIMATED TRAVEL

START TIME START ODOM. START LOC.
09:58 6657 Super 8 Motel, Abilene, KS
FINISH TIME FINISH ODOM. FINISH LOC.
22:43 (TBA) Super 8 Motel, Pittsburg, KS
ELAP. TIME MILES TTL. REMARKS
12:45 (TBA) (TBA)