6/15/2017 Hutchinson, KS Mammatus

Thursday was mostly a bust from a storm photography perspective (lackluster structure despite several severe and tornado warnings), so we grabbed a hotel in Hutchinson, KS ahead of a developing severe MCS. After this passed over us, we photographed some spectacular mammatus at sunset. However, we were at dinner and none of us had our DSLR cameras! A lesson to always have your camera by your side! At least cell phone cameras are pretty good these days...

MISC: Overnighted in Hutchinson, KS

6/14/2017 Laclede, MO Cb

We (ACP) were treated with a rather unexpected view of an updraft on our way to the Great Plains across north central MO. We stopped to admire the view and take photos near Laclede, MO. Some impressive shots for mostly being a travel day!

MISC: Now chasing with Walker and Laura. Overnighted in Lawrence, KS (visited Free State!)

6/12/2017 Grover, CO to Kimball, NE tornadoes

We (CoD Trip 3) awoke in Brush, CO, after an evening of pizza and fun. Morale was high as anticipation of this setup grew larger day-by-day. An anomalous environment, by high plains standards, was forecast to develop over the high terrain of CO and WY.  Mid 60s F dewpoints and strong deep-layer shear was already present by late morning, so our crew launched a 1900 UTC sounding from Ft. Morgan, CO. Anticipation continued to build as we will filling the weather balloon, then all of a sudden, POP! The weather balloon had a small hole! We were literally deflated thinking that this was a sign of how the day was going to progress. Instead of giving up on the launch, we tried (and failed) with duck tape. Then, in a moment of genius, Leon suggested we pull the hole through a zip tie and turnicate the area of the balloon hole. It worked! The balloon filled just fine and we were able to obtain successful data to nearly 30,000 ft. Data also showed a strong capping inversion, which presented a problem since our group was already 1,000+ miles away from home and we needed to get back as this was the last day of our trip.

A developing supercell caught our eye near Ft. Collins, CO, and we were able to route south and east ahead of the cell after pulling off another logistical miracle (that story some other time!). As this cell tracked into northeast CO/southwest NE/southeast WY, it was occasionally tornadic. We saw a long lived tornado near Grover, CO, characterized by a Campo-esque debris cloud and slender stovepipe condensation funnel. After this tornado roped out, we jogged east on I-80 and then north out of Kimball, NE. We pulled over on a country road (near Grady Dixon and the Ft. Hays State group) and watched another short lived tornado. We witnessed two more brief tornadoes and some amazing structure while driving north on 71 before calling the chase due to logistics and decaying road network. Overall, a great day and amazing teamwork by our crew to pull this off. 

I think this day would have been even better if the early afternoon hodographs had a bit more low-level SRH. 

Overnighted in Council Bluffs, IA.

 Grover, CO tornado

 Grover, CO tornado

  Grover, CO tornado

  Grover, CO tornado

  Grover, CO tornado

 Tornado north of Kimball, NE

 GOES-16 visible satellite loop

 1900 UTC Ft. Morgan, CO rawinsonde data

Level-2 SRV snapshot of our first tornado

Many 2-3" hailstones covering the ground

Supercell north of Kimball, NE as we made our approach

6/9/2017 Minot to Devils Lake, ND Supercell

This day featured a slight risk for severe storms across northern/central North Dakota. Awaking in Bismarck, we shifted north to Minot for lunch and a weather ballon launch. As expected, all ingredients were in play for tornadic supercells except moisture. Our sounding revealed large dewpoint depressions leading to relatively high LCLs (~700 mb). NOTE: It's likely that the LCLs were actually much lower than this, especially just along/north of a WNW to ESE oriented boundary from KMOT toward Rugby, ND. This agreed with what we were seeing visually with a developing supercell just east of Minot as bases were much lower than expected. Awaiting at a gas station in Towner, we moved slightly west for a better view of this maturing supercell. It had some nice classic structure and we even witnessed a brief tornado just after a RFD surge. However, deeply mixed convection also fired to the south and sent a cold pool northward toward our storm. By this time, though, our storm was already throwing up all over itself as the cold downdraft began to overtake the cell causing parcels to convect up and over the cold pool. The northward moving cold pool proved to be the nail in the coffin for our storm, even though it did try to recycle west of Devil's Lake. 

We need to examine more ways to forecast thermodynamic and kinematic structures of the downdraft relative to the environmental buoyancy profile. Oh yeah, and moisture is important! 

Overnighted in Jamestown, ND. 

 Observed rawinsonde from KMOT at 1930 UTC from our group

Brief tornado just west of Towner, ND

6/7/2017 Lusk to Torrington, WY Supercell

Yesterday was the first exciting day for our group (CoD Trip 3 2017). We started the morning in Laramie, WY and then visited the Cheyenne NWS office. Chad, Becca, and Rob gave us a nice tour of the office and talked with our group about their roles/responsibilities. We grabbed lunch on Dell Range Road before heading north toward Wheatland. We stayed patient along a moisture discontinuity in the northwest NE panhandle, extending northwest to just north of Lusk, WY. This payed off as a nice supercell developed north of Lusk and began diving south given the weak upper-level shear (see RADAR animations). This supercell had nice structure for most of its life and had one of the more impressive hail cores I’ve ever seen. We stuck with this storm until it decayed just north of Torrington, WY. 

