Prep Day: June 3, 2001  

Meeting at six o'clock in the weather center.  We decided to meet at 7:45 AM Monday morning, discuss where we’re going to head to and take off not long after that. Kevin Goebbert happened to look at his horoscope for today and it’s predicting good fortune for us.  Here it is:
-Gemini (May 21- June 20): The full moon on Tuesday in opposing Sagittarius accents emotional Twisters.  A funnel cloud becomes a tornado after it touches down.  Split the scene long before this happens.  The middle of July is the best time to start asking for extras.  


Day 1: June 4, 2001  

Chase 1: Carnage
Adam Stepanek - Driver      Bart Wolf - Field Coordinator
Stacey Peterson - Trip Logger      Dan Keeley  

Chase 2: Rolling Thunder
Eric Muller - Driver      Emily Kowalski - Team Leader     
Brian Hirth      Peter Hasa  

Chase 3: Comet Module
Kevin Goebbert - Driver      Stephanie Stroman - Team Leader     
Marshall Huffman - Navigator      Kurt Peoppel  

Chase 4: BWER     
Brian Dillon - Driver      Jill Fraser - Team Leader     
Stacey Matthews      Mike Bardou  


7:45 AM - Meet in weather center and decide to head for Eastern Kansas.  We plan to take Highway 2 to Highway 41, which will take us to Interstate 55.  From 55 we plan to go to Interstate 70 and follow that all the way to Kansas City.  After we get to Kansas City, we will decide what to do next.
8:00 AM - Go outside to take pictures.
8:11 AM - Departure time from Mueller parking lot.  Temp: 53 F with cloudy skies.  No precipitation.
8:13 AM - Traveling on Highway 30 West.
8:17 AM - Traveling on Highway 2 West.
8:55 AM - Traveling on Highway 41 South.
8:57 AM - Took temperature/dew point: 55 F/45 F.
8:58 AM - Traveling on Highway 2 West.
9:02 AM - Entered Illinois.  State count: 2
9:10 AM - Traveling West on Witaker Road, or 9000 North.
9:26 AM - Traveling on Interstate 57 South; started raining.
9:32 AM - Stopped to reapply antenna on Chase 1.
9:35 AM - Started driving again.
10:10 AM - Stopped raining.
10:22 AM - Entered Champaign County, where temp was 52 F and was raining.
11:29 AM - 15 miles East of Effington, IL took temperature/dew point: 61 F/52 F.
11:33 AM - Traveling on Interstate 70 South.
11:49 AM - Start picking up lightning strikes approximately 175-200 miles West of our location, which is near Altamont, IL.
11:58 AM - Started raining (St. Elmo, IL).
12:03 PM - Stopped raining.
12:36 PM - Called Russ Schumacher for base support: slight risk for hatching hail in Eastern Kansas, CAPE is 3000 J/kg at Norman, OK, 25 chance of tornadoes.
12:44 PM - Traveling on Interstate 270 West.
12:56 PM - Entered Missouri.  State count: 3
1:10 PM - Traveling on Interstate 70 West.
1:30 PM - Stop in O’Fallon, IL for gas and food.  Goal is to be on the road by 2:00 PM.
1:54 PM - Russ Schumacher called from base support:  CAPE is 3500 - 4500 J/kg in South Central and South-eastern Kansas.  He says we have to really move if we’re going to catch something. 2:17 PM - After minor problems at the gas station, we’re back on the road.  There was an accident on I-70 in Wentzville, so we have to take a detour, which will set us back even more. 2:24 PM - Fired up TOILET and turned south onto State Highway Z, the start of our detour.
2:27 PM - Turned west onto State Highway N.
2:39 PM - Turned north onto State Highway M.
2:53 PM - Turned north onto Highway 47.
2:57 PM - Back onto I-70 West.
3:43 PM - Took temperature/dew point reading near Columbia, MO: 69 F/50 F.
3:50 PM - Call base support: CAPE in Emporia, KS is 6000 J/kg with baseball to softball size hail.  There is 2% chance of tornadoes and HP supercells are expected, but we’re not sure what time.  We’re going to head southwest from Kansas City.  There is also a 25% chance (of what?) from Eastern Missouri to Valpo and over the Texas Panhandle and the Caprock.
4:24 PM - Took temperature/dew point near Houstonia: 69 F/54 F.
5:07 PM - Flash flood watch was issued for Northern Missouri and Northeastern Kansas.
5:23 PM - Traveling on Interstate 435 South.
5:30 PM - Call base support: There is an explosive supercell forming between 23 Z and 1 Z from Wichita, KS to Salina, KS.  A mesoscale convective discussion (MCD) has been issued.  The triple point is expected to pass between Salina, KS and Emporia, Kansas.
5:37 PM - Took temperature/dew point as we entered Kansas: 71 F/56 F.  State county: 4
5:43 PM - Traveling on Interstate 35 South.
5:48 PM - Make reservations at the Best Western in Emporia.
6:09 PM - Took temperature/dew point at mile marker 192: 74 F/68 F.
6:12 PM - Approaching the warm front: the clouds are changing from stratoform to cumuloform and winds are Southeast at 20-30.
6:15 PM - Took temperature/dew point at mile marker 183: 82 F/71 F.
6:19 PM - NOAA weather radio reports that it is 88 F and sunny in Wichita, KS.
6:20 PM - TOILET recorded 3 strikes to our southwest at 125 miles.
6:38 PM - Severe thunderstorm warning has been issued for southern Harper County.
6:45 PM - Tornado watch has been issued for the Northeastern 2/3 of Eastern Kansas until 1 AM.
6:49 PM - One inch hail has been confirmed south of Anthony, KS, which is in Southern Harper County.  The public has reported 1 1/2 inch hail, but that has not been confirmed.
6:50 PM - Russ called: Eastern half of Kansas has hail up to 3 inches.  There is a warning out in Harper County and it looks like it could go supercellular.  It is moving toward Sumner County, which is the county bordering Harper County to the East.  There is a line to the East/Northeast near Hutcheson, KS and Salina, KS.  He recommends we go West/Southwest out of Emporia.
6:56 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 82 F/72 F.
7:00 PM - Exited onto Industrial Boulevard in Emporia.
7:04 PM - Turned left onto Highway 50.
7:06 PM - Checked into hotel and picked up keys.
7:12 PM - Stopped for gas.
7:27 PM - Traveling on Highway 50 heading west.
7:32 PM - Call base support: There is a good chance for a supercell in Harper County, and is moving Northeast at 15.  We have a cell off to our west as we are traveling on Highway 50, but it looks to turn into a Mesoscale Convective System (MCS).
7:35 PM - Anvils off to our south, another possible cell to the north, about 10 miles west of Emporia.
7:45 PM - Traveling west on Highway 151.
7:51 PM - Russ called: There is a cell between Marian, KS and Goessel, KS with overshooting tops.  Its about 25 miles due west of us and we’re heading straight for it.
7:59 PM - Reports of an exploding supercell with overshooting tops.
8:03 PM - Russ called: There is a warning for Walton, KS at 8:00 and Peabody, KS at 8:20 on the cell we’re chasing.
8:05 PM - Traveling south on Highway 77.  The storm is off to our right, and it has a precipitation shaft that we believe to be hail.
8:14 PM - Turned southwest onto Highway 50.
8:17 PM - Turned south onto a gravel road.
8:19 PM - Stopped to look at the storm.
8:35 PM - Base of the storm starts rotating.
8:45 PM - Get passed by three 15 passenger vans on their way towards Highway 50.
8:53 PM - Turn around and head back to Highway 50.
8:55 PM - Turned northeast onto Highway 50.  We pass the chasers who had passed us, and someone said they saw Lisa Kwiatkowski with them.  Lisa was a meteorology major with us until she had to leave Valpo in the fall of 2000.
9:45 PM - Arrive back in Emporial at our hotel.  Free time for the rest of thenight.  Decision to meet at 8:30 AM for our morning discussion.  The discussion will be run by Bart, Brian, and Eric Total mileage for the day: 777 miles.  


