- 2007 CONVECTIVE FIELD STUDY B
June 4, 2007 – June 14, 2007
Pilot:
· Driver: Anna Gasper
· Team Leader: Bart Wolf
· Navigator: Bonne Ford
· Radar Operator: Dana McGlone
Car 2:
· Driver: Amanda Anderson
· Team Leader: Eddy Hildebrand
· Nick Kanczuzewski
· Rich Krupar
Car 3:
· Driver: Jason Baldwin
· Team Leader: Alex Gibbs
· Jennifer Schuller
· Elizabeth Zbacnik
Car 4:
· Driver: Joel Dreessen
· Team Leader: Casey Letkewicz
· Videographer: Chris Wilson
· Derek Stratman
Car 5:
· Driver: Dave Peterson
· Team Leader: Cyndi Kahlbaum
· Trip Logger: Katie Giannecchini
· Jeff Ceratto
Day 1: Monday, June 4, 2007
· Left Valpo at 7:31am bound for Iowa City, Iowa.
· Problems with Car 4 CB, trucker told us to stop at truck stop for new CB
· GPS interface not working
· Day 1 Outlook downgraded to See Text in Nebraska due to marginal instability
· Mileage guesses:
o Pilot: 6025
o Car 2: 6000
o Car 3: 5650
o Car 4: 5950
o Car 5: 5785
· Car 3 henceforth known as Hail Shaft.
· Laptop in Pilot went to blue screen, WxWorx does not work.
· 11:32am: Gas stop at BP in Iowa City, Iowa, at $3.28.
· Stopped for lunch in Iowa City, Iowa, Pilot went to Best Buy to check into having the laptop fixed, left at 1:00pm.
· WxWorx not recognizing radio serial number, decided to install the program on two computers when at the hotel in case more problems arise.
· Hotel reservations made for Lexington, Nebraska.
· 1:51pm: took Marshalltown – Grinnell College exit to exchange WxWorx disc to see if it would work on Eddy’s laptop.
· 3:30pm: T/Td = 80/54 North of Atlantic, Iowa (approx. Brayton, Iowa).
· 4:05pm: Stopped around the Iowa/Nebraska border a few miles from I-29 to check radar for potential chase.
o Left at 4:17pm after deciding not to chase.
· 4:34pm: Pilot stopped at BP just outside of Omaha (Exit 440) for gas, cars 2-5 missed exit and had to find frontage road to turn around
o Left at 5:10pm, gas at $3.19.
· 5:48pm: Stopped at rest stop north of Lincoln, Nebraska, to chase storm heading toward Lincoln.
o Left at 6:11pm after seeing a shelf cloud and measuring gusts of 37 kts.
· Approx 6:17pm: took Lincoln Airport exit, pulled into parking lot of Horizon Inn, and got rolled by the shelf cloud we had watched in Lincoln.
o Experienced bands of heavy rain, pea-marble sized hail, 72 dbz overhead on radar
· 8:00pm: Hail shaft, CG to north of the interstate as we drove by.
· 8:37pm: arrived at Holiday Inn Express in Lexington, Nebraska, and dropped off luggage.
· 8:45pm: Group dinner at Tep’s.
· 10:30pm: stopped for the night at the hotel.
· Total mileage for Day 1: 746.3 miles
Day 2: Tuesday, June 5, 2007
· Weather discussion at 8:00am, decided to reconvene at 9:15am after more models were in.
· 9:15am: Models started slowing down progressions for Wednesday, so we made the decision to stop in Sidney, Nebraska, for the night.
· GPS working again.
· Left Lexington, Nebraska, at 10:15am.
· 11:02am: Gas stop at BP in North Platte, Nebraska, at $3.59.
· Hours taken to drive to Anchorage, Alaska (3700 miles)
o Pilot: 69.7 hours
o Hail Shaft: 60 hours
o Car 4: 56 hours
o Car 5: 55 hours
§ Actual: 63 hours. Hail Shaft wins!