Overnighted in Scottsbluff, NE. 

5/14-20/2017 Plains excursion #1

Most of May has been slow from a storm chasing perspective, but a couple of juicy setups (on paper at least!; 1 ENH, 1 MDT, 1 HIGH) allowed Pops and I to get out to the Plains for our annual excursion. No tornadoes this trip, but we were able to photograph a couple beautiful supercells. It was a great trip with many laughs and memories. I'll be heading out to the Plains again with the CoD trip (June 1st - 11th), so stay tuned for more storm accounts! 

Our annual picture was not too dramatic this year! 

Smoke being ingested by a supercell on 5-16-17

5-16-17 Supercell Pano in the TX panhandle

5-18-17 monster supercell near Alva, OK

GPS log

7/1/2016 Shelf near Springfield, CO

We (CoD Trip 5) rang in July with a nice day of storms in southeast CO. High dewpoints and a strengthening wind field excited us for tornado potential. Instead, convective morphology and lack of strong surface heading due to cloud cover really hampered the tornado potential.  We targeted the Trinidad area initially for an early/quick tornado, but the winds/instability did not really materialize as hoped. We opted to move further east, where the lone meaty supercell of the day formed just northeast of Kim, CO.  We watched it for a while (see timelapse) before it grew upscale into a large MSC and associated shelf cloud across southeast CO.

MISC: Van 1 began to break down (carrier bearings). Limped to Dodge City, KS to overnight.

Laura shooting the storm from her habitat

6/28/2016 Chadron to Ogallala, NE Derecho

We awoke in Scottsbluff, NE (new Fairfield Inn) with a target near Torrington, WY. Low 60s dewpoints were progged in the NE panhandle, and shear profiles quite supportive of supercell storms. We had lunch in Torrington at Deacon's before heading to a softball park to launch a radiosonde (data attached below). It was clear in our sounding that the moisture was shallow and dewpoints began to mix out to the mid/low 50s by late afternoon. We bailed on the upslope play to head toward Chadron to catch developing convection coming out of the southern Black Hills.  This convection quickly grew upscale into a southward propagating MCS and will likely be classified as a derecho. We got a front row seat for the shelf as it passed through Chadron, where it produced a measured wind gust of 103 mph! Continuing its south track, we slid toward Alliance and caught a nice picture of the shelf as it passed over Carhenge. It was a great spot for a group shot!  For the grand finale, we set up on the southwest side of near Lake McConaughy (near the damn; good idea Walker!) to let the shelf pass and overtake us. There were several boaters that were caught as this derecho passed over the lake. A great day in some beautiful country.

MISC: Overnighted in Ogallala, NE. 

Prepping for balloon launch

Lapse rates for days! Dry low-levels reveals the mixed out nature of the boundary layer

Shelf at peak intensity near Chadron, NE

Carhenge!

Boater cutting it a little close!

6/27/2016 Oshkosh, NE Supercell

Started the day in OGA, with an initial target near the AIA area. By mid-afternoon, it was pretty clear that the Cu field was becoming agitated on the nose of the theta-e axis just to our northwest. After lunch at Valentino's, we set sights on developing echos just north of Oshkosh, NE. This cell rapidly strengthened into an impressive supercell, with nearly 40 mph inflow at times. The structure was impressive, but it did not last very long. We blew off the windbag near Julesburg to set sights on new convection coming out of the Pine Ridge. This was a good decision, as we were treated with a nice sunset and a short drive to our hotel in Scottsbluff.

MISC: Overnighted at brand new FF Inn in Scottsbluff.

GPS Log

6/26/2016 Oshkosh to Arthur Supercell

Sunday was the first solid supercell setup in favorable storm chasing terrain.  Trip 5 departed Winner, SD by late morning with an eye on the North Platte to Sidney, NE area for convective initiation.  After lunch at Whiskey Creek in North Platte, we ventured northwest to towering cumulus to our northwest near Oshkosh.  These towers matured into several transient supercells, which we tracked toward the Arthur area. As the cells began to dive south, we let the strongest of the convection pass to our east as it hit the town of Sutherland.  We drove into Sutherland after the storm to find tree branches down, leaves shredded, and large hail. The students were excited! The drive back west to our hotel in Ogallala featured occasional lightning and breathtaking sunlit towers with nice mammatus.

MISC: Overnighted in Ogallala at the "Quality" Inn.

As "close" as it would come.  See timelapse below. 

Large hail in the foreground. 

Drive back west to OGA

6/22/2016 North Central IL Supercells

Finally, a day on the home turf!  6/22 featured a MDT risk for severe storms across a large part of northern and central IL.  The biggest meteorological question this day was convective morphology, as the thermodynamic and kinematic parameters were off charts (literally!). This day had a feel like 6/5/2010, with a warm front in play, and CI occurring in a rather broad field of stratocumulus.

This will be a placeholder, as I need to come back and add more meteorological synopsis, pictures, and video.

Overall, saw two brief tornadoes, great structure, and impressive CG lightning. Subset of pictures below.