Monday May 18, 1998
The participants of the chase:
Chase 1( Loaded gun)- Jared Guyer, Bart Wolf, Ph.D (FC), Wes Terwey, Esther Jansen
Chase 2(Murray) - Lisa Clements, Angie Blahm (TL), Darrin Hansing, Mike Suarez
Chase 3 (Marfa Front) - Rebecca Simons, Josh Bemus (TL and Log), Larry Mowry, Tim Hansel
Chase 4 (10 ft from it) - Tom Denure, Jill Magyar(TL), Cory Gibson, Jeremy Swindle
Also on the chase is a crew from WNDU-16 from South Bend, IN (Blue Thunder). From the TV station is Mike Hoffman, Beth and Joe.
Weather discussion at 9 AM in the VU Weather Lab showed a large area of extreme instability, with all models with LI’s from -10 to -15, and forecast CAPE values over 5000 J/Kg in southern Minnesota. This large area of instability was partially offset by ridging at 500 mb, and a very strong cap. Our goal for the chase is to get to the northern extent of the instability, just north of Mankato, Minnesota. This goal of Mankato would be very hard to achieve, due to many technical problems with virtually all of our equipment. So departure time was 930 AM for Merrilville, to pick up CB’s and a new TV for project TOILET. The process of fixing everything was very arduous, and we did not make it to I-80 until 1120 AM. A minor miscommunication occurred when chase 1 was separated from the rest of the group, but the entire group was back together by 1205. At 1247 some very nice altocumulus castellanus was spotted directly to our west, showing how unstable the midlevels of the atmosphere where.
By 330 we had made it to the rest stop just west of the IL/IN border. At this time we made our call back to the weather lab. The new day 1 convective outlook had a slight risk running through the center of the state, and northward to Minnesota. The CAPE values that had been forecast had verified, with explosive development expected if anything were to break the cap. Our new plan for the day was to shoot for Albert Lea, MN, and stay there for the night. By 418, we had started to reach the main instability. At this time dewpoints were up to 62-65 degrees. After gassing up in Iowa City, we cut over to I-380 northbound and went into chase mode. The Cu field has been steadily increasing, and evaporating from the bottom up. At 515, the first watch was issued for the day. A severe thunderstorm watch was issued for southern Minnesota, with very rapid development evident on satellite loop. At 526 a very nice tower was noticed developing our northeast. By 552, things were starting to look encouraging. The temp/dewpoint in Waterloo was 89/68. Weather radio out of Waterloo indicated that we should be entering the prime area for thunderstorm development. A new severe thunderstorm watch was issued to the north of the previous watch. There were indications that the cold front was weakening, and not producing enough surface convergence to break the cap.
By 600 we were officially in the slight risk area, with temp/dp of 90/65. By 617 a confirmed tornado was on the ground to the west of the Twin Cities, with extremely rapid development. Kind of ironic that we are talking about tornadoes and driving through Plainfield, IA at the same time. At 635 a cell has begun to develop one hour to the west of Albert Lea, which should leave us enough daylight to intercept the storm. At 650, things were looking very good. A classic multicell was developing to our north, with all three stages clearly visible. The Cu field was being squelched from the storm. At this time a severe thunderstorm warning was issued for 1/2 hour north of Albert Lea, MN. a very nice orphan anvil was present in the decaying portion of the multicell. At 705 we decided to take highway 9 to I-35, with right flank development still very evident in the cell. By 730 the right flank development had ceased, due to the very strong cap in the area. At 815 we arrived at the Super 8 in Albert Lea, to prepare to fix our equipment and prepare for a long day on the road tomorrow. At 1100 PM, while I am writing this journal, severe thunderstorm warnings are still being issued both north and south of Minneapolis. The cells to the north of Minneapolis also had Doppler indicated tornadoes with them.