  Day 2: June 5, 2001

8:30 AM - Morning discussion: There is a frontal boundary from the South East through the panhandle of Texas and Oklahoma.  Should we follow it?  SPC has a moderate risk out for the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles as well as most of Kansas and back into Colorado, and extends East through Missouri and up into Iowa.  There is a -10 Lifted Index and the CAPE for that region is between 2000 J/kg and 4000 J/kg.  The cap could be a concern.  There is a ridge building over the Southern Plains and we could possibly be chasing upslope on Wednesday.  There is a 25% chance of hail along I-35 from Emporia, KS down to Wichita, KS and extends to the southwest down to Childras, TX.  There is a 5% chance of tornadoes from Emporia, KS to Woodward, OK, and also in central Colorado.
9:25 AM - We decided to head for Alba, OK and stop into Wakita, OK.
9:39 AM - We hit the road, headed west on Highway 50.  Temp was 69 F with a thunderstorm and rain.
9:41 AM - Headed south on I-35.
10:00 AM - Rain stopped.
10:30 AM - Seeing lots of CG lightning off to our right as we are heading SW on I-35.
10:40 AM - Passed overpass that all the people hid under when the Andover, KS twisters hit and we see the video several times.
10:43 AM - Starts raining as we pass Andover, KS.
11:15 AM - Rain stopped as we passed through a toll booth about 15 miles from the Oklahoma border.
11:29 AM - Entered Oklahoma.  State count: 5
11:34 AM - Took temperature/dew point: 76 F/70 F.
11:35 AM - Got radio reports for cities around where we’re going to be staying.  Ponca City is 78 degrees with southerly winds at 9.  Enid is 82 degrees and Wichita is expecting tornadoes this afternoon and tonight.
11:39 AM - Traveling west on Oklahoma 11.
11:44 AM - Call base support: There is no Day 1 for Russ to look at because the network at Valpo crashed.  We are going to continue on to Alva or just to the west of Alva.
11:49 AM - Took temperature/dew point: 80 F/67 F.
11:59 AM - Stopped in Bedford, OK for gas and quick bite to eat.
12:26 PM - Back on Highway 11 heading west.
12:37 PM - Turned north on Oklahoma 11A heading for Wakita.
12:40 PM - Took temperature/dew point as we approached Wakita: 81 F/70 F.  Russ called and said that nothing has changed since this morning.
12:42 PM - Turned east onto Main Street in Wakita.
12:43 PM - Pulled up to the Twister Museum.  While at the museum, we ran into the DOW (Doppler On Wheels) and a group from UW Madison.  One of Bart’s old professors from Madison was leading the group, and they had teamed up with DOW.
1:30 PM - Heading out of Wakita.
1:33 PM - Turned south on Oklahoma 11A.
1:34 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 83 F/74 F.
1:37 PM - Turned west on Oklahoma 11.
1:53 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 86 F/75 F.
1:55 PM ­ It’s been decided that if we see an F2 tornado, Kevin Goebbert and Eric Muller will shave their heads, and if we see any kind of tornado at all, Dan Keeley will shave his legs.
1:59 PM - Traveling west on Highway 64.
2:14 PM - Arrived at the Best Western in Alva.
2:21 PM - Russ called while Bart was checking into the hotel.
2:37 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 90 F/68 F.
3:01 PM - Meet in hotel to discuss next move.  Looks like a storm is going to explode right on top of us.  Tornadoes likely.  There are Dbzs up to 46.
3:38 PM - Russ called: checking to make sure we got the information.  It looks like the storm is going to break pretty soon, so we should be taking off in the next half and hour or so.  Kurt went to look out the north window, and he said there is an anvil just off to the north of us.  There are towering cumulus clouds in front of the anvil.
4:02 PM - Left the hotel to go chase to the north.
4:03 PM - Traveling north on Highway 281.
4:06 PM - Northern Oklahoma and Southern Kansas have a tornado watch until 10 PM.  There is a severe thunderstorm expected in Medicine Lodge at 4:20 PM.
4:08 PM - Multiple towers going up with lowering bases are visible to the north.
4:15 PM - Crossed back into Kansas.
4:21 PM - Turned east onto Highway 2.  Bart talked to Russ, who says the storm is pulsing up and down.  Dynamics are not favorable to the north, but a cell may pop to the southwest of us.
4:24 PM - Turned north onto a side road and stopped to watch the storm.
4:30 PM - Measured wind gusts of 15 knots.
4:40 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 85 F/71 F while looking at the storm.
4:45 PM - Russ called: Storm we’re chasing is turning right and dying.  There is a warning out near Woodward County, OK.
4:49 PM - Traveling west on Highway 2.  There is a storm between Lookout, OK and Alva, OK so we’re heading back that way.
4:52 PM - Turned south on Highway 281.
4:56 PM - There is a warning out for Woodward County until around 5:00 PM.
4:58 PM - Re-entered Oklahoma.
5:11 PM - Turned west onto Highway 64.
5:13 PM - There is a tornado warning out on the cell that we just bugged off of.  Russ called: the storm near Medicine Lodge has appeared to have stopped moving.  There is a long line of individual cells that appear to be forming into one big squall line.
5:21 PM - Stopped on the side of road to watch the storms.  We’re about 15 miles west of Alva.
5:33 PM - Decide to head north on Oklahoma N 2370 to chase the two cells we’ve been watching.
5:40 PM - There is a warning in Wood County (Alva area).  The storms that we are chasing are severe.
5:43 PM - TOILET is picking up more than 300 strikes per minute on the northern storm.
5:47 PM - TOILET showing more than 400 strikes per minute.
5:54 PM - Pulled off on a gravel/dirt road.
6:08 PM - Phone rang but the call was lost.
6:09 PM - Called base support: There is a huge supercell just east of Medicine Lodge moving at 5 mph.  We decided to go after it.
6:12 PM - Traveling north on Oklahoma N 2370 again.
6:15 PM - Entering precipitation.
6:17 PM - Reports of rapid rotation on a cell over Harper County.
6:21 PM - Precipitation has pretty much stopped.
6:22 PM - Turned north onto Highway 281
6:24 PM - Entered Kansas again.
6:27 PM - Just passed the road that we stopped on about 4:30 PM.
6:29 PM - Traveling east on Highway 2.  Reports coming in of strong rotation on a cell near Attica, KS.
6:31 PM - Warning out for Woodward, OK.
6:33 PM - We ran across a storm chase team with a web site of stormnet.org while driving through Kiowa, KS.
6:38 PM - Tornado warning out for Harvey County, KS until 7:15 PM.
6:42 PM - There is a 100 mph gate-to-gate wind above the ground.
6:47 PM - Enter Harper County.  Warning for Harper County has been extended until 7:30 PM.
6:48 PM - Russ called: If we stay on Highway 2, we should be safe.  The storm is rain wrapping and the gate-to-gate shear is incredible.
6:55 PM - The car is rocking in the wind.
6:57 PM - Reports come in that the gate-to-gate shear is greater than 100 knots.
6:58 PM - Traveling south on 88th Ave., which is unfortunately a gravel/dirt road.  We had to turn south because if we continued to the east, we would have most likely been punching the core.
7:00 PM - Report of the storm moving east at 25 mph.
7:06 PM - Traveling east on 60th Ave. to try and get around the storm.
7:12 PM - Reports of 1 1/2 inch hail 2 miles to the north of us.
7:14 PM - Turned south on Highway 179.
7:16 PM - Turned east on Spring.
7:19 PM - Russ called: The storm has falling apart, but there are two tornadic storms back near Alva, OK.
7:22 PM - Turned around and are heading back to Alva.
7:25 PM - Tornado warning came out for southwest Sumner Co., which is the storm we just bugged off of .  We decided to head back to Alva anyway.
7:29 PM - Traveling west on Highway 179.
7:34 PM - Traveling on the state line for a couple seconds and then entered Oklahoma.
7:36 PM - Tornado warning in Woodward County had been extended until 8:00 PM.
7:45 PM - Turned west onto Highway 11.
7:46 PM - Tornado warning was issued for Major County, OK.  Russ called and said that there was a storm six miles south of Little Sahara State Park in Major County.
7:59 PM - Tornado warning for Woodward County was extended until 8:30 PM.
8:00 PM - Traveling south on Highway 64.
8:11 PM - Decided to bug off the storm we were chasing and turned around and headed north on Highway 64.
8:20 PM - Turned west onto Highway 11.
8:32 PM - Turned south onto a side road to take pictures of mammatus clouds.
8:38 PM - Russ called but lost the call.
8:44 PM - Back on Highway 11 heading west.
8:48 PM - Arrive at the hotel.  Free time for the rest of the night.  Morning discussion will be at 9:00 AM and will be run by the ladies.  

Total mileage for the day: 447 miles.
Total mileage for the trip: 1224 miles.  