· Crossed Nebraska / Colorado border at 12:26pm.
· T/Td = 70/57 three miles east of Crook, Colorado.
· Food stop in Brush, Colorado, at 1:37pm; left at 2:25pm.
· T/Td = 81/49 in Brush, Colorado – Elevation 4321 feet.
· 2:30pm: Stopped and waited for initiation on a side road in Brush, Colorado.
· 4:00pm: Left Brush, Colorado, and stopped outside of Fort Morgan at Valero for gas at $3.29.
· 4:15pm: Left gas station, found place on the outskirts of town to sit.
· 6:17pm: Began attempts to intercept a cell forming northwest of Last Chance, Colorado. Visible hook on radar at time of departure, moving east-northeast.
o Had more problems with WxWorx, and tried to fix them during this time.
· 6:30pm: Stopped at KT’s Subs for dinner, storm intensified and included a meso, so we decided to chase east toward Otis or Yuma.
o Moved north on Route 6 for a better point of intersection, ran into CoD on the way, saw some lightning.
· 9:04pm: Began trip back north toward Sidney, Nebraska, to hotel as storm began to die.
· 10:15pm: Arrived at Comfort Inn in Sidney, Nebraska, for the night.
· Total mileage for day 2: 436.9
o Total trip mileage: 1183.2
Day 3: June 6, 2007
· Weather discussion at 8:00am, decided to head to northern Nebraska to chase
o Possible issues of cloud cover, but visible satellite showed it beginning to burn off.
· 9:15am: Left Comfort Inn in Sidney, Nebraska, stopped at WalMart, left at 9:30am.
· 9:32am: Gas stop in Sidney at $3.39.
· WxWorx issues again – system not recognizing ports.
· 9:59am: T/Td = 69/56, fifteen miles east of Sidney.
· Updated version of WxWorx was back to being operational at 10:30am.
· T/Td = 73/60 at 11:10am, five miles west of North Platte.
· T/Td = 76/60 along US 83, twenty minutes north of North Platte.
· T/Td = 76/61 in Logan County, just south of Thomas County line.
· North Platte radar sighting at 12:15pm.
· 12:18pm: Food and gas stop at BP in Thedford, Nebraska, at $3.34.
· 1:00pm: T/Td = 78/62 in Thedford, Nebraska.
· T/Td = 84/62 at 1:46pm twenty minutes west of Brewster, Nebraska.
· T/Td = 83/64 at 2:06pm five minutes north of Brewster, Nebraska.
· T/Td = 82/63 at 2:25pm somewhere between Brewster and Ainsworth, Nebraska.
· 972mb low analyzed on 03Z RUC model.
· 2:47pm: stopped in Ainsworth to wait for initiation.
o Wind gusts measured on Kestrels at 34 mph, T/Td = 83/62
o Left at 3:52pm, decided to head toward Valentine, Nebraska.
· The pilot reached 1500 trip miles at 4:27pm.
· 4:36pm: Gas stop at Shell station in Valentine, Nebraska, at $3.30.
· Parked behind Holiday Inn Express in Valentine, Nebraska, to watch as storm headed east.
· Severe thunderstorm warning until 5:45pm for Cherry County issued at 5:15pm.
· At 5:20pm we stopped just west of Crookston and watched the anvil move north.
· Lost internet in the area, and went back to Valentine to re-assess the situation.
· Noticed cu forming along the dryline and began moving east.
· 7:20pm: Gas stop at Sunny’s in Newport, Nebraska, at $3.39.
· Tornado watched issued at 7:40pm, in effect until 3:00am.
· Headed north of Newport, Nebraska, and stopped on the shoulder of the road at 7:50pm to watch cu towers forming.
· Severe thunderstorm warning issued capable of quarter inch hail and 60 mph winds, moving northeast at 70 mph.