Day 1 driving total : 480.0 miles
Tuesday May 19, 1998
Day 2 : The day of the Pileus Cap
Weather discussion was held at 745 AM in the Super 8 of Albert Lea. Things are looking good for the next few days, with a long drive expected today, but we should be gearing up for some good days of upslope. For today, SPC issued a slight risk for the I-80 corridor from Colorado to Indiana. A short wave trough was progged to be over west central Iowa by 0Z, perhaps producing enough lift to break the cap. The weak cold front from yesterday has stalled out and become stationary, and that should be the main focusing mechanism. Instability should not be a problem, as the ETA has CAPE values of 4000 J/Kg and dewpoints in the 70’s over Iowa and Illinois. A small speed max was progged to be over central Iowa at 0Z. Farther to the west, parameters are looking good for upslope in the next few days. Surface winds in western Nebraska were progged to have a strong easterly component, along with favorable instability and good shear, the possibility exists for upslope in western NE. The plan for the day will be the following: 1) At 830 AM a team will be sent to resurrect project TOILET at a local computer store. Once our computer is repaired, we shall proceed south on I-35, then west on I-80 to Lexingtion, NE, to spend the night at a Pride of a Super 8. This should leave us in excellent position for tomorrow, as a classic set up for upslope convection will be present with incredible shear and instability.
At 1047, the chase team left to rendezvous with the computer salvage team. This meeting near the Burgers and More proved to be very long, as we did not hit the road until 105, with TOILET 2.0 up and running. While we were sitting in the parking lot, the dewpoint dropped from 56 to 42 degrees, while the dewpoint was 70 in Des Moines. At 124 we reached I-35 south with a reading of 91/44. As we crossed the IA/MN border, we had more problems with the Davis weather station, as the direction indicator broke. At 215, we spotted a very nice multicell developing. We are now approaching the front, as the dewpoint is steadily increasing, and the Cu field is increasing in coverage. Dewpoint is now 52. At 222 a very nice dust devil was spotted, as the dewpoint has increased to 57. The multicell has persisted nicely, with a strong stable layer evident aloft. As the developing towers were going up, they were being suppressed by the stable layer, showing very nice pileus caps in the process. Latest report from TOILET says that little lightning with this cell, but some developing out to the west.
At 249, we were very near the location of the stationary front, as the dewpoint is up to 66, and the Cu field has very good areal coverage. At 300, a severe thunderstorm watch was issued for parts of WI, IA, and IL, TOILET 2.0 can see them develop. By 310, the dewpoint at Des Moines was up to 71. A severe thunderstorm warning was issued for SE Polk and Marion Counties. We now are in official intercept mode, with TOILET exploding up to 140 strikes per minute. 10 minutes later, TOILET is up to 200 strikes per minute. Storms seem to be centered on Creston, IA, drifting northward, this is a classic multicell setup. The plan is to head for the rest stop on I-80 at MM 118, look at radar, meet with the 16 crew. At 336 a severe thunderstorm warning was issued for Polk county, with the cell moving ESE at 25 MPH. After calling the weather station, we decided to haul west, with possible supercell development expected in west central Nebraska, later in the afternoon/evening. TOILET is now up to 250 strikes per minute. At 414 a tornado warning was issued for Polk county, brief funnel spotted, a severe thunderstorm watch was issued for the remainder of Iowa. At 425 TOILET was updated to version 2.01, as the antenna was rotated 180 degrees due to the new software. At 439, a tornado was reported on the ground in Marion county, with right movement indicated on doppler radar. Very nice anvil evaporation noticed to our north. The commitment had already been made to go west, to get into position for tomorrow and to possibly see some late development.