  Day 3: June 6, 2001  

9:00 AM - Morning discussion: There is a ridge aloft, but there is a possible chance of upslope chasing for tomorrow.  There is a 5% chance of tornadoes in northeast Nebraska and southeast Texas.  There is a jet over South Dakota, but there is no upper level support.  SPC’s Day 2 Outlook has a 15% chance of severe weather over Colorado.  There is also a dry line in far eastern New Mexico.  We have three options for today: we can go north and chase the slight risk that is sitting in Nebraska, we can go west to New Mexico or the panhandle of Texas, or go east/southeast to Norman.  Tomorrow we will most likely be chasing in Colorado.  Everything we look at supports our plan to chase in eastern Colorado for tomorrow.
10:02 AM - We decided we’re not going to Norman, OK.  Trying to decide if we’re going to head north or head west.
10:30 AM - Still sitting here deciding where we’re going to be going.  LI are about the same for both places.  More people want to go to Texas and chase than go to Nebraska, but the team leaders are not sure which place to go to.  The is a 30 degree drop in the dew point across the dry line, so many people think that there is a better opportunity in Texas than in Nebraska.  However, there is better shear in Nebraska, so we could play the tornado game there, whereas we could not play the tornado game in Texas.  If we went to Texas.
10:40 AM - Since we can’t decide where we are going to chase, we decided that Shinyhead is going to break the tie.
10:45 AM - We still haven’t made a decision, so we are throwing around ideas on how to break the tie.  Texas has beetles.  Nebraska is cloudy.  We are at a standoff.
10:53 AM - New outlook came out favoring Nebraska, so we are heading north.  Starting to pack up the cars.  Upper level support looks better and the rotation appears to be stronger.  LIs were close in both places so the deciding factor was really speed shear and rotation.
11:00 AM - Left hotel to go get gas and food.
11:25 AM - Left gas station and headed out.
11:26 AM - Turned north onto Highway 281.
11:30 AM - Took temperature/dew point: 78 F/73 F.
11:40 AM - Entered Kansas.
11:49 AM - Called base support: New Day 1 has slight risk extended farther south than the old Day 1.  Supercells are possible with large hail and damaging winds.  Triple point for tonight appears to be in southern Nebraska.  Convergence looks good in Holdrege, NE, tornadoes chance has been dropped to 2%, hail is 25%, and winds are 15%.
12:01 PM - Turned right to stay on Highway 281.
12:02 PM - Turned west to stay on Highway 281.
12:03 PM - Entered the town of Medicine Lodge.
12:17 PM - Entered Pratt County, KS.
12:18 PM - Passed through Sawyer, KS.
12:28 PM - Heard on weather radio that spotter activation may be needed in Nebraska.
12:29 PM - Entered Pratt, KS, home of three Miss America winners.
12:37 PM - Left Pratt, KS.
12:44 PM - Entered Stafford County.
1:02 PM - A complex of thunderstorms is expected to arrive in the tri-cities of Nebraska around sunset.
1:14 PM - Called base support: The front is between Ogallala, NE and Sydney, NE moving east.  There is clearing ahead of the front.  It does not look good for tornadoes, but good for supercells with hail and damaging winds. We may have to go west farther than we thought.  The models are looking good for tomorrow. Numerous thunderstorms with supercells in western Colorado according to SPC’s Day 2.  They are expected to be HP supercells though.
1:18 PM - Entered Great Bend, KS, home of the 2001 Physics Nobel Prize winner.
1:23 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 75 F/63 F.
1:28 PM - Left Great Bend.
1:42 PM - Left Hoisington, Kansas, which was hit by, what we believe to be an F3 tornado, in late April.
2:06 PM - Took temperature/dew point as we exited west onto I-70: 74 F/63 F.
2:18 PM - Called base support: there is a severe thunderstorm breaking in south central South Dakota.  Winner, SD has a tornado warning out on it.  The front is now near Ogallala, NE and there is clearing from McCook, NE to North Platte, NE.  The suggestion is to go west to Highway 283 and go north from there through Norton, NE.
2:28 PM - Russ called: a mesoscale discussion was issued for southern and eastern South Dakota from Grand Island and Carnie to Ogallala to Winner.  Supercells were expected for the northern 2/3 of Nebraska.
2:55 PM - Reports of severe weather have come in.  There is severe weather at the tail end of a short wave in northwest Kansas.
2:57 PM - Exited onto Highway 280.
2:59 PM - A severe thunderstorm watch has been issued for a portion of Nebraska until 8:00 PM.  The following counties were affected: Custer, Thomas, Cherry, Wheeler, Blane, Boyd, Luke, Knox, Arthur, Lincoln, Hooker, Bolt, Brown, McPherson, Logan, Rock, Holtz, Ross, and Garfield.
3:07 PM - Update of the severe thunderstorm watch: has been dropping hail up to 2 inches in diameter and winds up to 25 mph.  The warning is valid for 65 miles on either side of a line that extends from North Platte, NE to 25 miles northeast of Huron, SD.
3:25 PM - Russ called: a line developed from south of Mullen, NE in Hooker County to the southwest to Ogallala.  The winds on that line have been upgraded from 15% to 25% probability.  Tornado probability is still 2% and hail is still 25%.  The probability extends down to the Kansas/Nebraska border.  All the way down, individual supercells are turning into one big line.  The cell that was near Winner was tornadic.
3:39 PM - According to weather radio, it is 64 degrees and cloudy in Lexington, which is where we are planning to stay tonight.  It is completely calm in North Platte.
3:41 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 74 F/70 F.
3:55 PM - Hit the 1500 mile mark.
4:02 PM - Entered Nebraska.  State count: 6
4:07 PM - Update on the weather in Nebraska: winds could be up to 70 mph and the hail could be greater than 2 inches in diameter.
4:15 PM - By 4:30 PM, a line of heavy thunderstorms will be moving from Thomas County to northwestern McPherson County to Keith County.
4:32 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 77 F/65 F.
4:37 PM - Called base support: everything that is happening is individual cells that are all going up in a line.  The cells are pulsing and there is a bull’s eye in northeastern Colorado.  The storms are expected to get to North Platte around sundown.
4:53 PM - Stopped for gas and food in Lexington, NE.
5:23 PM - Left the restaurant and exited west onto I-80.
5:24 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 72 F/66 F.
5:27 PM - Russ called: the storm north of Imperial in Chase county blew to 60 dbzs in the past half hour and is moving slowly to the east/southeast.  The severe thunderstorm watch for Nebraska has been canceled.  Cherry County to the east and south is still under a watch box though.  Tomorrow still looks good for severe weather in Colorado.  The CAPE is going to be around 3000 J/kg but there are going to be low stratus clouds tonight.  If we want to see anything, we have to hope they burn off early in the morning.
5:40 PM - Turned south onto Nebraska 47.
5:59 PM - There is a detour for the road we want, so we’re following the detour onto Dr. 408 South.
6:07 PM - Called base support: there is a mesoscale discussion out in west Texas due to the severe thunderstorm developing there.  There are now 2 storm cells near Imperial, NE.  There is a weather discussion that talks about the Denver Cyclone specifically.  (Denver Cyclone has the ability to spawn lots of landspouts.)
6:17 PM - Turned west onto Nebraska 18.
6:28 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 74 F/64 F.
6:33 PM - Turned west onto Nebraska 3.
6:38 PM - Reports came in about small hail and rain up to 3/4 inch in Chase and Hayes Counties.
6:42 PM - Traveling west on an ‘other road’ that extends west of Nebraska 23.
6:44 PM - Stopped to watch a classic multicell go up.
7:04 PM - Warning came out for a severe thunderstorm in Maxwell, NE.  It is exploding and Russ said we may as well punch the core because there is no threat of tornadoes with it.  When we found this out, we turned around and headed back to Nebraska 18.
7:07 PM - Traveling north on Highway 83.
7:09 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 74 F/63 F.
7:13 PM - Received a cracked windshield.
7:18 PM - Russ called: the storm is crossing I-80 as we speak, but there is another cell to the northwest of North Platte, NE that is exploding fast.
7:20 PM - Rainbow appeared to the east.
7:23 PM - Reports are expecting damaging winds and hail in Maxwell in about 6 minutes.
7:26 PM - The second storm (NE of North Platte) has a warning out on it.
7:30 PM - Realizing that we are not going to catch the storm near Maxwell, we decide to turn off and wait to get rolled by the second storm coming at us.  Turned east onto Brown Road.
7:32 PM - Turning the car around and stopping to watch 2 storms: one with a wall cloud.
7:52 PM - Heading back towards Highway 83 to try and punch the core of the storm near North Platte.
7:55 PM - Turned north onto Highway 83.
8:00 PM - Turned around to head to McCook because we don’t want to punch the core in the city.  We didn’t realize how close to North Platte we really were.
8:06 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 69 F/66 F.
8:53 PM - Turned off onto a side road to take pictures of the clouds in the sunset.
9:05 PM - Heading back to Highway 83.
9:10 PM - Took temperature/dew point as we entered McCook: 69 F/66 F.
9:12 PM - Turned east onto US 6.
9:14 PM - Pulled up to the Best Western.  Free time for the rest of the night.  Everyone make sure you don’t have any ticks on you.  Everyone meet for breakfast at 8:00, to be followed by morning discussion.
 
Total mileage for the day: 526 miles. Total mileage for the trip: 1750 miles.  