· 8:27pm: Strong storm heading towards us, so we decided to move east of Atkinson.
o As we drove, a possible wall cloud lowered.
o The storm eventually became rain-wrapped and bowed out.
· 9:28pm: Found a place in O’Neill to seek potential shelter while being rolled by a bow echo.
o Saw pea-sized hail, and quite a show of lightning.
o 10:22pm: Began our journey to the hotel after being rolled.
· 11:30pm: Weather discussion for tomorrow’s outlook; talked about the possibility of chasing in either Iowa or Kansas.
· 12:00am: Crossed the South Dakota border.
· 12:34am: Arrived in Vermillion, South Dakota, for the night.
· Total mileage for day 3: 603.2 miles.
o Total trip mileage: 1786.4 miles.
Day 4: June 7, 2007
· The new SPC outlook called for a high risk in Wisconsin, but terrain in that area is un-chaseable
o Decided to chase in the Iowa area instead.
· Left the hotel in Vermillion, South Dakota, at 8:40am.
· 9:06am: T/Td = 73/50 three miles outside of North Sioux City, Iowa.
· 9:15am: MD issued for Iowa calling for supercells with possible tornadoes.
· 9:18am: Gas stop at BP in Sioux City, Iowa, at $3.08.
· 9:35am: T/Td = 74/51 in Sioux City, Iowa.
· 9:44am: T/Td = 73/54 in Lawton, Iowa.
· 9:53am: T/Td = 73/52 fifteen miles east of Lawton, Iowa.
· 10:00am: T/Td = 75/52 outside of Correctionville, Iowa, at mile marker 30.
· 10:11am: T/Td = 74/50 at the Ida County Line in Iowa.
· 10:17am: T/Td = 79/54 at the junction of Highways 59 and 20.
· 10:25am: T/Td = 78/53 on Highway 20, going past a windmill farm.
· 10:36am: T/Td = 82/52 at Crossroads of the Country, Iowa.
· 10:50am: T/Td = 84/50 in Lytton, Iowa.
· 11:01am: T/Td = 84/51 two miles west of Rockwood City, Iowa.
· 11:34am: T/Td = 85/61 ten miles west of Webster City, Iowa.
· Longest tornado watch Bart has ever heard issued, effective from 11:30am-10:00pm.
· 11:34am: Stop in Webster City, Iowa, for gas at BP, $3.14.
· PDS issued, effective until 10:00pm, calling for potential long-track tornadoes in Southern Iowa.
· 12:10pm: T/Td = 83/67 at the Hardin County border in Iowa.
· 12:40pm: Food stop at Arby’s in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
· 1:16pm: T/Td = 84/70 twelve miles west of Cedar Falls, Iowa.
· 1:38pm: T/Td = 85/69 in LaPorte City, Iowa.
· 2:48pm: Radar malfunction and Internet down.
· 4:00pm: Gas stop at a BP east of Iowa City, Iowa, at $3.11.
· 4:13pm: T/Td = 82/68 in Iowa City, Iowa.
· WxWorx began displaying data with a thirty minute delay, but showed accurate warnings.
· 4:41pm: Watched wall cloud drop, as well as a possible funnel, but no tornado in Tipton, Iowa.
· 5:22pm: Moved to the top of a hill and stopped to watch another wall cloud drop from a cell southwest of the original cell
· 5:33pm: Moved further east to try to assess the situation since radar indicated dying storms across the United States.
· 5:53pm: Stopped at the I-80 Truck Stop in Walcott to assess the situation.
o It was decided that everything was dying due to an increase in the cap, so we decided to head back to the hotel at 6:46pm.
· Stopped at Walcott CB to find a replacement CB for Hail Shaft, who had been experiencing difficulties with theirs throughout the day.
· 7:19pm: Stopped in Moline, Illinois, at the Holiday Inn Express for the night.
· 8:35pm: Storm with a wall cloud lowered spotted in the vicinity of the hotel, so we decided to chase it.