At 435, a possible cell was developing 50 miles away from us due west. (92/68) The cell looks good to the eye. At 439 a tornado warning was issued for Marion, Polk Co., moving SE at 15 mph, this cell has possible right movement, reported tornado on the ground in Marion Co. At 453 , a watch was issued for the most of IA and parts of western NE. At 530 we stopped in Shelby for gas and food, and then drive west to Lexington, NE. At 653 we received reports of a tornado that was near Knox, IN. A tornado watch was issued for parts of NE Colorado, SE Wyoming, and western Nebraska. By 700 we crossed into Nebraska, with about 3 hours to go before we sleep. At 840 TOILET noticed convection developing 150 miles to our WNW. Later at 918, the cells to our west were continuing to develop, with TOILET 45-50 strikes per minute. Just before we reached our hotel, a watch was issued for us until 4AM, with the cells beginning to look very impressive. The plan is to send some people out to look at a good lightning show just to the north, and then rest for tomorrow. 1000 we checked into the hotel, and sent out three cars out to look at the storms. The people who went out ended up driving into some serous outflow, with estimated speeds of 75-80 MPH. The dust was so dense that you could not see more than 20-25 feet in front of you. We recorded 45-50 MPH winds in the hotel parking lot, and we noticed the light poles swaying back and forth a good distance. At 1215 we got a radar, the bow echo was incredible, and it looked like the right end of the storm appeared to have a mesocyclone, and a tornado warning was issued for it. The sleep that we thought we were going to get did not happen, but it was definitely worth the wind storm that we saw. This system that went through tonight will definitely make things interesting for tomorrow.
Day 2 driving total :521.9 miles Trip total 1001.9 miles
Wednesday May 20, 1998
Day 3 : TORNADO on the Ground?????
Forecasting for today's chase will prove to be somewhat difficult, as the system that went through here last night will most likely put out outflow boundaries that will make things interesting for today. Infrared imagery showed this outflow boundary very well, to the south of the system that went through. Models showed good instability in the I-80 corridor, but not nearly as strong as the previous model runs have indicated. Two low pressure systems were progged to form, one in NE Colorado, and one up in Montana. A low pressure trough should form between the two systems, and increase some surface convergence. A weak speed max was evident aloft at 250 mb, with the panhandle of Nebraska being in a favorable area. SPC issued a slight risk for today, essentially along the I-80 corridor in Nebraska and pointing towards the northwest in Colorado and Wyoming. The main thing today is that we stay far enough north of the Colorado cyclone, to stay in the strongest area of easterly winds. Everything that will form today will be upslope initiated, with some help from the stationary front. Today we will plan on heading west on I-80 to about Ogalalla, and then head NW on highway 26 to find a decent place to sit and watch convection form. We will be staying in the same hotel tonight, as we plan on following the storms home to our hotel.
We left the Super 8 at 1024 to embark on a westward journey on I-80 (71/53). As we approached North Platte, we received a good update on the severe weather. They were expecting development to the NW of a line from Oshkosh, NE, to Valentine, NE. Isolated tornadoes were mentioned, and they activated the spotter network at this time. Looking out the car window, the moisture return is very evident as we are climbing in elevation. At 1148, a tornado watch was issued until 3Z??? Oops, the DTN looked as if it didn’t change from last night weather. By 1206 the Cu field is now totally behind us, the bases on the Cu are very close to the ground as we are climbing in elevation. At 1228 (72/56) we are now at an elevation of 3700 ft. At 1255 the temp had increased to 76/56, at a pressure of 898 mb, giving us a theta of 307. At 112 TOILET was beginning to detect some convection 200 miles to our northwest. At 130 we made our stop in Bridgeport, to have a good lunch at a drive-in burger place. At 228 a tornado watch was issued for 80 miles N/S from about Sheridan WY to Sidney, NE. By 252 we were in position just to the north of Northrop, NE, about a mile to the west of highway 385, ready to intercept some convection. At 330, we had readings of 81/56, with winds 18 gusting to 23 knots. The pressure at this time was 889 mb. At 415 TOILET was picking up activity 60-100 miles to our northwest, moving to the northeast. At 425 the winds were beginning to really pick up, with a barometer reading of 881 millibars, can you say isallobaric wind? At 632 a severe thunderstorm warning was issued for Merrill Co, moving to the east at 10-20 mph. This storm was within our range, so we decided to go 10 miles north on 385 to check things out. As we were driving to the severe cell, the storm that we were watching began to rapidly intensify. By the time that we made it to the cell, it was obvious that this storm was dying, so we relocated to about 5 miles south of where we initially were. This was a very good decision, as the severe cell was rapidly losing its moisture to the cell on our south.