  Day 4: June 7, 2001  

8:00 AM - Breakfast at Country Inn, courtesy of Best Western.
9:00 AM - Morning discussion: there is a slight risk out for eastern Colorado, western Kansas, and western Nebraska.  There is a 5% probability of tornadoes, 15% probability of damaging winds, and 25% probability of hail, all for about the same area in eastern Colorado.  The mesoscale discussion says the storms may become severe, and possibly supercells.  The damage will mostly be hail, but its possible to get damaging winds and a tornado.  The tornado is unlikely though because there is not enough wind speed.  The lifted index (LI) over northeastern Colorado is -4 and over eastern Colorado the LI is -8 with a CAPE of about 3000 J/kg.  the farther north we go, the better the chances are for supercells.  For Friday, the LI is expected to be -7 over North Dakota.
9:35 AM - Decided to take a break and wait half an hour until the ETA model is updated.
10:06 AM - Meeting: Part II: there is no CAP in Denver, which is not a good sign.  We’re going to go to Sterling, CO and get a hotel there to get data.  We leave in five to ten minutes.
10:22 AM - Leave hotel and head west on Highway 6.
10:23 AM - Took temperature/dew point as we left the hotel: 70 F/62 F.
10:36 AM - At the junction of Highways 6 and 34, we followed 6.
11:00 AM - Entered Mountain Time Zone.  (All times will be CDT.)
11:41 AM - Entered Colorado.  State count: 7
11:45 AM - Called base support: Denver has a hazardous weather outlook.  The best chance for tornadoes is around Arapahoe Co. to Addams Co. to Morgan Co.  Russ suggests we head southwest from Sterling to Fort Morgan.  The boundary is visible on satellite from the west.  The new Day 1 is virtually the same as the old Day 1.  We are going to get gas and food in Sterling and then head south.
11:59 AM - Took temperature/dew point: 68 F/64 F.
12:08 PM - Found a data port on a road about 37 miles south of where we are, so we decided to turn around and head down to Wray, CO.
12:19 PM - Turned south onto Highway 385.
12:54 PM - Took temperature/dew point in Wray, Colorado: 71 F/64 F.
1:00 PM - Stopped for gas and food in Wray.
2:07 PM - Leaving the gas station.
2:09 PM - Turned right onto Highway 34.
2:11 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 73 F/65 F.
2:13 PM - Goodland, KS weather radio called for rotating supercells with large hail, damaging winds, and isolated tornadoes.
2:29 PM - Denver weather radio says that trained storm spotters will be activated by 2:30 Mountain Daylight Time.
2:35 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 73 F/64 F.
2:48 PM - Took temperature/dew point in Otis, CO: 73 F/64 F.
2:52 PM - There is a severe thunderstorm warning out for Bent County, CO.
3:00 PM - Took temperature/dew point in Akron, CO: 78 F/63 F.  Turned north onto Highway 63.
3:03 PM - Pulled into the Akron airport to see if they have a DTN that we could use.  Russ called: there is one cell near Lamar, CO and one due south of Denver.  They have southeasterly upflow and the new Day 1 is very similar to the old Day 1.
3:08 PM - The airport didn’t have a DTN but two banks in town do.  We’re heading back to town to find them.
3:10 PM - Turned west onto Highway 34 and pulled into the First National Bank of Akron.  This bank didn’t have a DTN, so some people are walking about a block to find the banks that do have DTNs.
3:15 PM - Russ called: the main storms appear to be left moving and have hail up to 3 inches in diameter.  There is a tornado watch valid until 9 PM for the area from the Wyoming border to Nebraska towards Pueblo.  The greatest risk is in the northeast quadrant of Colorado, which is where we are currently at.
3:20 PM - We are leaving the bank to go meet Bart, Stephanie, and Marshall at the public library.  We turned right onto Main Ave. and drive  north about 3 blocks until we arrived at the library.  We used their Internet to look at the satellite and radar to get an idea of what we want to do.
3:31 PM - Library closed for half an hour or so, so we’re going to head north out of town a few miles to watch the cumulus towers to our north.  We headed north on Main Ave.
3:33 PM - Took temperature/dew point as we headed out of Akron: 74 F/68 F.
3:35 PM - Stopped to wait for more information from Russ and to watch the cell to our north.  There is also a new cell that is forming a cumulus tower to our west.
4:18 PM - Called base support: there is a moisture convergence  max over Fort Morgan, Colorado.  The cell to our north just looks like a classic supercell that isn’t going to do much.  The one to our west has some promise, but it is really narrow above the base.  We’re going to continue to watch to see what happens with it.
4:49 PM - We’re going to head west a ways to get a closer look at the cell to our west.  It looks like its trying to form a wall cloud, and the tower has thickened out considerably.  We think this one may drop a tornado or two.  The cell to our north has pretty much died out.  We headed north on Main Ave. to get back into town and then headed west on Highway 34.
4:58 PM - We hit construction so we decided to turn around and go south a bit.  It turned into a one lane road, and if this cell decides to go tornadic, we don’t want to be caught on the wrong side of it and get caught in the core.
5:01 PM - Turned south on a side road and stopped to watch the storm develop.
5:03 PM - Turned around and went east on Highway 34 because we wanted to get a better view on the development of the storm.  Its growing so quickly and we want to get out of the way of the carnage.
5:05 PM - Turned south onto Colorado 63 as Russ called.  He said the cell we’re chasing is the most impressive one in Colorado.  It has a CAPE of 3000 J/kg and good vertical shear.  It could produce limited tornadoes.  Like we said though, we don’t care if they’re limited as long as it drops them.
5:15 PM - Turned west onto Rd. 33 and stopped to watch.
5:25 PM - Measured a wind gust of 21 knots.
5:26 PM - Measured a wind gust of 23 knots.
5:45 PM - Measured 18 knot sustained wind.
5:46 PM - Measured a wind gust of 26 knots.
6:11 PM - We got passed by the National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) just before we decided to turn around and head south again.  We started to lose visibility on the wall cloud.
6:17 PM - Pulled off on Rd. 27 to watch as Russ called.  The tornado warning was reissued, and it is 7 miles south of Akron moving south east at 5 mph.
6:22 PM - Took temperature/dew point as we stopped to watch: 72 F/65 F.
6:28 PM - Measured a wind gust of 28 knots.
6:35 PM or so: Spotted a tornado on the ground.  It was a clear column of air, but you could see the dust spinning on the ground.  The wall cloud at this point looks to be about 2 miles long.  The wall had been teasing us by breaking up or evaporating and then coming back in force.
6:42 PM - Turned around and headed back south on Colorado 63 because we lost visual on the wall cloud and the lightning was getting to close to be safe.
6:50 PM - Turned west onto Rd. 20 and stopped several miles up the road.
7:43 PM - The storm looks like its pretty much died.  The wall cloud still looks OK, but the base looks like its detached from the updraft core.  It looked like it dropped a couple other tornadoes, but we can’t be sure.  There were several other funnels that were dropped, but we had a hard time verifying that they actually reached the ground.  This supercell was cyclic.  It would have a massive wall cloud for a good amount of time, and then it would evaporate or break apart and threaten to die.  After a few minutes it would regenerate and form another wall cloud.  It dropped several funnels, but we couldn’t really verify because the wall cloud was so close to the ground on the horizon, and we were so far away.  There was also a slight hill on the horizon that obstructed our view slightly.
7:45 PM - Turned around and headed east on Rd. 20, and then north on Colorado 63.
7:50 PM - Hit 2000 miles for the trip.
7:52 PM - Russ called: he verified that the storm was completely dead.  There were two new cells just went up north of Fort Morgan moving east/southeast.
8:04 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 63 F/63 F.
8:08 PM - Stopped at a gas station in Akron, CO for a pit stop.
8:28 PM - Traveling north on Colorado 63.
8:50 PM - Turned east onto I-76.
8:53 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 69 F/68 F.
9:00 PM - There is a severe thunderstorm warning for southeast Wyoming 5 miles southeast of Cheyenne and a tornado warning out for the 15 miles east of Kimbell, NE.   The storm is moving southeast at 15 mph.  There is also a severe thunderstorm warning for Kimbell County.  The storm is 17 miles west of Kimbell.  The tornadic storm is only about 15 miles to our northwest.
9:10 PM - Reports of 3 inch hail 10 miles west of Kimbell came in.
9:45 PM - Entered Nebraska again.
9:48 PM - Traveling east on I-80.
10:06 PM - Exited onto Highway 61.
10:08 PM - Arrived at the Hotel.  