· 9:45pm: Returned to the hotel after seeing the lowered wall cloud and lots of lightning. Severe thunderstorm warning was issued for greater than 60 mph winds and penny-sized hail.
· Total mileage for the day: 495.3 miles.
o Total trip mileage: 2281.7 miles.
Day 5: June 8, 2007
· Left Moline, Illinois, at 8:45am.
· Crossed the Mississippi River back into Iowa at 8:57am.
· 9:10am: T/Td = 64/47 in Walcott, Iowa.
· 10:23am: Let the trivia begin!
· 10:32am: Trivia suspended due to the CB in Hail Shaft not working.
· 10:49am: Hail Shaft back on the CB with “Can you hear me now?”
· 10:53am: Gas stop in Colfax, Iowa, at $3.19.
· 12:39pm: Synchronized lane changing begins. Woman driving in car behind us seems delighted by the activity.
· 1:14pm: Crossed back into Nebraska.
· 2:00pm: Stopped for food in Lincoln, Nebraska and left at 2:44pm.
· 4:00pm: Gas stop at the BP in Grand Island, Nebraska, at $3.29.
· 6:07pm: Arrived at the Holiday Inn Express in North Platte, Nebraska.
· Total mileage for day 5: 597 miles
o Total trip mileage: 2878.7 miles
Day 6: June 9, 2007
· Left Holiday Inn Express in North Platte, Nebraska at 10:23am.
· 10:26am: Gas stop at BP in North Platte, Nebraska at $3.54.
· More WxWorx problems occurring— the program is not recognizing ports again.
o Fixed through CB communication.
· Car 2 CB not working, unbeknownst to them, so we stopped in the Wendy’s parking lot in McCook, Nebraska, at 11:40am to fix the issue and check the new day one outlook on SPC.
o Fixed the problem and left at 11:47am after checking new models. RUC was less bullish than before, but we still decided to head toward Goodland, Kansas.
· 12:19pm: T/Td = 78/53 west of Stratton, Nebraska.
· Crossed the Kansas / Nebraska border at 12:36pm.
· Car five nailed a tumbleweed blowing across the road.
· Arrived at the Holiday Inn Express in Goodland, Kansas, to check in at 1:26pm.
o Decided to get food at 1:35pm since the hotel just opened on Tuesday and the employees on duty were trainees and unsure of what to do.
· 2:15pm: Stopped back at the hotel to check in.
· 2:40pm: Left the hotel and decided to head south since an MD for southeastern Colorado was issued.
· 2:53pm: T/Td = 87/49 west of Goodland, Kansas.
· 3:37pm: Gas stop in Cheyenne Wells, Colorado, at $3.29.
· 4:13pm: T/Td = 90/51 fifteen miles south of Cheyenne Wells, Colorado.
· Radar showed a cell about 60 miles south of Cheyenne Wells intensifying and moving fifteen miles per hour.
o One small break in storms, then “wall of death straight to Pueblo.”
o Decided to take a break and sit to watch the storms to the south.
· 4:43pm: T/Td = 88/58 in Bristol, Colorado.
· Only one road to get south of the line of death… Will we make it?
o On radar, 63 dbz, 23 miles from the shear marker.
o Drove under a radar-indicated meso trying to get south.
· 5:30pm: Got stuck by road construction after passing under the meso, so we took advantage of the situation and took pictures.
· 6:00pm: Went through Two Buttes, Colorado… A chase first!
· Turned around to follow the storm that originally had the meso.
o Got rolled by outflow boundaries.
o Traveled further north to get rolled by the rest of the storm.
· 7:10pm: Gas stop in Syracuse, Kansas, at $3.19.
· Noticed a cell to our southwest and decided to go after it
o 60dbz and one inch hail as analyzed by radar.
o Core punched and saw small hail, lots of rain, and traveled through gust fronts blowing across the interstate.
· Set up north of Garden City, Kansas, for a vantage view of the shelf cloud.