At 645 there was a definite wall cloud with the cell that we were watching. There was no persistent rotation with the cell, there seemed to be a slight lowering, but that was not persistent at all. At 709 we decided to reposition to the south to get a different perspective o the cell. TOILET at this time was averaging 200-250 strikes/min, 90% of which were within 50 miles of our location. 6 minutes later, we received a report by radio of golf ball size hail 10 miles to the west of us, with a report of marble sized hail received by the satellite truck. By 730 we needed to move south, to move away from the hail shaft. We are noticing that dust is being entrained into the updraft, thought it was a circulation at first. We are thinking that this storm may be beginning to turn right. At 734 we received a tornado warning, doppler indicated, located 7 miles to the SW of Bridgeport. We now are watching a cell rapidly developing to our east, and the storm was moving to the southeast. We decided to book SE on hwy 26, then cut south on hwy 27 to get into position to watch these storms. At 810, we noticed a possible wall cloud near Lisco, NE. At 837, we got our first damage of the storm chase. A stone picked up by a truck hit Jared’s car and chipped the windshield. While we began to drive south on hwy 27, we decided to stop and tripod some lightning, which was spectacular. TOILET was still very active, approaching 300 strikes/min, mostly directly over our heads. A very beautiful LP updraft core was seen to our west, with a still intensifying cell to our east, which was moving closer to us. 900-1000 o’clock - although rapidly losing light, there was enough lightning to see a wall cloud and possible large tornado on the ground. It was very hard to see, but there was some sort of persistent lowering in the horizon, about 10 miles away from us. We drifted south on 27, closely watching the cell to our west. Reports were received of baseball sized hail from this storm. Our reports were oscillating from scud to a tornado to a funnel. At 1000 we received a radio report that there was a doppler indicated tornado a little to he south of Oshkosh. At this time we were turning east on 30, and once again there was a report of a possible wedge on the ground. As soon as we go onto I-80, we lost sight of the cell to our north due to the Platte River Basin. We proceeded to take this road to the hotel, where we arrived at 1145 PM. We were watching TV in chase 1, and saw a radar loop of what happened. The two cells we were watching merged at the time when the first tornado was reported. On the drive back home, Jared hit a deer on the road head on, effectively removing any signs of life that the deer had, which were few and far between. Back at the hotel, it looks as if the cells to the west are becoming more organized, we could be getting into a situation where stuff blows through late night and early morning and sets out tons of outflow boundaries.
Day 3 Driving total : 460 miles Trip total : 1461 miles
Thursday May 21, 1998
Day 4: First if by day, second if by night (hail damage and tumbleweed showers)
This day certainly had an ominous beginning to it. We were awoken by the famous phone call from Bart Wolf, saying we gotta go. Our general plan for today will be the same as yesterday, maybe heading a little farther west on I-80 towards Kimball before setting up for the day. Hotel reservations will be made in North Platte, NE, about 1 hour to the west of us. That way we can check things out at the hotel before heading farther west. Once again outflow boundaries will be playing a major role in the development of convection. The axis of instability once again is centered on I-80. SPC upped the convective outlook to a moderate for the panhandle of Nebraska, with very large hail, strong winds and isolated tornadoes possible. As we are beginning to wake up, we realize that we have other issues on our hands. Tornado warnings are being issued for a cell heading right for us. At 855 AM, a tornado warning was issued for our county. A little after 900 AM we started to see some small hail falling on the ground. This hail shower would persist for almost an half hour, with the hail getting progressively larger as it went on. At 920 someone brought in hail stones easily better than quarter, and the 16 crew reported a hail stone of 2" in diameter. The hail was almost covering the ground, and the majority of the stones shattering when they were hitting the ground. All of the chase vehicles received hail damage, each car had least 25-30 dents, but no paint was taken off. All of our windshields survived, so we should be good to drive out for today. Other people we not as lucky, we saw some people driving to California, who had a cracked windshield, and their trailer was punctured by the hail. Radio reports were suggesting that there was some significant crop damage as well. Now that the storms are done chasing us, we can resume chasing the storms.
