2007 CONVECTIVE FIELD STUDY A
May 18,2007 – May 28, 2007

DAY ONE 5.18.2007

·    Left Valpo at 1241Z, heading for Mitchell, South Dakota

·    Everyone left without Car 3 L. They went the wrong way and got stuck behind slow construction cars and then passed up the rendezvous point because Bart told them the wrong road.

·    Mileage guesses
o    Car 5 –5950
o    Car 4 - 6100
o    Car 3 - 6000
o    Car 2 - 5779
o    Pilot – 6150

·    Screenname - vusitorlusit

·    Guess: Railroad cars in a mile
o    Pilot – 120
o    Car 2 – 64
o    Car 3 – 145
o    Car 4 – 160
o    Car 5 – 85
o    ANSWER IS – 100
o    Winner is Car 5!! Yay!!!

·    Temperature at 1545Z – 65 degrees

·    Hit Iowa at 1556Z

·    Past the World’s Largest Truck stop at 1615Z on I-80 in Iowa

·    Stop for gas at 17Z ($3.18 at Coralville, Iowa)

·    Got food at 1715Z

·    Left Coralville at approximately 1747Z

·    T/Td at 2047Z in Iowa  (77/49)

·    Stopped for gas at 2144Z (Fairmont, Minnesota @ $3.29)

·    T/Td at 2155Z in Fairmont (80/56)

·    Reached South Dakota at 2325Z

·    T/Td at 2327Z in South Dakota (80/51)

·    Interesting Notes
o    Discrete cell in North Dakota at 2353Z
o    Capable of 3 inch hail
o    65 max dBz
o    Moving south at 17 mph while associated cells were moving east
o    Tornado warnings in 3 counties with the storm
o    Not chasing it because it is too far north for us
o    Very high LFC’s 2400-3000m

·    Stop for food in Mitchell, South Dakota at 030Z

·    Stopped for gas at 110Z (Mitchell, South Dakota @ $3.39)

·    Arrived in Ocawa, South Dakota at 230Z for the night

·    Total mileage for Day one:  802 miles

DAY TWO  5.19.2007

·    Weather discussion at 1230Z

·    Models do not look as good as they did yesterday

·    Considering going to Billings, Montana to chase southeast and south central Montana

·    Departed Ocawa, South Dakota at 1315Z

·    T/Td at 1321Z in Ocawa (67/52)

·    Listened to the two radio stations in South Dakota and heard Native American tribal music and the ever-riveting story of babies and crocodiles in the Nile River.

·    T/Td near the Rapid City, South Dakota NWS at 1535Z(80/55)

·    Encountered a bug shower at about 1539Z

·    Hit 1000 miles at 1551Z in Rapid City, South Dakota! Wooo woooo!!

·    Encountered debris…from a hillbilly truck…yikes!
o    “WATCH OUT!! WATCH OUT!! WATCH OUT!!!” – Bart

·    Stopped for gas at 1649Z (Belle Fourche, South Dakota @ $3.31)

·    Heard amusing stories from a local who was trying to instill knowledge in today’s youth.

·    Got food at 1709Z and returned on the road at 1746Z.

·    Crossed into Montana from Wyoming at 1821Z.

·    T/Td in southeast Montana at 1859Z(80/55)

·    T/Td in southeast Montana at 1924Z (80/56)

·    T/Td in southeast Montana at 2025Z (83/53)

·    Chase one has gone the furthest west in chasing history!

·    Severe Thunderstorm watch issued at 2041Z until 5Z, and we were in the southeastern edge of the watch when issued.
 
·    Several cells of interest beginning to develop to the south and southeast near north central Wyoming, especially Cody, Wyoming (2046Z).

·    Reached the hotel at 2139Z to check in and then get back on the road.

·    Continue with chasing after picking up the keys.  Back on the road at 2147Z.

·    Gas stop at 2204Z (Billings, Montana @ $3.19).

·    Back on the road at about 2220Z.

·    Storm to our south-southeast with possible mesocyclone.  

·    Took 90 East to intercept, but storm weakened. Gas up in Hardin and wait to see what happens to the north-northeast of Billings.

·    Gas stop at 020Z (Hardin, Montana @ $3.19)

·    Storms to the east of our location have died; will chase storms to the northwest.

·    Took I – 94 back to Billings and ate.   Decided not to chase because of unfavorable terrain, and the storms died off.

·    Arrived at the hotel at 130Z.

·    Final mileage for Day 2: 670 miles

DAY THREE 5.20.2007

·    Morning briefing at 13Z and decided to re-convene in 2 hours to analyze the surface conditions then.