Total mileage for the day: 491
Total mileage for the trip: 2141  


  Day 5: June 8, 2001  

9:06 AM - Morning discussion: Day 1 outlook has a slight risk over Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Colorado.  There is a 5% probability for tornadoes over Cherry County.  The supercell index has a bull’s eye right over Cherry County.  It has a -8 LI and there is a 3000 J/kg CAPE over North Platte.  Day 2 has a slight risk over Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming.
10:03 AM - Decided to head west to Montana instead of going to Cherry County.  The only thing Cherry County had that Montana didn’t was moisture.  The instability, upper level winds, and shear were all greater in Montana.
10:17 AM - Left the hotel and turned north onto Highway 61.
10:18 AM - Turned left to travel west on Highway 30.
10:23 AM - Turned right to travel north on Highway 61.
10:25 AM - Turned left to travel west on Highway 26.
10:27 AM - Took temperature/dew point as we left Ogallala: 69 F/63 F.
11:38 AM - Turned left to travel south on Highway 26.
11:39 AM - Stopped for gas.
12:00 PM - Left the gas station and headed west on Highway 26.
12:17 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 76 F/65 F.
12:51 PM - Turned right to head north onto Nebraska 29 in Mitchell, NE.
12:53 PM - Stopped in a parking lot to discuss new information we got when Bart called Russ.  Rapid city has withdrawn their forecast of storms popping in Montana.  Shinyhead says that there is an excellent chance of severe storms in southwestern South Dakota and eastern Iowa tomorrow.  The question now is do we continue on to Montana as originally planned, or do we modify our plans and head somewhere in either South Dakota or Nebraska?  Right now it looks like everything is going to be happening in the middle of the Black Hills, which are extremely hard to chase in.
1:08 PM - Russ is waiting for the new Day 2 to come up, so we’re heading south on Nebraska 29 so that we’re not biased in either direction.  If the Day 2 favors what Shinyhead is predicting, we will not go to Montana, otherwise we will head west into Wyoming and then on up to Montana.
1:25 PM - The new Day 2 shows a good chance of tornadoes for tomorrow in South Dakota.  The 15% probability extends from Miles city, MT through North Dakota, southwest Minnesota, down into western Iowa, west into Nebraska, though the extreme southwest corner of South Dakota, and back into Montana.
1:52 PM - Rapid City weather radio says that the best chance for severe weather is to the north and east of the Black Hills.
1:55 PM - Turned right to travel east on Highway 20.
2:00 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 74 F/62 F.
2:42 PM - Took temperature/dew point in Chadron, NE: 79 F/67 F.
2:45 PM - Stopped for food in Chadron.  We’re meeting at the Subway at 2:55 PM.  The winds are from the North.
3:05 PM - Leaving Subway and heading south on Highway 20.
3:07 PM - Traveling west on Highway 385.
3:20 PM - Stopped on the side of the road to call Russ.
3:23 PM - There is a severe thunderstorm warning out for Cherry County and the storm is moving southeast at 20.
3:25 PM - Turned around because Cherry County north to South Dakota is going to be out best chance for storms.
3:29 PM - Report from the radio said that the cell in Bennett County, SD is weakening.
3:37 PM - Turned left to travel east on Highway 20.
3:54 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 80 F/67 F.
4:23 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 80 F/57 F.
4:32 PM - Stopped to get gas in Gordon, NE.
4:55 PM - Leaving the gas station and heading south on Nebraska 27 so we can sit and watch to see what happens.
5:00 PM - Turned off onto a side road and stopped to watch the cumulus clouds around us and wait for more information.
6:07 PM - Back on Nebraska 27 heading north because there is a cumulus field going up in eastern Wyoming and it is moving east towards a moisture convergence.  When it hits, storms are going to pop.  Because of this, we’re going to head back to Chadron and most likely stay there tonight.
6:10 PM - Turned left to travel west on Highway 20.
6:22 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 82 F/55 F.
6:37 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 81 F/66 F.
6:53 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 82 F/54 F.
7:04 PM - Turned left onto Highway 385 South in Chadron, NE on our way to our hotel.
7:05 PM - Turned left into our Best Western hotel.
7:09 PM - Took temperature/dew point at the hotel: 85 F/66 F.
7:13 PM - The hotel is full so we’re going to Wal-Mart across the street and call around looking for another one.
7:37 PM - We obtained a hotel in Murdo, SD so we’re heading east on Highway 20.
7:52 PM - Spotted a wild turkey by the side of the road.
8:14 PM - Drove in a circle around a block in Rushville, NE as an experiment to see if everyone would shut up.  We were singing “Build Me Up Buttercup” along with “The best little station in the nation: the Twister. 95.5 FM.”
8:26 PM - Passed the Twister radio station: KSDZ.
8:35 PM - Entered Cherry County.  Its six times the size of Rhode Island and only has 3 roads, literally.
8:50 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 76 F/66 F.
8:55 PM - Turned left to travel north onto Nebraska 61.
9:00 PM - Entered South Dakota.  State count: 8
9:12 PM - Turned right to travel east on Highway 18.
9:27 PM - Peter got through to the Twister for “Sing for Your Song” weekend.  He tried to do “Fools Rush In” by Elvis Presley, but they’ve already played it.  We’re trying to find a different song now.
10:05 PM - Turned left to travel north on Highway 83.
10:34 PM - We’ve been having a song fest across the CBs.  We all picked songs and sang across the CBs, either in groups or solo for the past hour and a half.  It has been the most funny part of the trip yet.
10:48 PM - Arrived in Murdo, SD and entered the Central Time Zone.  Turned west onto 5th Street.
10:49 PM - Arrived at our hotel.  

Total mileage for the day: 574 miles Total mileage for the trip: 2715 miles  


  Day 6: June 9, 2001  

8:30 AM - Morning discussion: there is a moderate risk for South Dakota and southern North Dakota.  The CAPE is 2000 to 3000 J/kg.  There is a 5% probability of tornadoes over southwestern North Dakota and wind and hail is hatched at 35%.  The LI over southeastern South Dakota and the warm front is on the border between North and South Dakota.  The Bulk Richardson number was off the scale over North Dakota.  The Day 2 outlook has a slight risk over Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin and the Day 3 is centered over parts of Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Missouri, South Dakota, Kansas, and Illinois.  We decided to head to Bismarck, ND to get a hotel and data, since we don’t have any base support today.
9:15 AM - Left the hotel to go get gas.
9:25 AM - Went back to get Bart.
9:30 AM - Heading east on I-90.
9:47 AM - Exited onto Highway 83 North.
9:54 AM - Took temperature/dew point: 67 F/62 F.
10:20 AM - Took temperature/dew point  in Pierre, SD: 70 F/64 F.
11:10 AM - Took temperature/dew point: 77 F/67 F.
11:38 AM - Took temperature/dew point: 79 F/63 F.
12:15 PM - Entered South Dakota.  State Count: 9
12:36 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 81 F/64 F.
12:52 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 81 F/62 F.
1:06 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 82 F/63 F.
1:15 PM - Turned west onto I-94.
1:20 PM - Called Jared Guyer (former VUSIT director): the moderate risk is now in the southern 2/3 of North Dakota and the northern 2/3 of South Dakota, as well as extreme eastern Wyoming and Montana.  We are on the far northern edge of the 5% probability, which is in about the same location as the moderate risk.  The 2% probability for tornadoes covers all of the Dakotas and the eastern edge of Montana and Wyoming.  There is a 35% hatched probability of hail and 35% probability of damaging winds for the western half of North Dakota and the northwest half of South Dakota.  There are bow echoes on radar as well.
1:33 PM - Entered Bismarck, ND.
1:45 PM - Stopped to get gas and food after checking into our hotel.
2:30 PM - Met in a parking lot and headed west on I-94.  Today was the first day all trip that we actually made it at our projected time.
2:43 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 86 F/59 F.
2:51 PM - Entered Mountain Time Zone.
2:53 PM - Hit the 3000 mile mark.
3:05 PM - Latitude is 46.86 N.
3:30 PM - Severe thunderstorm warning for Billings County, ND and the storm is movie northeast at 40 mph.
3:33 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 85 F/61 F.
3:41 PM - Exited north onto North Dakota 8.
3:43 PM - There is a tornado watch out for most of North Dakota.
3:45 PM - There is a storm 8 miles west of Manning, ND moving at 20 mph in an unknown direction.
4:00 PM - Stopped on a side road to watch 2 different storms.
4:20 PM - The storm that was 8 miles west of Manning is now 13 miles south of Manning with hail of 2 inch diameter reported.
4:23 PM - Headed north on North Dakota 8.
4:25 PM - Turned around because we thought the storm was dying.  We saw another cell going up to its south, so we headed south on North Dakota 8.
4:30 PM - Pulled off on the same road as before because the storm regenerated itself, and then we backed out to take pictures of the rain foot.
4:35 PM - Heading back to I-94 by going south on North Dakota 8.
4:51 PM - Took temperature/dew point as we stopped at a gas station to discuss the next move: 80 F/56 F. 4:57 PM - There is a warning out for southern Mackenzie County, and we decided to head west on I-94.  There is a decent size cell going up to our west, and we wanted to get a better look at it.
5:01 PM - There is a tornado warning out for Mercer and Oliver Counties.
5:17 PM - Exited north onto North Dakota 22.
5:25 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 74 F/64 F.
5:43 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 69 F/62 F.
5:49 PM - Turned east onto North Dakota 200.
6:15 PM - Turned south on North Dakota 8 to get out of the way of the storm to our west.  It grew very rapidly and looked like it had a rotating wall cloud, and looked very menacing.
6:52 PM - There is a thunderstorm warning for stark county, which is the cell that we’ve been watching.  It is moving southeast at 20 mph.
6:58 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 72 F/64 F.
7:05 PM - Turned around on North Dakota 8 about 30 miles south of I-94.  The cell we were watching pretty much died out, but there was one that had a great looking rain shaft.  We decided then that we were just going to head back to the hotel.
7:12 PM - Turned east onto I-94 and headed into the core.
7:16 PM - We punched the core, and we got hail mixed in with the rain.  There is also a warning out for the area to our north and northeast.
7:25 PM - Encountered more hail.
7:35 PM - Entered Central Time Zone.
7:45 PM - We have emerged from the middle of the core.  There was talk of heading south to try and catch it, but we realized it was too far south for us to catch.  We decided to head back to our hotel instead.
7:48 PM - There is a severe thunderstorm warning out for Grant County, which is the county directly south of Bismarck, ND.
8:00 PM -We are only in light rain.  There is a tornado watch for the area in North Dakota that is south of Jamestown, ND.  There is hail up to 2 inches in diameter and wind up to 80 mph.
8:15 PM - A funnel and gustnado were spotted in a storm to the north of I-94 about 20 miles west of Bismarck.
8:24 PM - Exited I-94 to our hotel.  Free time for the rest of the night.  The girls are in charge of morning discussion, which will be at 8:00 AM.