After assessing the hail damage and regrouping from the storm, we were ready to go. we seem to be good magnets for storms, as we brought severe storms to Lexington two days in a row. We left the super 8 at 1104, taking I-80 west, to North Platte.. Warnings are still being issued for the storm that hit our hotel, which is now in Kearney Co.. At 1130 we received an update from North Platte weather radio, temp/dp now 67/63. They are expecting development west of Rushville-Broken Bow with shear profiles becoming favorable for supercells. Cheyenne, Denver , and Goodland are all reporting clear skies now. By noon we arrived in North Platte, where we will try to check into the Super 8, eat, and top off our tanks. By 100 we were ready to go west. Radio update is expecting tornadoes in CO/WY, near the N border. Temp/dp is up to 70/61. At 200 most of TOILET activity is to our NE, with up to 80 strikes per minute. 10 minutes later a nice backshearing anvil could be seen to our NNE, with an overshoot to our NNW. At about 230 we stopped at a rest area, to see what was going on. We decided that stuff to our south was well capped, so we decided to drift northward on 385 towards Huntsman. Once near Huntsman, we noticed some nice development to the NW, with nice inflow bands. At 310 a severe thunderstorm warning was issued for cell 23 miles N of Sterling, CO, we decided to head south towards MacPhearson. At 346 a tornado watch was issued, 80N/S from Scottsbulff to Kearney. There is something developing to our west, and TOILET is picking up something to our east. We decided to east away from the developing cell, it turns out that nothing of severe significance developed from either, but there was a nice updraft core to the cell to our west. We needed up stopping near Ovid, CO near 400 PM to wait for stuff to develop. We ended up seeing a very nice outflow, with winds up to 50 knots. There was also a very nice tumbleweed storm as soon as the winds began to pick up. The plan from here is to head east to Julesberg, to try to get out of the outflow. We concluded that we were under a huge meso-high, and we needed to get out of it to have any chance of seeing anything. At 530 the temp at the hotel was 66, while 65 miles to the south in McCook it was 86. To have any chance at seeing anything, we would have to get south of the boundary. At 625 we were back in North Platte.
After assessing the situation and eating, Marfa Front and most of Chase 1 decided to head south and see what happens. Tornado warnings were being issued (spotter confirmed) in the cell to our southwest. We have pretty much 0 visibility about 10 miles south of town, so we will head a little farther south, and if it still foggy we will call this one off. When we were about 25 miles north of McCook, the visibility was starting to get much better visibility, so we decided to wait on 83, and see if we could see anything, we were starting to lose our light very quickly. We drove a little south to get better westward visibility. We ended up getting a very good spot about 10 miles north of McCook. We were under northerly flow the whole time, suggesting that it was elevated convection. Right before dark, we could see what seemed to be a wall to our west. Tim got out and checked it out with his binoculars, and saw a well defined tornado on the ground, but it was not visible w/out binoculars. At this time the storm was directly to our west, about 10-15 miles and moving to the east. We went a little farther to the south to watch the storm cross the highway. The lightning show that we saw was incredible, with the sky almost constantly illuminated. There was a report of 4.5" hail with this storm.
Day 4 Driving total :477.7 miles Trip total : 1938.7 miles
Friday May 22, 1998
Day 5 : Day of the Dogs.
It looks like today we will be leaving the state of Nebraska for Kansas. The general plan will be to go southeast, to get into the MDT risk area. Morning soundings are showing extreme instability, once you can get above the cap. That will be the biggest issue for today, if we can get anything above the cap it will go severe in 10-15 minutes. We will go southeast towards Abilene, KS, which is near the western edge of the moderate risk area, which extends eastward to just west of Kansas City. What we will need to do today is find the boundary, and sit on it and wait for some explosive convection. Our plan will be to get into the genesis region of the storms, and follow them for awhile. At 947, we left the super 8 to drive towards Kansas and find a boundary. At 1032 we were in Lexingtion, where we were starting to notice some decent clearing, this is where we hit the 2000 mile mark for the trip. Temp/dp was currently 68/56. At 1100 we were in Arapahoe, with 71/57, where we would take 6 east to 136 south. At 1145 it was 71/58, where we found a good weather station, 550 AM. By noon we crossed into Kansas, where it was 71/58. Temps and dewpoints were steadily rising, with 72/59 in Phillipsburg, 74/60 in Stockton, and 76/62 in Plainville. At 118 we had a very exciting moment, when a false tone alert was issued by Bart. At 202 we had lunch in Hays, where we were very near the boundary, we would leave for Russell and sit south of town and wait, where it was 85/65. Wait is a good word for what we did, as the cap was strong, we didn’t even see a decent Cu field go up. Games of football and sun tanning, and watching some stray dogs was all that was going on. Not that we made a bad forecast, the cap was just simply too strong. The surface convergence was there, with north winds meeting south winds, but is not strong enough to break the cap. Dinner was had in Russell, where we would go to the near by rest stop and wait a little longer for convection. As we were leaving the rest stop, cells started to go up 200-250 miles away, in NW Nebraska. We would wait a little longer to see if that would initiate any other convection, like the previous nights. But that would not happen, no convection was to be had by us today.