·    After the second meeting, we have observed a shortwave approaching and do not want to go further east, but remain in the Billings area.

·    T/Td at 1656Z (70/54)

·    Got lunch at 1659Z.

·    T/Td at 2037Z (69/53)

·    Done eating at 1737Z.

·    Discrete cell near Harlowton, Montana but in unfavorable terrain with poor road network (2035Z).  Has a severe thunderstorm warning associated with it and radar indicated 2.5-3in hail with 65 dBz.

·    Car 5 needed a jump because they did not have their car on while running the battery while we were waiting for initiation.  

·    Got gas at 2040Z (Billings, Montana @ $3.22).

·    T/Td at 2123Z (72/55)

·    Heading to Miles City, Montana at 2133Z to move into an area more favorable for convection.

·    Reached Miles City, Montana at 2323Z for food and gas.

·    Gas at Exxon at 2350Z (Miles City, Montana @ $3.18).

·    Continue east towards Baker, Montana to try to intercept a line of thunderstorms developing in Southeast Montana.

·    T/Td at 017Z near Miles City, Montana (67/55)

·    Headed east to Baker, Montana and then south towards Elkalaka, Montana and then decided to turn around and head north to the interstate to observe lightning as we head to our hotel in Dickinson, North Dakota (203Z).

·    Second highest shear marker was detected today at 2107Z – 138 mph.

·    Arrived at the hotel in Dickinson, North Dakota at 453Z.

·    Was a probably a bust day, we did not see anything but there was lots of convection near our area, but not in terrain we were able to chase in.

·    Final mileage for Day 3: 409 miles

DAY FOUR 5.21.2007

·    Morning meeting at 13Z to discuss where we want to chase depending on the outlook for Day 2.

·    Decided to bust south towards the panhandle of Nebraska.

·    Gas stop at 1356Z (Dickinson, North Dakota @ $3.39).

·    On the road at 1411Z.

·    T/Td at 1552Z near Buffalo, South Dakota (70/55).

·    3 miles south of Buffalo, South Dakota, we hit the 2000-mile mark at 1601Z.

·    T/Td south of Castle Rock, South Dakota at 1642Z (75/55).

·    Stopped for food in Sturgis, South Dakota at 1730Z.

·    Back on the road heading towards the southeast panhandle of Nebraska and northeast corner of Colorado at 1805Z.  

·    T/Td at 1810Z in Sturgis (79/50).   

·    Gas stop at 1914Z (south of Rapid City, South Dakota @ $3.33)

·    T/Td at 1914Z (85/45).

·    Continue south towards the Nebraska panhandle and northeast Colorado.

·    T/Td at 2011Z (at the Nebraska border 88/42)

·    T/Td at 2117Z (near Hemingford, Nebraska 76/49).

·    Stop for gas at 2128Z (Hemingford, Nebraska @ $3.32)

·    Back on the road to watch storms to our west at 2144Z.  

·    Stood on side of road to observe storms.  Measured a gust of about 21 mph.

·    Core punched a linear system near Angora, Nebraska at 23Z with half-inch hail and significant CG and CC lightning.

·    Intercepted the Sterling, Colorado storm which became linear and saw a very nice, defined shelf cloud with lots of CG.  After watching for several minutes, we decided to head for the hotel and observed a gustnado as we got on the interstate.  

·    Stopped for gas at 209Z (Ogallala, Nebraska @ $3.79)

·    As we were getting checked into the hotel, a tornado warning was issued for the county.  

·    It was after dark, so we could not chase, but we did notice several significant lowerings near the hotel.  There was no tornado, and we unloaded and went out to eat.

·    Total mileage for Day 4:  446 miles

DAY FIVE 5.22.2007

·    Morning meeting at 1345Z.

·    Heading south towards northwest or north central Kansas; there is a 10% bulls eye of tornado in that area and all conditions look extremely favorable.

·    Kansas will be the location of a triple point; however, large cap is present.

·    On the road at 15Z and we decided to take a detour to look at a dam, and then heading south  towards WaKeeney, Kansas.

·    T/Td at 1523Z at Lake Ogallala, Nebraska (61/55).

·    T/Td at 1646Z near Trenton, Nebraska (65/60).

·    T/Td at 1709Z east of McCook, Nebraska (71/60).

·    Stopped at WalMart in McCook, Nebraska to pick up clear nail polish to fix cracks in several windshields.

·    Stop for food in McCook, Nebraska at 1725Z.