· 8:33pm: Pilot desecrated a bird and had to stop to put their antenna back on.
· 8:35pm: Jason began accidental-animal-killing stories.
· Cell we were planning to watch split; the breaking point hole was headed over us, and we started running out of daylight.
· 8:57pm: Stopped outside of Ingalls, Kansas, for pictures.
· 9:55pm: Story time!
· 10:23pm: Song game started.
· 11:56pm: Arrived at the hotel in Goodland, Kansas.
· Total mileage for day 6: 701.4 miles.
o Total trip mileage: 3580.1 miles.
Day 7: June 10, 2007
· 8:30am: Weather discussion started; decided to head to South Dakota where models were showing maximizations in most parameters.
· 9:08am: Left Goodland, Kansas.
· 9:39am: Gas stop at BP in Colby, Kansas at $3.11.
o Army National Guard training center arrived at the gas station as we sat.
o Bart talked to them and found out they were coming back from Greensburg, Kansas.
· 10:20am: T/Td = 77/58 in Rexford, Kansas.
· Entire apple ejection from Pilot, which was nailed by Hail Shaft.
· 10:58am: Back in Nebraska… Again.
· 11:19am: T/Td = 81/58 outside of McCook, Nebraska.
· 12:20pm: T/Td = 82/62 outside of North Platte, Nebraska.
· 1:04pm: T/Td = 85/66 fifteen miles south of Thedford, Nebraska.
· 1:10pm: Stopped in Thedford, Nebraska, for food and gas at the BP.
o Left at 2:06pm to head north where parameters were maxing in South Dakota in agreement with the models we looked at this morning.
· 2:10pm: T/Td = 87/61 in Thedford, Nebraska.
· 3:10pm: Initiation began around the Valentine, Nebraska, area.
· 3:31pm: T/Td = 89/66 on the Keya-Paha County line in Nebraska.
· 3:43pm: T/Td = 91/68 in Springview, Nebraska.
· Stopped on a side road of Highway 12 to watch initiation at 3:58pm.
· 4:36pm: T/Td = 89/68 on Highway 12 side road in Nebraska.
· Cells began popping up on radar, but Bart had taken a walk down the road and was nowhere to be found, so Car 4 drove down to find him.
· 5:29pm: Decided to head north after looking at more data.
· 5:36pm: Crossed the Nebraska / South Dakota border.
· 5:50pm: Gas and food stop at Sinclair in Colome, South Dakota, at $2.90.
o Saw initiation in the south from the parking lot. Left at 6:28pm to head north for a better view of the towers.
· Sat north of Colome to wait for Internet signal.
· 6:33pm: T/Td = 85/70 north of Colome, South Dakota.
· Cell began to weaken, and the only appreciable storms in Nebraska were in the Valentine area.
· 7:25pm: Chased our way back into Nebraska.
· Stopped to take pictures of a line of storms, but the line began to bow out
o Almost caught by hail shaft on our way out, but were able to head south just in time.
o Severe thunderstorm warning issued with quarter sized hail reported.
· Stopped on a dirt road to watch the storm die out.
o Were hit by an outflow boundary that blew the mosquitoes away from us.
o Saw CG, pulse lightning, scud, sun setting behind the storm.
· Car 5 became lost on the CB, took about thirty minutes for them to get it back working.
· 10:41pm: Story time!
· 11:49pm: Arrived in Chamberlain, South Dakota, for the night.
· Total mileage for day 7: 638.8 miles.
o Total trip mileage: 4218.9 miles.
Day 8: June 11, 2007
· 9:09am: Gas stop at BP in Chamberlain, South Dakota, at $3.13.
· 10:08am: T/Td = 78/63 in Lyman, South Dakota.
· Path we were going to take south of Kadoka, South Dakota, was under construction and mainly dirt roads for about eight miles.
· 11:55am: T/Td = 88/64 Ten miles east of Martin, South Dakota.