Day 5 driving total: 350.3 miles Trip total: 2289 miles.
Saturday May 23, 1998
Day 6: Day of the crepuscular rays
The plan for today for today will be to head south and chase a front that was set up across the state. The main question for today once again will be the cap, the cap in Amarillo was 11 Celsius, which is why we aren’t chasing the dry line. Away from the dry line the cap is still strong, with 6-8 degrees Celsius cap strength. What we will have to do today is find exactly where the boundary was, as that is our best chance for enough forcing to break the cap. Once something broke the cap and utilized the boundary later moisture, the atmosphere was extremely unstable. Supercells were mentioned in forecast discussions and the day 1 convective outlook, which was a SLGT for the area. We will stay in Big Cabin, OK, which should be good position for tomorrow. We left the super 8 to head east towards Topeka, and then had south on hwy 75 and play it by ear from there. Temps and dewpoints were steadily increasing once we got out of the rain in Abilene, by the time we got to Iola it was 86/67. We would gad up and eat Iola, KS, and then we would sit in-between Iola and Gas, KS and wait for some convection to form. Unlike yesterday, there were actually hints that convection would form. Storms were firing in the Ozarks of Missouri, but those would have been to far away to intercept. We were sitting under southerly flow the whole day, and with stations to our north reporting northerly winds, we knew that we nailed where the surface boundary was located. Cu fields were seen most of the day, but none of them were truly impressive. We saw a cell that looked as it may be trying to break the cap, and seeing that it was 630 we decided to reposition and look at it. We sat just north of Iola, and quickly realized that the cells were quickly dying and becoming turkey towers. However these turkey towers proved to be very picturesque, as we saw crepuscular rays. After that quick photo, we gassed up and were getting ready to go to the hotel. But chase 1 spotted a decent looking cell behind us, and this is where we got separated. Chase 1, Marfa Front, and channel 16, turned around, and Murray and 10 ft. from it continued eastward on 54. The cell never turned into anything, but we did see a beautiful sunset from it. All chasers ended up re-uniting in Parsons, KS, and then proceeded south to our hotel.
Day 6 driving total : 352.5 miles Trip total 2631.5 miles
Sunday May 24, 1998
Day 7: Holy **** this thing is rotating right above us!!!
