24 July 2012 – Dog days, Drought relief, and Dancing Anemometers

This morning we had a storm with 30-50+ mph winds charge southeast through the western Chicago suburbs.
Here in Bolingbrook, Illinois, we got 0.50 inches (1.3cm) of much needed rain.

I am still in the setup phase of my weather instruments, so the fixed setup (Davis Vantage Pro) and mobile setup (Davis Vantage Vue, used for correlation vs. the fixed unit) are both in the wind shadow of my house. The fixed units anemometer will be relocated to the roof after I get some lightning protection up there.

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I measured peak winds of 28 mph, but the roar of the wind in the trees and sound of wind-driven rain is consistent with 45-50 mph wind gusts. A better look at the storm shows the wind and temperature field (just after its passing):

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After the brief visit to the 70-degree mark, we’ll soar back near 90, with even warmer temperatures tomorrow. We can expect to touch the century mark again, as we have so many times this year. Back to the dog days of July and August! (Make sure to protect your face with your favorite hat, like Barb and Joe’s dog, Skuttlebutt.)

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Special Congratulations to Kelly DeLay

Kelly DeLay, who was part of our expedition, received a WEBBY AWARD for his Clouds365.com web site. Among other things, you can see the two tornadoes we witnessed on our trip:






Tornado - Between Altavista,KS and Council Grove,KS Tornado - S. of Wellington, TX - 30 April 2012
27 April 2012 – near Council Grove, KS30 April 2012 – S. of Wellington, TX
(Click on an image to see a larger version at Clouds365.com)

Kelly also gots props from CNN at http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/01/tech/web/webby-award-winners/index.html?hpt=hp_bn11

01 May 2012 – The Way Home

  • 0700 – wake, shower
  • 0730 – breakfast
  • 0830 – depart Altus, OK; go S to US287
  • ???? – turn onto TX114 for DFW Airport
  • 1230 – say farewells
  • 1600 – leave Dallas on UA3451 for Chicago (ORD) – plane delayed 42 minutes
  • 1915 – Arrive in Chicago
  • 2100 – (approximate) arrive at home, safe and sound

CASUALTIES OF TRAVEL: One pair of leather shoes (sole split) and a dead notebook (hopefully just an ‘old battery’ issue)

30 April 2012 – PRELIMINARY – DAY 10 – The 5% Solution

  • 0700 – wake up; shower
  • 0900 – breakfast
  • Some chaser humor: “portions of west Texas and the Texas panhandle were severely damaged by last night’s storms, as shown on the map below”

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  • Sir Richard Pell, Earl of Waffles (no relation to the Earl of Sandwich) posed with one of his famed breakfast creations. “Brilliant!”

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  • 1030 – meet at van
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    Inverted T feature

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    Photos of my logbook entries for the day:
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    28 April 2012 – DAY 8 – Slight risk, High Tension

    I am still trying to process the emotions of the day.

    One person in the group has become so selfish, loud, vulgar, and arrogant that I have had waking fantasies of dragging him behind the van as we race into a hailstorm on a gravel road.

    Another lost his wallet (and I feel terrible for him, especially because he is a talented and wonderful person).

    I even feel a little down because my netbook is dead, one of my shoes is held together with duct tape.

    And we did not see any severe storms, I feel disappointed that after tomorrow the tour is done. I fear having nothing to show for the money I spent.

    Photographs of my chase log notes follow:

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    Xxx

    Travel: ??? miles

    25 April 2012 – DAY 5 – Fizzle, Fizzle, f’shizzle

    ALL TIMES ARE LOCAL (MDT)