· 12:14pm: Back across the state border into Nebraska.
· 12:45pm: Stopped at a Pizza Hut in Gordon, Nebraska, for food, but it would have taken too long for the pizzas to be made, so we crossed the street to Subway instead.
· 1:30pm: Gas stop at the Sinclair in Gordon, Nebraska, at $3.19.
· Sat south of Gordon, Nebraska, to watch initiation.
· 2:00pm: T/Td = 92/59 south of Gordon.
· 2:43pm: T/Td = 95/58 south of Gordon.
· 2:56pm: T/Td = 94/60 south of Gordon.
· 3:12pm: Decided to move further south
o MD issued northwest of us, and storm shown to be developing towards Ellsworth, Nebraska.
· 4:10pm: Stopped on a side road of the highway to watch the storm
o Max wind gust: 41mph.
o Left at 5:01pm to head southwest.
· 5:04pm: T/Td = 81/62 five miles west of Grant County line.
· Break to take pictures of incredible mammatus clouds overhead.
· Tried to chase to our southwest, but the road we tried 38 miles from Ogallala, Nebraska, off of the interstate, sat in a valley and had no visibility.
o Cell to our north increased in strength fifty miles away.
o Cell to our south had more classic structure, so we headed towards that.
· 6:45pm: Gas stop at BP in Ogallala at $3.37.
o Ran into a group of cheerleaders at the gas station and were met by choruses of “Like, oh my gosh! You guys are, like, storm chasers?”
· 7:53pm: New MD for the area issued calling for a 1-2 hour window for tornadic potential.
o Three meso markers on radar, all rain wrapped.
o Sat on a road south of Wallace, Nebraska, and saw anvil crawlers, outflow, CG, CC, but no tornadoes.
· Headed back to hotel at 9:15pm.
· Drove under shear marker and core punched on the way back to the hotel.
o Dbz on radar at 55-60.
· Had to dodge frogs on the highway.
· Arrived at the Holiday Inn Express in Ogallala, Nebraska, at 10:44pm.
· Total mileage for day 8: 543.8 miles.
o Total trip mileage: 4762.7 miles.
Day 9: June 12, 2007
· 9:00am: Weather discussion
o Having trouble understanding why SPC issued the risks they did, and talked about the potential of “flash flood chasing.”
· Left Holiday Inn Express in Ogallala, Nebraska, at 10:20am.
· 10:36am: Stopped at Lake McConaughey for photographic purposes.
o Radar showed a morning MCS forming, so we left at 10:58am.
· Listened to Bryan “Tuba” Howell’s recorded broadcast on the Ogallala radio.
· 12:25pm: Gas and food stop at the BP in Hyannis, Nebraska, at $3.27.
o Storms were shown on radar heading toward Hyannis, so we headed east at 1:00pm.
· Found a side road in Mullen, Nebraska, to sit and assess the situation.
· 2:43pm: T/Td = 70/68 fifteen miles into Cherry County, Nebraska.
· 3:47pm: Arrived at the Holiday Inn Express in Valentine, Nebraska, to re-assess our situation.
o Decided there was not much of a chance of seeing any structure that was not rain-wrapped, so we moved into the hotel in Valentine, Nebraska, and made plans to head back out if anything did appear.
· Total mileage for day 9: 203.1 miles.
o Total trip mileage: 4965.8 miles.
Day 10: June 13, 2007
· Weather discussion at 9:00am.
o No severe weather was forecast for the states on our way back to Valpo, so we decided to head towards Des Moines, Iowa.
· 10:00am: Left the Holiday Inn Express in Valentine, Nebraska, to explore a western shop in downtown Valentine.
· 10:50am: Hit and run apple core and banana peeling from Car 5 to Car 4 at a red light in town.
· 11:42am: Stopped at Smith Falls in Nebraska for exploration.
· Headed back to Valentine, Nebraska, to pick up an item forgotten at the hotel.