Things are looking very good for today. Morning soundings indicated that the cap was weakening, with areas expecting supercell development. Shear profiles were favorable for supercell development, but then everything was expected to organize into and MCC. We could either chase the dry line, or go after the surface boundary. The cap appeared to be weaker near the surface boundary. With forecast CAPEs of 3500-5500J/Kg, once a cell breaks the cap explosive development is to be expected. The plan for today will be to head west, stop by our hotel in Blackwell, OK and eat and get data quick, then haul west to the Woodward, OK area. We left the Super 8 at 900 AM (75/64), to head towards the Blackwell Super 8. At 1000 we noticed a very nice Cu field directly in front of us, a good sign of a weaker cap. These clouds are actually ACCUS, which are huge and possibly forming an anvil. These are really beautiful, we will stop and take pictures for awhile. These are huge considering that they are not rooted in the boundary layer. At 1100, we noticed some wave clouds at the inversion, with the ACCUS above the inversion (77/61). At 1143 we entered Blackwell for a quick lunch and data. We ran into a chase team from the Weather Channel. The new day 1 was upped to a MDT risk for parts of southern KS and the panhandle of OK. We are going to have to bust west to get in to position. After eating in Blackwell, we were out of the area by 1246 (86/56). By 118 the dewpoint had jumped up to 61. This is approximately the time when Bart issued the quote " For the first time in a long time I’m starting to get scared". At 131 there was very good parcel convergence in the town of Jet, OK as we were passing through. (87/64). We would continue driving westward through the towns of Waynoka and Woodward. We would sit and wait just north of Woodward, OK and wait for some storms to form (88/67). We would sit and wait for about a half hour, when we decided to check back with the weather lab at 345 PM. This call helped us very much, as we soon realized that we needed to head north because the to our north was beginning to sag to the south. Also the cap has dissolved, so we should be good to go. SPC was not expecting to develop on the dryline at this time, as the cap is too strong. The prime area of development is expected to be to our north, with explosive development and supercells likely.
At 400 we decided to head north to a picnic area just south of Kansas. When we got there and there was no visibility, we decided to go to a scenic lookout in Kansas, known to as Ken blood (515). From this point we have excellent visibility in all directions, so we will sit here and wait for something to from. We didn’t have to wait very long (545) as we saw 2 storms that we rapidly developing, one to our north and the other to the south. Storm motion should be just north of east at 30 mph, so we will head east on hwy 160 and see which one looks better to go after. Initially the storm to the south looked more impressive, with a well defined updraft and knuckles. However TOILET was saying nothing much to our south, with all of the activity to our north. By the time we got to Harper, KS, we were at out last major crossroads for awhile. There was an impressive cell to the north, so we decided to head NE on 2 and sit and watch (641). This storm was very impressive, with a pronounced wall cloud and very nice inflow bands. Tornado warnings we being issued all around us, once one storm broke the cap, everything else went up at the same time. At 700 PM we needed to get out of there fast, as the storm was cyclic and the inflow that was over our heads was now the updraft core, right above us. At 702 there was a tight rotation to the wall right over us. In order to survive we needed to punch through the hail that was wrapping around to get to safety back in Harper, where we could recover from what just happened. As we arrived in Harper, the tornado sirens were going off and we decided to get some gas while we could, as it looks like it will be a long night because storms are firing all around us. We will head east on highway 160 towards Wellington, but not too fast. There is a storm directly to our east that we don’t want to drive into, but there are more storms to the west, so we need to move.
The drive eastward was absolutely spectacular, as there was an incredible lightning show, with many CGs and anvil crawlers. The tornado warnings were now coming in at a frantic pace, with our hotel being included in them. The warnings were coming in so fast that it was very hard to keep up with them (and now impossible to read my handwriting). About 5 miles outside of Wellington, KS, we started to get rain from the storm directly to our east. We will stop just outside of Wellington to let this storm go by, to have a safe trip back to the hotel. The storms are all moving to the southeast as time progresses through the night. We will take highway 81 south from Wellington back to the Super 8 in Blackwell. As it is getting dark the lightning show is incredible, with strikes all around us. As we were driving south towards South Haven, there was a barn that was engulfed in flames. We checked to make sure that nobody was home, and called the fire in to local emergency. As we were near the fire the wind suddenly changed direction, so we got out of there quick. When we were driving through South Haven (where the power was out from a previous storm that went through) we drove by the local fire department and informed them of the fire. We then proceeded slowly south making it into Oklahoma briefly, where we almost drove into a possible tornado. The rain was falling in horizontal sheets, with very strong winds. We then quickly turned around and headed north of South Haven, to let the storm pass. Attempting to pull off on a side road and wait, Marfa Front pulled onto a dirt road and almost got stuck in the mud. Cell movement on all of the warnings was now to the southeast, with a new warning coming in every 3-5 minutes. We would make one more attempt at heading south before warnings were issued just to our west, heading towards our hotel. We would drive north to near Wellington, and wait for everything to be clear before going home. It is now pushing 1030, and all chasers are beginning to get very hungry and very tired. By now the warnings were to the south of the hotel, heading to the south of the Ponca City area. It is now officially safe to head home, except for the 75 cent toll we had to pay on the Kansas Turnpike for 4 miles of highway. When we arrived in Blackwell at 1115, there was some minor street flooding. By now we were all happy to be safe and home, and our frustrations with not being able to break the cap are over.