Total mileage for the day: 573
Total mileage for the trip: 3288  


  Day 7: June 10, 2001  

8:05 AM - Morning discussion: Day 1 is over Montana and South Dakota.   There is a 5% probability of tornadoes over the Black Hills in South Dakota, and 25% probability of hail over northern South Dakota, southwestern North Dakota, and eastern Wyoming.  isolated thunderstorms possible.  Day 2 has a moderate risk over Minnesota, extreme eastern South Dakota, extreme northern Iowa, and there is a 35% chance over the moderate region.  CAPE is going to be 3000-4000 J/kg.  Day 3 is over Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming.  We know we are definitely not going east to Iowa, like we thought yesterday.  We really have 3 choices: we could go chase in Iowa, go to southwestern South Dakota and far eastern Wyoming, or we could stay here.  We will most likely be chasing in Minnesota tomorrow, so it would not make sense to stay here, and its at least a nine hour drive, and that’s to Des Moines.  The storms in Iowa are expected to pound the Quad Cities.  Bart suggests staying somewhere west of the Black Hills, but east of Murdo.  That way we can go chase in eastern Wyoming and southeastern Montana if we want to.
8:39 AM - Bart got rooms in Spearfish, SD for $53 for four people per room, when normally rooms are $80-$100 for two people.  Bart’s the man.  “What did you promise them?” -Emily  “My body.” -Bart.
9:15 AM - Found out we got $6 off breakfast per person, so we ate at the breakfast buffet    in the hotel’s restaurant.
10:20 AM - Went to get gas.
10:35 AM - Exited west onto I-94.
10:42 AM - Took temperature/dew point: 70 F/62 F.
10:55 AM - Entered Mountain Time Zone.
12:05 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 80 F/54 F.
12:12 PM - Exited south onto Highway 85.
12:57 PM - Stopped on top of a hill so Bart could get a good enough signal on his cell phone that he could  make a phone call.
1:05 PM - Started moving again.  The new Day 1 is out, and it shows the best chance of storms to be in eastern Montana.  The best chance for tornadoes is in northeast Wyoming and southwest South Dakota.  The Day 2 has a moderate risk over southern Minnesota, northeast Nebraska, all of Iowa, and southeast South Dakota.  The cape is     going to be 4000-6000 J/kg.  The EHI (Energy Helicity Index) for west of Des Moines    is 11.2, and an EHI that is good is 2.  If the cap gets broken tomorrow, it will be an outbreak like Pampa.
1:25 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 83 F/45 F.
1:30 PM - Entered South Dakota.
1:37 PM - Decided to cancel our reservation at the hotel in Spearfish, SD and make one at the hotel in Murdo, SD.
1:45 PM - Hit the 3500 mile mark.
1:55 PM - Stopped in Buffalo, SD for a bathroom break.
2:15 PM - Back on the road heading south on Highway 85.
2:20 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 83 F/49 F.
3:28 PM - Exited west onto I-90.
3:35 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 84 F/55 F.
3:36 PM - Entered Wyoming.  State count: 10
3:53 PM - Took exit 187 into Sundance, WY.
3:58 PM - Stopped for lunch in Sundance.
4:45 PM - Left Subway.
4:50 PM - Took temperature/dew point as we stopped to take pictures of Sundance Mountain: 84 F/49 F.
4:55 PM - Heading west on Highway 14 to go look at Devil’s Tower.
5:10 PM - Stopped at a scenic overlook to take pictures of Devil’s Tower from a distance.
5:17 PM - Continuing to head toward the tower.
5:21 PM - Turned right to head north on Wyoming 24.  Side note, Devil’s Tower was   America’s first national monument.
5:27 PM - Stopped to take pictures up close.
5:43 PM - Turned around to head back towards Sundance to wait for the storms to pop.
5:49 PM - Took temperature/dew point as we turned left to head east on Highway 14:
     88 F/47 F.
6:10 PM - Exited east onto I-90.  Heard weather reports: dew point in Rapid City, SD is 60 F and the winds are from the south; Gillette, WY has a temp of 90 and a dew point of 26 for a relative humidity (RH) of 9%.
6:15 PM - Stopped at a visitor information center to access a DTN.
6:30 PM - Decided to stay at the visitor center and wait to see if anything is going to happen.
7:40 PM - Nothing’s going to happen, so we headed east on I-90.
7:43 PM - Took temperature/dew point as we left the visitor center: 83 F/56 F.  Relative humidity is 67%.
7:52 PM - Re-entered South Dakota.
8:54 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 76 F/70 F.
9:30 PM - Wall Drug.
10:10 PM - Heading for gas station.
10:18 PM - Heading east on I-90.
11:25 PM - Entered the Central Time Zone and exited onto I-90 Business North.
11:30 PM - Arrived at hotel.  Bed time.  Morning discussion is at 7 and departure is immediately after that, tentatively 7:30 AM.
 
Total mileage for the day: 599 miles
Total mileage for the trip: 3887 miles  


Day 8: June 11, 2001  

7:00 AM - Morning discussion: Day 1: there is a moderate risk over Minnesota and extreme northwestern Iowa.  5% probability of tornadoes in Minnesota, 35% hatched winds, and 35% hatched hail.  The 850 mb winds are from the southwest.  There is divergence in central Minnesota and the helicity is 400-450 over extreme northern Minnesota.
7:45 AM - Nap time.  We don’t know where we should go so we’re going to wait half an hour until new data comes out.
8:00 AM - New Day 1 came out with 15% hatched tornadoes where it used to be 5% so we got ready to leave.
8:25 AM - Left gas station and headed east on I-90.
8:32 AM - Took temperature/dew point: 70 F/66 F.
9:54 AM - Hit the 4000 mile mark.
9:56 AM - Took temperature/dew point: 81 F/75 F.
10:15 AM - Took temperature/dew point: 82 F/75 F.
10:39 AM - Took temperature/dew point: 84 F/75 F.
11:05 AM - Took temperature/dew point: 85 F/75 F.
11:10 AM - Exited into Sioux Falls to get a high resolution map for Minnesota.
11:12 AM - Turned left onto Benson Ave.
11:14 AM - Exited south onto I-229.
11:22 AM - Turned north onto Louise Ave.
11:25 AM - Stopped at Target and got food.
12:15 PM - Turned west onto 41st Street.
12:17 PM - Exited north onto I-29.
12:22 PM - Called Jared as we exited east onto I-90.
12:34 PM - Finished the call.  Day 1 has a moderate risk that includes southwestern Wisconsin, northeastern Nebraska, and 50 miles into southeast South Dakota.  EHI is 8 or 9, and any tornadoes that develop will be large.  Its expected that Grand Island or Norfork, NE will be the best chances for tornadoes tomorrow.
12:36 PM - Entered Minnesota.  State count: 11
12:41 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 88 F/74 F.
1:18 PM - Heard a report that southwest and south central Minnesota has rapid thunderstorm development happening now.  We also found NOAA weather radio out of Marshall, MN at 162.500.
1:19 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 91 F/72 F.
1:30 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 92 F/74 F.
1:39 PM - Russ called: moisture convergence is in the southwest corner of Minnesota and the surrounding area.  CAPE is around 5000 J/kg.  Storms are 35% hatched from Rochester, MN to Chadron, NE, to Grand Island, NE, to Omaha, NE, to Des Moines, IA, back to Rochester.
1:51 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 93 F/70 F.
2:02 PM - Exited onto Minnesota 15 and arrived at our hotel.  Report came in saying it was 93 F/66 F in Mankato, MN.
2:19 PM - Got hotel room and looked at data.
2:58 PM - There is a PDS (particularly dangerous situation) out for central and southern Minnesota and western Wisconsin.  It extends 140 statute miles east and west of the line from 35 miles east/southeast of Fairmont, MN to 35 miles north of Minnesota.  It is in effect until 8 PM tonight.
3:10 PM - Tornado touched down in Benson, MN moving east at 25 mph.
3:23 PM - Traveling north on Minnesota 15.
3:27 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 94 F/70 F.
3:36 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 95 F/67 F.
3:46 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 94 F/69 F.
3:54 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 95 F/69 F.
3:56 PM - Found that 93.1 FM is a good station to listen to in Minnesota for weather.
4:01 PM - Heard reports of storms popping in one of the Dakotas (South Dakota?).
4:04 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 93 F/68 F.
4:05 PM - There is a warning in South Dakota on a cell heading for Rosco(?).  Matt Hartman called: there is a tornado on the ground 2 miles north of Willimar moving eastat 20 mph.  Candy, Ohi, and Meeker counties are under a tornado warning.  He said if we get to Hutchison, we should be in good shape.
4:15 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 94 F/68 F.
4:21 PM - Washington County is under a severe thunderstorm warning.  In Dakota County, a line of storms is moving east into St. Paul. The warnings on Candy, Ohi, and Meeker counties expire at 4:45 PM.  There is also a cell in Brad County moving east at 40 mph.
4:27 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 91 F/70 F.  There is a warning out for Kimbell, MN for large hail.  Mill Axe County is under a severe thunderstorm warning.
4:32 PM - There is a line of severe storms moving east at 35 mph that extends west of St. Cloud, MN northward.  The most intense part of the line is moving into Meeker County.
4:34 PM - A storm hit south of Winner, NE  with rotation observed, but no tornado.  It is reintensifying and moving into Meeker County from Greenleaf, MN north to Keeston, MN.  Gusts of  60 mph were reported near the storm. There is a storm near Litchfield, MN.  There is a tornado on the ground just east of Candy-Ohi moving east/southeast at 25 mph.  There is also a tornado on the ground 2 miles east of Litchfield.
4:44 PM -  There is a tornado warning out for McCloud County and eastern Meeker County, which is the storm we are on.  The storm is building to the south.  Damage was reported in Litchfield moving east at 35 mph.  There is a tornado between Gasser and Lake Jimmy in Minnesota.
4:50 PM - Took temperature/dew point as we turned around and headed south on Minnesota 15: 78 F/74 F.
4:52 PM - Radar indicated the storm in far southeast Meeker County is turning hard right.  We’re going east on 212 and have escape routes.  Power is out at Litchfield.
4:55 PM - Heard reports that the storm is rearranging.  A severe line did a lot of damage in a marina near the Twin Cities.  There is no development in the southern part of the state.  The cap continues to hold in the south.
4:59 PM - Turned left to head east on Highway 212.
5:08 PM - Got caught in a downburst and had to pull off the road to keep from being blown off the road.
5:11 PM - Turned south onto Highway 22.
5:14 PM - Rotation was reported above Knott Wood, MN.
5:18 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 74 F/66 F.
5:26 PM - Traveling south on Minnesota 19.
5:31 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 79 F/66 F.
5:35 PM - Stopped for bathroom and gas.
5:50 PM - Back on Minnesota 19 heading west.
5:52 PM - Turned left to head south on Minnesota 15.
5:55 PM - Stopped on the side of the road to watch new towering cumulus go up.
6:00 PM - Fire siren went off to call the volunteer fire department.
6:10 PM - Heading south again to try and get out of the outflow and into the inflow.
6:14 PM- Took temperature/dew point: 76 F/63 F.
6:22 PM - Heading back to the hotel to look at the radar and decide if there’s anything worth going after.
6:26 PM - Matt called: northeastern Nebraska and northwestern Iowa are now monitoring for severe weather.  Mushroom cloud started to go up.  It looked like an atomic bomb exploded in the middle of the atmosphere.
6:29 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 78 F/63 F.
6:30 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 90 F/72 F. (warm front)
6:55 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 90 F/76 F.
7:03 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 90 F/71 F.
7:10 PM - Arrived at the hotel and started looking at data.  Doesn’t look like anything else is going to happen around us so its free time for the rest of the night.  Morning discussion  is at 8:00 AM tomorrow.
 