· Pilot vehicle performed a Chinese fire drill at a random stop sign, causing a woman traveling in the opposite direction to laugh.
· 2:10pm: Possible shear funnel spotted by Hail Shaft, so we stopped by the side of the road to investigate, but left soon afterward.
· Food stop in O’Neill at 2:48pm.
· Car 5 nailed a bird and got it stuck in the grill of the van.
· 5:10pm: Gas stop at BP in Norfolk, Nebraska, at $2.98.
· Storytime with Jason – The infamous wedding story.
· A trucker joined the convoy asking for the weather in Sioux City and helping us pass other vehicles on the road.
· 6:25pm: Crossed the Missouri River.
· 8:45pm: Arrived at the Holiday Inn Express in Des Moines, Iowa, for the night.
· Total mileage for day 10: 468.2 miles.
o Total trip mileage: 5434 miles.
Day 11: June 14, 2007
· 4:45am: False fire alarm went off in the hotel.
· 8:17am: Left Des Moines, Iowa, for the final ride to Valpo.
· 8:36am: T/Td = 76/63 on I-80 East outside of Des Moines.
· Gas stop at BP in Brooklyn, Iowa, at $2.97.
· Listened to Bart recite the rap he wrote when not able to fall back asleep after the fire alarm.
· 10:40am: Began t-shirt discussion.
· 11:02am: Crossed the border into Illinois.
· 11:49am: Food stop for the Pizza Hut buffet in Princeton, Illinois.
· 12:46am: Gas stop at BP in Princeton, Illinois, at $2.95.
· 4:03pm: Gas stop at BP in Chesterton, Indiana, at $3.09.
· 4:37pm: Arrived back at Valpo.
· Total mileage for day 11: 392.4 miles.
o Total trip mileage: 5826.4 miles.
§ Winners of the mileage game: Car 5.
· License plates seen: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, European something or other.
Quotes:
“What’s that smell?”
“Not to put the horse before the cart… ahem… the horse-cart thing.”
“At one o’clock, we have dark bumpy stuff along with lighter bumpy stuff and some sun and c-e-r-puscular rays.”
“55 hours? Hell, you guys could be to LA and back in 55 hours.”
“It’s 12:24. Do you know where your day 2 outlook is?”
“Have we killed any woodlands animals yet?” “That would require woodlands.”
“Watch out for rattlesnakes… Hisssssss.”
“The weather office in North Platte is calling for some possible strong tornadoes in some cells.” “How strong are we talking? Like small ponies?”
“If you get sucked in the middle of a tornado, anything you grab is yours.”
“Convective viagra: if convection lasts more than 4 hours, you may have a serious meteorological problem.”
“Tractor.” “Windmill.” “School bus.”
“This is your pilot. You may be experiencing some turbulence soon. Thank you, and fly safely.”
“The rain bands on radar look like pinchers grabbing our vans and pulling us into the bow.”
“Hey look! It’s a Pizza Hut! If the flying two-by-fours don’t get you, the cheese pizza will.”
“Thank you for traveling on the USS squall line.”
“Just out of curiosity…”
“Let the atmosphere accumulate, fester, and ooze.”
“Spontaneously combustible when wet.”
“Jason’s an ex-Marine. He can make a turkey sandwich from a ball of twine.”
“Let’s not count our chickens before the SPC hatch.”
“It’s the suck zone.”
“Very nice!”
“Happiness is a crock of beans.”
“We’re going 17 miles west, and then we have to go south. We have to go south because this storm is mean. It wants to eat you.”
“Forget chasing storms; let’s chase waterslides!”
“It’s clear for a bit.”
“The off-roading chasers of 2007.”
“Come to me, I will supercell you.”
“Sheriff-nado!”
“It’s an inverted wedge!”
“I feel like I’m playing Mario Party with all of these banana peels on the road.”
“It sounds like you’re in a sewer.”
“It’s gonna pop a meso.”
“Lights on for safety.”