·    Head east towards Arapahoe, Nebraska at 1820Z.

·    T/Td at 1839Z outside Indianola, Nebraska (72/60).

·    Gas at 1904Z (Arapahoe, Nebraska @$3.34).

·    Back on the road at 1919Z to sit and observe conditions.

·    T/Td at 2030Z near Arapahoe, Nebraska (78/80).

·    Decided to move south into Norton County, Kansas and possibly further south to try to catch initiation near the dryline.

·    Tornado watch issued at 20Z and in effect until 4Z for the area we are chasing.

·    T/Td at 2046Z past the Kansas border (80/62).

·    Moved south to chase storms and into more favorable conditions at 2223Z.

·    After moving, we observed a nice wall cloud outside of Stockton Kansas, where we stopped for gas.

·    Nothing came of the wall cloud, so we decide to chase the southern storm with a TVS.

·    Just beyond Palco, Kansas, we observed a wall cloud, a complete mesocyclone, and hail shaft.

·    The storm’s southern flank developed more and a tornado warning was issued on the storm.  We stopped several times to observe wall clouds and a potential tornado.

·    There was not any verification on a tornado and we stopped again to catch lightning pictures and video.
 
·    Decided to head to our hotel around 222Z.  

·    Final Mileage for Day five:  563 miles

DAY SIX 5.23.2007

·    Morning meeting at 13Z.

·    Moderate risk for central Kansas and Oklahoma: 10% hatched tornado risk.  

·    We were on the road at 1341Z and headed towards the northeast panhandle of Texas.

·    T/Td at 1350Z outside Salina, Kansas (69/62)

·    Gas stop at 1517Z (Great Bend, Kansas @ $3.29)

·    Back on the road at 1532Z

·    3000 mile marker at 1547Z outside of Great Bend, Kansas.

·    T/Td at 1622Z past Garfield, Kansas (67/59)

·    T/Td at 1741Z at Protection, Kansas (76/60)

·    T/Td at Oklahoma border at 1815Z (82/65).

·    Stopped for food in Buffalo, Oklahoma at 1845Z

·    T/Td at Buffalo, Oklahoma at 1917Z (83/65)

·    Heading towards Canadian, Texas, where the bulls-eye of action is.

·    Gas stop at 1958Z (Slapout, Oklahoma @ $3.31)

·    T/Td at 2014Z in Slapout, Oklahoma (82/63)

·    PDS tornado watch at 2030Z until 4Z.

·    T/Td at 2102Z near Booker, Texas (79/67).

·    T/Td at 2113Z south of Booker, Texas (79/63)

·    Due to the fact that the storms were not discrete, we did not see any storms that would become tornadic.

·    The cells had multiple tornado warnings for Doppler indicated rotation.

·    They were all HP supercells with extremely high rainfall rates, as well as softball size hail indicated by radar.

·    There was not a good road network in the Texas panhandle, so most storms were out of our reach.

·    We observed a lot of nice lightning and mammatus as well as a defined mesocyclone.

·    The storm had 4 mesocyclone markers as well as 2 TVS at one point.

·    Gas stop on our way back to our hotel at 455Z (Oklahoma @ $3.28)

·    Reached our hotel in Enid, Oklahoma at 622Z.

·    Final mileage for Day six:  694 miles.  

DAY SEVEN 5.24.2007

·    Morning meeting at 14Z.

·    Not chasing today
·    Storms yesterday did not do much for several reasons:
o    Possibly free frontal
o    Shortwave was moving slower that expected
o    Moderate risk and 10% hatched did not verify

·    We went to Wakita, Oklahoma to see the Twister museum.

·    Gas stop at 22Z (Great Bend, Kansas @ $3.15)

·    Arrived in McCook, Nebraska at 230Z and then went out to eat.

·    Final mileage for Day Eight:  435

DAY EIGHT 5.25.2007

·    Morning meeting at 13Z, and we decided to reconvene at 1530Z to decided if we will chase in NE Colorado.

·    Although the greatest chance of storms is near the South Dakota – North Dakota border, this location will give us a better set up for the next day.  

·    Second meeting at 1630Z, and decided to have another meeting at 1635Z to decide a location to chase.

·    Got lunch at 17Z.

·    On the road at 1737Z heading west towards Ogallala, Nebraska

·    T/Td at 1940Z in Ogallala, Nebraska (77/54)

·    T/Td at 1955Z (74/53)

·    T/Td at 2150Z (77/50) near Lewelynn, Nebraska

·    T/Td at 2155Z (75/54)

·    T/Td at 22Z (74/57)

·    T/Td at 2209Z (73/56)

·    Gas at 2245Z (Ogallala, Nebraska @ $3.29).