Total mileage for the day: 533 miles
Total mileage for the trip: 4420 miles  


  Day 9: June 12, 2001  

8:05 AM - Morning discussion: Day 1 has a moderate risk over southwest Minnesota, northwestern Iowa, northern Nebraska, and southern South Dakota.  The slight risk covers a large area outside of that.  The probabilities are as follows: 15% hatched tornadoes over the middle of the moderate risk, 35% hatched hail, and 25% winds.  Day 2 has a slight risk and will have a moderate risk, but its unknown where it will be.  The lifted index over central Nebraska is -12.5 and the main threat of tornadoes is west of the James River in Nebraska.
8:53 AM - Left the hotel.
8:55 AM - Took temperature/dew point as we turned onto I-90: 71 F/62 F.  Side note: do not stay at the Comfort Inn in Fairmont, MN again.  They cheated us out of money and gave the wrong estimate for the room to Bart.  Not trustworthy.
9:59 AM - Hit the 4500 mile mark.
10:15 AM - Entered South Dakota again.
10:30 AM - Took temperature/dew point: 70 F/62 F.
11:21 AM - Took temperature/dew point: 70 F/60 F.
12:03 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 65 F/60 F.
12:15 PM - Stopped in Chamberlain, SD for gas and food.
1:00 PM - Back on I-90 heading west.  The warm front is along I-80 and the cap is tremendous south of the warm front.  Tornadoes are only expected to form in South Dakota and Nebraska.
1:10 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 65 F/59 F.
1:13 PM - Exited south onto South Dakota 47.
1:22 PM - Turned right to head west on South Dakota 49.
2:10 PM - Took temperature/dew point as we entered Nebraska: 66 F/63 F.  About 25 miles from Ainsworth, we had to follow a detour onto Nebraska 7.
2:35 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 71 F/68 F.
2:46 PM - Stopped in Basset, NE to discuss what we’re going to do.  An MCD was issued for the panhandle of Nebraska.  They’re expecting rapid development of tornadic supercells from the west side of Cherry County westward.
2:49 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 76 F/70 F.
2:50 PM - Heading east toward O’Neill on Highway 20.
3:04 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 77 F/71 F.
3:23 PM- Took temperature/dew point as we punched the warm front: 83 F/74 F.
3:40 PM - Arrived at hotel in O’Neill and started looking at data.  Nothing is happening around here right now so we’re going to wait and see what happens.
6:00 PM - Noticed cumulus towers to the north but they were too far away to reach.  We decided to not chase the storms right now, but rather wait until tonight and photograph the lightning when the MCS comes through.
10:30 PM - The MCS isn’t close enough for us to be able to get to it to photograph.  Free time for the rest of the night.  Morning discussion tomorrow is at 8:30 AM.
 
