5/29/2010 - Southwest Nebraska High-based Storms

On Friday morning, COD's 2010 Trip 3 left for the Great Plains. We ferried all the way to North Platte to put us in position for Saturday's play. Unfortunately, Saturday's convection formed in an area that didn't have the correct overlap of severe thunderstorm ingredients. Instability was simply out of place with the shear axis, making storms unorganized and multicellular at best. We decided to play the southwest Nebraska area, where we hoped winds would back a bit ahead of a northeast Colorado low; albeit, the air in the McCook to Ogallala area was well mixed with temps soaring into the 90s and dewpoints in the low 50s. Ugh. That is a recipe for high-based storms and that is what we got. Mix this with a lack of shear -- and we got unorganized, high-based storms. We did get to watch the storms form and produce some picturesque cloudscapes and landscapes north of the Imperial, NE region, but we eventually called it a day and headed to North Platte. Sunday appears to be a down day and we will head into the Colorado Rockies. The hope is that Monday and Tuesday will feature a better juxtaposition of ingredients.

We enjoyed lunch at Ole's Big Game in Paxton, NE.

Ole's is adorned with hundreds of animals, including this friendly kitty.

Our view east of Imperial, NE.

Still good to be out and enjoy High Plains storms ... despite the lack of organization.

Time lapse of the day.