It should also be noted that this Super 8 has a very comfortable leather couch in the lobby.
Day 7 driving total 620.2 miles Trip Total : 3251.7 miles
Monday May 25, 1998
Day 8: Not so deep in the heart of Texas
Things for today we not nearly as promising as yesterday, but definitely still chase worthy. The main severe threat today would be multicells, with the possibility of seeing an isolated tornado. The chase team is still exhausted from yesterday’s endeavors, so weather discussion would be held at 900 AM. The main area of severe development will be to our south, most likely forming at or near the triple point which we progged to be near the OK/TX border. The storms from the previous night could play havoc with our forecast, as there are most likely many outflow boundaries. So the plan will be to drive south on I-35 and stop in Ardmore, OK, to check into the Super 8 and get some data, food, and leave. It turns out that there was a confirmed tornado in South Haven last night, with some F2 damage.
We would leave the Super 8 at 958 (73/63) to drive south. The drive south was uneventful, with temperatures and dewpoints slowly increasing. By 1205 we were reading 81/68, with a DFW weather report calling for south winds of 15-25 and gusty, with a possible severe thunderstorm. By 1226 the dewpoint had increased to 67 degrees. At 1240 we entered Ardmore, OK (85/66). Looking at the data showed that we had made a good forecast and were near the best area for thunderstorm development. Leaving Ardmore at 218 we were now at 87/69. At 310 (86/65) we were westbound near Waurika, OK and decided we would head south on hwy 81 and wait for something to happen. We would stop at 325, just north of the TX/OK border. At 419 we got some guidance on what to do, in the form of a tornado watch. Until 10 PM, 70 miles either side from 40 SE San Angelo, TX to 20 NE Altus. Our present location is on the fringes of the watch. From here we decided to head south into TX and look for somewhere to sit. At 446 we crossed the Red River into Texas (88/70). We would proceed to head south towards Bowie to sit. As we crossed into Texas, the road network became terrible and the visibility was not much better. From here we had no choice but to head back north to find somewhere with visibility and hope for the best. We would end up sitting on Texas farm road 2332 at 613 PM. Here the channel 16 crew would leave the chase group and head for home. Here a very long game of football and frisbee would ensue, with TOILET remaining quiet. At 900 there was a hint of a squall line developing, so we will drift northward to maybe see something. At 913 PM the tornado watch was replaced by a severe thunderstorm watch until 3AM. This would be all for our trip to Texas, as we would see nothing for the day.
Day 8 driving total : 391.4 miles Trip total : 3643.1 miles
Tuesday May 26 and Wednesday May 27, 1998
Days 9 and 10 : The drive home
With 2 days left in the chase we are now very far away from Valpo, and we will now begin to head home. On the way home we will stop in Overland Park, KS for some Price Chopper ribs at Lisa Clements’ house. From there we will stay in Cameron, MO, before making our way back to campus. At 1000 AM we would leave Ardmore to head towards hwy 69. This would turn out to be a very slow task, as we got behind paint trucks that were moving at about 5 MPH. But eventually we would make it to hwy 69, and by 107 we were in Muskogee, OK ready for some lunch. At 206 we would leave Muskogee and resume our northward travel. At 226 an empty barrel fell out of a pickup truck, and proceeded to graze Marfa Front. But so serious damage was done, so we resumed heading north. At 303 we saw 2 cold air funnels to our west (79/60). At about 430 we would make it into Kansas, and by 651 we were at Lisa’s house. By 945 we made it to Cameron, MO, just in time for a quick dip in the pool. The next day would prove to be an uneventful drive home, making it to campus before 700 PM
Trip totals: 10 states, 5 hail damaged cars, 4696.0 miles