Total miles for the day: 417 miles
Total miles for the trip: 4837 miles  


  Day 10: June 13, 2001  

8:25 AM - Morning discussion scheduled for 8:30.  The supercell index is maximized over Kansas, as well as the tornado potential maximum.  The Day 1 has a moderate risk over southeast Nebraska and most of Kansas.  The CAPE is around 3000 J/kg.  Spotter activation is possible in northeastern Kansas and southeastern Nebraska.  The flow aloft is southwesterly.  The hail probability goes as high as 35%, and parts the 25% and all of the 35% are hatched.  Tornadoes are also hatched at 15% in the middle corridor of Kansas, and winds were 25%.  The helicity in Topeka, KS was 210 with a lifted index of -11.1 over Concordia, KS.  The plan is to head to York, NE and get a hotel there.  Eat lunch, get gas, and then we’ll head down to Concordia.
9:07 AM - Left the hotel and turned right to head west on Highway 20.
9:11 AM - Took temperature/dew point: 72 F/68 F.
9:51 AM - Took temperature/dew point: 82 F/60 F.
9:59 AM - Traveling east on Nebraska 91.
10:26 AM - Traveling south on Nebraska 39.
10:30 AM - Took temperature/dew point: 82 F/61 F.
11:04 AM - Took temperature/dew point: 84 F/63 F.
11:10 AM - Turned left to head east on Nebraska 92.
11:13 AM - Turned right to head south on Highway 81.
11:16 AM - Took temperature/dew point: 86 F/61 F.
11:32 AM - Stopped for gas on the north side of York, NE.
11:43 AM - Headed for the hotel.
11:52 AM - Took temperature/dew point as we arrived at our hotel: 87 F/64 F.
11:55 AM - Looking at data in one of the rooms.  Sent some people over to Pizza Hut to start eating, others will come later.
1:17 PM - Heading south on Highway 81 to Concordia, KS.
1:20 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 86 F/64 F.
1:24 PM - Tone contest: how many times will we hear the tone for a watch or warning from now until we get back to the hotel?
Chase 1: 14          Chase 2: 8          Chase 3: 1          Chase 4: 12
1:30 PM - Hit the 5000 mile marker.
1:52 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 89 F/64 F.
     I’m going on a storm chase and I’m bringing an anemometer, barometer, cumulonimbus, duct tape, echo, front, gustnado, hodograph, isentropic surface, Jim Cantori, kite, lee cyclogenesis, mesocyclone, nickel size hail, overshooting top, precipitable water, a quasistationary front, right-turning rain-wrapped F3 tornado, six super-duper supercells, theta e advection, uniquely unstable upward motion, vertically integrated liquid, wind cloud, xenon strobe lights (so we can look like the Weather Channel), yellow peanut cloud, and a zipper low.
2:02 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 89 F/66 F.
2:18 PM - Entered Kansas.
2:24 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 89 F/66 F.
2:38 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 92 F/68 F.
2:46 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 90 F/69 F.
2:51 PM - Arrived in Concordia.  Stopped at a gas station to ask directions to the library.  Turn left on 7th Street and it should be on the left one block from the main road.
2:55 PM - Stopped at the library to get data.
4:15 PM - Took temperature/dew point as we looked for a park to sit in: 93 F/ 64 F.
4:17 PM - Stopped at a park.
4:49 PM - Headed back to the library to double check data and decide what to do.
5:24 PM - Left the library to head south of town and slightly west to watch storms develop.
5:27 PM - Took temperature/dew point as we headed south on Highway 81: 93 F/67 F.
5:34 PM - Found a side road to sit on and watch the towers on every side of us.
5:41 PM - Measured 15 knot sustained winds from the inflow.
5:53 PM - Tone #1: tornado watch until midnight for the northeast corner of Kansas.
5:58 PM - One of the towers we’ve been watching looks like it could break the cap so we’re going to go after it.  We’re heading north on Highway 81 out of town.
6:01 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 91 F/70 F.
6:14 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 93 F/67 F.
6:33 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 90 F/67 F.
6:38 PM - Entered Nebraska.  There is a tornado warning out for southeast York County, NE.  Reports of a tornado on the ground.
6:48 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 88 F/68 F.
6:57 PM - Exited east onto Nebraska 15.  There is another healthy looking tower off to the southwest, so we’re keeping our eyes on that one as well.
7:07 PM - Severe thunderstorm warning out for Salina County, KS until 7:45 PM.
7:14 PM - We’re giving up on the storm we were chasing.  It was moving too quickly northeast and we never would have caught it.  Instead we headed south on Nebraska 4 towards the southern storm.
7:18 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 86 F/75 F.
7:22 PM - There is a severe thunderstorm warning out until 7:45 PM for western Republic County, KS.  The cell is moving northeast at 40 mph.
2:25 PM - There is a severe thunderstorm warning out in Thayer County, NE until 8:15.  The cell is moving northeast at 55 mph.
7:27 PM - A little ways into Fairbury, NE we turned around to head back to Highway 136 so we can get a better view of the storm.
7:28 PM - Turned west onto Highway 136.
7:33 PM - Took temperature/dew point just before we pulled off on a side road and stopped to watch the storm: 87 F/78 F.
7:38 PM - There is a tornado warning out for Thayer County, NE until 8 PM.  The storm is moving northeast at 60 mph.
7:46 PM - There is a severe thunderstorm warning out for Republic County until 8:15.
8:02 PM - The tornado warning for Thayer County has been extended until 8:45 PM.  It is moving northeast at 55 mph.
8:05 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 85 F/76 F.
8:11 PM - Stopped on a side road facing the south to watch the storm.
8:22 PM - Decided to head back east to Fairbury so we can get farther south.
8:24 PM - Heading east toward Fairbury on Highway 136.
8:33 PM - Turned right onto Nebraska 15.
8:43 PM - There is a tornado warning our for southeastern Thayer County until 9:15 PM tonight.  The storm is moving northeast at 20 mph.
8:45 PM - There is a tornado warning out for northeastern Republic County, KS until 9:00 tonight.  The storm is moving northeast at 25.  This should be the same storm that they put a warning on for Thayer County.  Entered Kansas again.
8:51 PM - Turned west on a side road to get a better view of the storm.
9:03 PM - Turning around just west of Mahaska, KS because it appears we’re right in the path of a tornado.  There is a very dark section of the sky that appears to be a wall cloud, but because its so dark, it could be the tornado itself.
9:07 - Rotation was reported between Republic and Hubble.
9:25 - Heading south on Bismarck Road because we are right in the path of a major MCS or supercell or something.  There may be a wedge in there somewhere, but its rain wrapped if it is.  We’ve been stopping off and on to look at the storm, but we can’t decide if we are really in its path or not.  We have run out of daylight, so we’re reluctant to go north.  We don’t want to get in its path if it has a tornado hiding.
9:34 - Picked up 43 knot winds going into the storm to our west.  We are 2 miles south of 27th Road on Bismarck Road in northwestern Washington County, Kansas.
9:36 - Heading back north to 27th Road.
9:42 - Heading east towards Fairbury on 27th Road.  There are lots of strong wind gusts threatening to push the cars off the road.
9:53 - Turned north onto Highway 15.
9:54 - Entered Nebraska.
10:03 - There is a severe thunderstorm warning on a cell in York County heading towards York, NE. The tornado sirens are going off in Fairbury as we arrive.
10:06 - Pulled into Amoco in Fairbury.  Eastern Thayer County is under a tornado warning with the cell moving northeast at 25 mph.  We can see the rain free base from the gas station.
10:16 - A new tornado warning went into effect and we don’t know where it is.  The storm is too close to Fairbury for us to feel safe so we’re heading south on Nebraska 15.
10:23 - The plan right now is to head west on Highway 36 until we hit Highway 81, and then head back north to our hotel around the back of the storm.
10:27 - Entered Kansas for the third time today.  The storm in eastern Thayer County has slowed down to 15 mph.
10:33 - A new line of severe thunderstorms is moving northeast out of Hastings, NE, and it can be extrapolated that its heading for our hotel in York, NE.
10:40 - Turned west onto Highway 36.
10:45 - Thayer and Fillmore Counties have severe thunderstorm warnings until 11:15 moving northeast at 15 mph. There is a tornado on the ground, but we couldn’t hear where.  Immediately after the thunderstorm warning went into effect they put out  tornado warnings until 11:15 on cells moving northeast at 15 for Thayer and Fillmore Counties.  The tornado is on the ground moving northeast at 40 to the northeast of Thayer County.
10:52 - We just found out that when we were sitting just south of 27th road on Bismarck Road we were within 5 miles of a rain-wrapped tornado.  We were no more than four miles from Narka, KS, and Narka was getting pounded with a tornado at thetime.  We even blew through a small town named Mahaska just west of Bismarck Road where people were running, and we assume they were running to a tornado shelter.  That put us even closer to the tornado than 4 miles.
11:05 - Heading north on Highway 81.
11:17 - There is a severe thunderstorm warning for Clay County, NE on a cell moving east at 35 mph.
11:18 - Entered Nebraska again. Eastern Addams County, NE is under a severe thunderstorm warning until 11:30.
11:22 - There is a severe thunderstorm warning in Nichols County for a cell moving east at 40 mph with 75 mph wind gusts.  Its southeast of Hastings, NE, which puts it in Thayer County, which means it’s heading for us.
11:25 - There is a severe thunderstorm warning until midnight for a cell moving northeast at 45 mph.
11:26 - There is a tornado warning for eastern Clay County, and a tornado is over Edgar, NE moving east at 45 mph.  Now the question is, do we make a mad dash for the hotel or do we stop and wait for it to pass us.  We decided the storm is too close to our path that we are not going to take the risk.
11:34 PM - There is a tornado watch in effect until 5 AM for an area of southeast Nebraska.  We turned around so that we don’t get swallowed by the tornado that’s supposed to cross our path.  We pulled off on a side road to take pictures of lightning that’s been going nuts around us.
11:38 PM - There is a tornado watch for Clay, Cloud, and other counties until 5 AM.
11:39 PM - There is a tornado warning for Fillmore county and the storm is moving east towards Chickly.
11:47 PM - Went to Hebron, NE to take a bathroom break.
11:55 PM - Heading back to York because the tornado should have passed over the highway by now.
11:56 PM - Heard a report of a tornado on the ground west of Chickly.
12:04 PM - We have visual on the tornado that is west of Chickly.  It’s about 10 miles to our northwest so we’re turning onto a side road to watch it.
12:13 PM - It looks like the tornado has crossed the highway so we’re heading east back to Highway 81.
12:16 PM - Heading north  on Highway 81 toward our hotel.  The tornado has indeed crossed our path so we are out of danger.  It is moving east at 35 mph.  We have almost not visibility though, so we are driving very slowly.
12:19 PM - We can tell there is fog on the road from all the rain, which is contributing to our low visibility.
12:20 PM - There is a severe thunderstorm warning out of Omaha, NE.
12:23 PM - The tornado warning for Fillmore County has been canceled, but the warning in Osborn County is still in effect.  The storm is moving northeast at 50 mph.
12:36 PM - The tornado watch for York County has been canceled.
12:50 PM - Rain has let up so we have decent visibility now.
1:10 PM - Arrived at our hotel.  Definitely bed time.  Departure time tomorrow is 8:30 AM.  No morning discussion.
 
Tone count: 25
Total mileage for the day: 546 miles
Total mileage for the trip: 5383 miles.  


  Day 11: June 14, 2001  

8:38 AM - Left the hotel and headed south on Highway 81.
8:41 AM - Stopped for gas.
8:51 AM - Left the gas station and headed south on Highway 81.
8:53 AM - Heading east on I-80.
10:16 AM - Entered Iowa.  State count: 12
12:46 PM - Exited onto Iowa 146 and headed north towards Grinell, IA.
12:53 PM - Stopped in Grinell for gas and food.
1:43 PM - Left gas station and headed south on Iowa 146.
1:49 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 70 F/68 F.
3:25 PM - Tornado warning out for central Iowa until 9 PM.
3:50 PM - Entered Illinois.
3:56 PM - There is a severe thunderstorm watch until 9 PM.
4:00 PM - Took temperature/dew point: 93 F/68 F.
4:09 PM - There is a severe thunderstorm warning for east and southeast Iowa until 9 PM as well as western Illinois.
4:22 PM - Stopped at a rest area.
4:30 PM - Left the rest stop.
6:14 PM - Entered Indiana.
6:39 PM - Got toll road ticket.
6:46 PM - Exited onto Indiana 49.
7:00 PM - Pulled into the gas station.
7:16 PM - Left the gas station and headed west on La Port Ave.
7:19 PM - Pulled into Valpo.
7:21 PM - Arrived at Mueller Hall.
 
Total mileage for the day: 617 miles
Total mileage for the trip: 6000.3 miles
 
Records broken on the trip:
Number of days: 11 days
States visited: 12 states
Miles travelled: 6000.3 miles

Records tied:
Days with severe weather: 7 days