    • 0300 – night bathroom run! Gotta avoid caffeine with dinner.
    • 0400 – neighbors making noise So I can’t sleep! Transcribed yesterday’s paper chase log to this blog. Pure hell to enter WordPress entries via Safari!! (I discovered the WordPress app afterwards. This will be easier/saner going forward.)
    • 0900 – Laundry run
    • 1030 – return to hotel ; pack van
    • 1035 – weather briefing: we have a chance for storms that might produce small hail and some lightning in the plains of Eastern Colorado.
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    • 1130 – lunch at Kim Lin Chinese Buffet
    • 1230 – Depart La Junta, CO northbound
    • 1315 – stop 2 miles south of Arlington, CO to photograph an old storm shelter
    • 1327 – Arlington, CO – stop at rest area and photograph an outhouse. Yes, it’s a SLOW DAY!
    • 1341 – N on CO59(?); arrive at Eads, CO to watch the sky, data updates, and toss a Frisbee around.
    • 1530 – leave Eads on US287N, heading to an area where storm development has started.
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    • 1607 – turn onto northbound CO59
    • 1625 – stop at I-70 for fuel, washroom visits and snacks; continue north to US36W
    • 1707 – pass Cope, CO
    • 1715 – turn north toward Otis,CO
    • 1740 – dinner at Mom’s Restaurant in Otis
    • 1830 – stop west of Otis. Our target storm has fizzled, having run out of moisture.
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    • 1900 – return to Otis; after Bill gets us hotel rooms in Yuma, we head to US34E and on to Yuma. On the way, illustrates how super cells look on radar, using a radar image of a southeast moving storm entering Illinois from near Keokuk, IA
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    • 1920 – arrive at the Nelson Inn in Yuma. Bill announces we meet at the van at 9 a.m. (MDT) due to a heavy travel day. Tomorrow appears to be our ‘big day’ for our excursion. Updated this blog
    • 2130 – lights out

    24 April 2012 – DAY 4 – Convection without Conviction

    [editor’s note: entering WordPress blog entries via iPhone is pure hell. It took almost 2 hours to write this entry!]

    ALL TIMES BELOW ARE LOCAL (MDT)

    I’ve reverted to using paper chase logs, transcribing them after the fact. My log for 24 April follows:

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    • 0700 – wake up
    • 0930 – update blog on hotel PC (netbook dead
    • 1030 – pack van; weather briefing
    • 1100 – depart Sands Hotel, Raton, NM
    • ____ – Kmart stop; bought hand pump and inflated Bill’s football. Had fun watching our Spanish and Portugese guests toss around “a demented American fĂștbol” [ed.- my words, not theirs]
    • 1130 – depart Raton on I-25N
    • ___ – enter Colorado via Raton Pass; gorgeous snow-capped Rockies rise to our west, but there is no safe place to pull over for a photo opp. Dang!
    • Leave I-25 at exit 13; eat lunch after an extended search for Lee’s Ribs (which appeared closed for some time). Subway, here we come!
    • 1323 – arrive at Model, CO; photograph the decaying cantina and supermercado. It makes me sad to see the skeleton of what was likely hub of activity, but Bill loves to photograph old buildings.20120425-070552.jpg
    • 1600 – we wander south and east, to Folsom, NM and tiny Walt’s Corner, in hopes we may see some daytime lightning. 20120425-070733.jpg

      The weather is being totally uncooperative . As we wait, we feed one of my apples to a horse behind the general store and toss a frisbee with our Spanish and Portugese guests. My impression: it’s a new experience for them.20120425-070717.jpg

    • 1704 – depart south on CO 389; re-enter NM a minute later, about 14 miles N of Folsom.
    • ____ – photo stop to look over weak storm to our SE<20120425-070749.jpg/li>
    • ____ – continue SE to Des Moines, N
    • ____ – double back to Colorado
    • 1841 – head east on US 160.
    • 1914 – angle north on CO 109 toward La Junta
    • 2030 – dinner at Boss Hogg’s BBQ. I had the BBQ combo plate. “Yummers!” Francisco had a plain hamburger (no lettuce, no tomato, no cheese. Alberto had the lasagna. Too bad neither embraced the “Midwest Barbeque Experience.”
    • 2134 – turn in for the evening at the Mid-town Motel. My fridge smells very stale, as if a dead animal had been stored there. Phew!

    Travel: 270 miles