·    Severe thunderstorm watch issued for the area we were in.

·    Chased a LP supercell which quickly fizzled out and decided to head south to chase a splitting cell with a TVS.

·    Due to the oncoming darkness, we could not chase the cells and turned around.

·    We got back to the hotel in Ogallala, Nebraska at 430Z.

·    Final mileage for Day Eight: 451 miles

DAY NINE 5.26.2007

·    Morning meeting at 14Z

·    We will be heading towards eastern Colorado to get some second-day severe weather.

·    On the road at 15Z.

·    Gas stop at 1611Z (Sterling, Colorado @ $3.39).

·    Back on the road at 1631Z heading south to Akron, Colorado to eat lunch

·    T/Td in Sterling, Colorado at 1645Z (61/40)

·    Stopped in Akron, Colorado at KT Sub

·    Back on the road at 1805Z

·    T/Td in Akron, Colorado at 1818Z (65/43)

·    T/Td in Colorado at 2051Z (72/50)

·    Gas stop at 2055Z (Bennett, Colorado @ $3.27)

·    T/Td at Bennett, Colorado at 2133Z (73/48)

·    Watched an isolated cell near Stratsburg, Colorado at 0Z.

·    It went through a series of intensification and weakening stages and was one of the only cells in the area.

·    dBz of 62, vil of 47, vil density of 6.2

·    Since it is highly unlikely it will become tornadic, we have decided to core punch it.

·    There were several nice hail cores and lots of CG lightning with a small meso we observed.

·    Headed back to the hotel in Limon, Colorado at about 230Z after observing a really cool cell, but we really did not core punch it because it weakened rapidly after sunset.

·    Reached the hotel at 330Z

·    Final mileage for Day Nine: 431 miles

DAY TEN 5.27.2007

·    Morning meeting at 14Z. We decided not to chase because all the storms were too far west, and we need to be east to get to Valpo at a reasonable hour.

·    On the road at 1454Z.

·    Within 9 miles into Kansas on I – 70 we hit 5000 miles at 1624Z

·    Stopped at the geographic center of the continental US near Lebanon, Kansas.

·    Gas and food at 1648Z (Colby, Kansas @ $3.37)

·    Gas stop at 23Z (Knots, Nebraska @ $3.44)

·    Reached our hotel in Omaha, Nebraska 040Z.

·    Total mileage for Day Ten: 524 miles

DAY ELEVEN 5.28.2007

·    On the road at 1320Z heading towards Valpo.

·    Gas stop in Iowa.

·    Decided on shirt colors and quotes.

·    Gas stop at 2235Z (Chesterton, Indiana @ $3.53)

·    Got to Valpo at 23Z

·    Final mileage for the trip: 597
·    Funny Quotes
o    Tee-Wister – Matt Engelbrecht
o    Oh…sexy’s back – Matt Janiga
o    We are the crouton champions – Cory Francis
o    Altocumulous crapolotus – Bart
o    The weather meter thingy – Stephanie Dunten
o    You know you are out west when the tallest building is a silo. – Matt Janiga  
o    That little ****; he told me he wasn’t going out! – Bart
o    Cowboys and chocolate covered strawberry bowls; it’d be even better if we could mix the two together. – Ashley
o    I just want to jump on a cow and start eating it. – Matt Janiga
o    That anvil in front of us is kinda nice…in an anvilly kind of way - Bart
o    BOOM! – Bart
o    The planets are aligning! – Michael Grogan
o    WWJD – What would Janiga do? – Alex Bryan
o    I put it in the microwave…and it died… - Jon Hunter
o    You want a big fatty – Ryan McCormick
o    Holy Snap-oh-crap…OH MAN!! – Grogan
o    Humpage . . . HUMPAGE! – Christine
o    Ryaaannn…..McCoooorrrmmickk…. – Mark and Nate
o    [To Jon Hunter while sitting in the hotel Jacuzzi] So, this is a three-credit class, right? – Alex Bryan
o    It is what it is – Bart
o    Matt Janiga takes the dance party with him wherever he goes. – Jon Hunter
o    ::SIGH:: - Matt Engelbrecht
o    Well Michael… - Grogan’s grandma
o    Who’s the artist on 108.1?
o    Y’all looking for some ‘naders?
o    Are you f****** crazy?
o    If you experience convection for more than 4 hours please consult SPC or a storm chaser nearest you. - Bart
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