DAY 15 – Storm over Lake Oologah – 20080607

The morning SPC outlook maps looked like this:

• 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. )
• ____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!)