6/14/2014 - Incipient CO/KS Derecho

We waffled on the idea of playing eastern Nebraska or the tri-state (CO/KS/NE) area ... we eventually decided to cruise west in hope of supercells forecast to form off the Palmer and race east. As advertised, they did, but quickly transitioned into ice-throwing, wind generating, line segments. We caught up to a supercell transitioning into a mini-bow near Stratton, CO.  We interstate-chased this beast east to Colby, where we took shelter in an overhang hoping for some big hail. Once again, I missed the big hail ... baseballs were reported just to our north ... we had nothing bigger than quarters.  Overnighted in Colby, KS.

A couple lapse sequences.

6/13/2014 - WY SR-24 Tornadic Supercell

Another day, another trip down SR-24. The road is best known as a biker paradise and its pretty mountain scenery; alas, on this day it also featured a tornadic supercell. This was a relatively simple chase complicated by the mountain terrain. We had only one road option and simply had to keep ahead of the cell as it moved east from Devils. The storm really wrapped up near Hulett, WY ... we had to push east just as it appeared to tornado as the meso was upon us. This likely cost us a view of the touchdown as we drifted through the mountain-valley terrain east of Hulett. We stopped along SR-24 a few times, each time awestruck at the intense rotation meandering in the mountains. With no way to gain perspective by driving north, we were locked in with a pure west view of the rain-wrapped, tornadic circulation.  We followed it east toward Belle Fourche, before pushing east since convection exploded everywhere, muddying the scene.  The EF2 tornado was over 18 miles long and, unfortunately, caused an injury.  Eventually, we met up with my brother (who ferried from Denver) near Wasta, SD, where both groups gobbled up the beautiful convective sky. Called it quits as the storms dissipated in the evening light; overnighted in Winner, SD.

 

Storm begins to wrap in low levels near Hulett, WY.

Clear slot evident with pinched low-level meso to left.

Tornado occurring at this time in the rain-wrapped area to left. Crazy waterfall effect and motions to left attm.

Storms line out near Wasta, SD

   

Lapse sequences.

6/10/2014 - Devils Tower Convection and Belle Fourche Supercell

After attending a Rockies game on the 9th, we were ready to hop out of the storm chaser bullpen on the 10th.  We picked up Laura at DIA and scooted up north toward the play of the day -- far northeast Wyoming.  We enjoyed some unorganized convection near Devils Tower and, thereafter, followed the convection east along beautiful sr-24. Despite the cold low-levels, the storm rapidly organized west of Belle Fourche, SD. We took pics of the ice machine at twilight, then migrated to a late night eatery in Sturgis to celebrate Victor's birthday.

    

Lapse sequences.

6/8/2014 - Roswell to Carlsbad Supercells

We, once again, targeted eastern New Mexico. Two targets were in play: 1) Las Vegas area and 2) Roswell to Carlsbad region.  Stubborn cloud cover in northeastern New Mexico has us focused on the southern target by lunch, so we shifted to Vaughn, NM.  Early afternoon cu northwest of Roswell developed into a supercell that shifted southeast toward Carlsbad. The structure on this storm was HPish and nothing like the previous day. We eventually hopped on another supercell west of Carlsbad, which had beautiful structure. However, our perspective quickly closed as another storm to its immediate south sent of a left split toward us. We took shelter in a random, rural carport hoping for some big ice... all we got were quarters, which was somewhat disappointing considering the shelter we had. We called it quits and headed for Roswell, but not before taking in a couple twilight pics of the exiting system.

  

Lapse sequences.

6/7/2014 - Roswell Mothership

We woke in Canyon, TX with several potential targets -- near Las Vegas, NM; west or southwest of Fort Sumner, NM; or Plainview, TX. After quite a bit of deliberation, we chose to head toward the west for the Fort Sumner, NM target. We intercepted a decaying supercell near Yeso, NM. We then took back roads (and I mean way off the beaten path!) down to US 283 north of Roswell, where we intercepted a developing supercell ahead of a previously tornadic storm southwest of Vaughn. We stayed ahead of this storm, stopping for amazing vistas north of Roswell and then east and southeast of Roswell. The storm had some truly breathtaking structure, especially in the evening light at an abandoned schoolhouse near the Salt Creek Wilderness area. We watched the supercell move over us and another, second supercell, move toward us along county 51 east of Roswell. It was a majestic scene. We called it quits eventually, overnighting in Roswell. Victor has his account, as well as stunning photos, at his blog.

Tornadic storm near Vaugn, NM.

Decaying supercell near Yeso, NM.

Roswell supercell ramps up.

Second Roswell supercell lights up the evening sky.

6/6/2014 - Tornado and Nara Vista, NM Supercell

Victor and I left DeKalb about 5 pm on the 5th, overnighted in Lawrence, and continued our trek west toward the northeast New Mexico target area for the 6th. We arrived in Clayton as two storms to our west were maturing. We slid west on U.S. 56, keeping eyes on both storms.  It was unclear which one would be better, so we paused a bit so we wouldn't lose data and could keep an eye on the radar. We did drift north on a dirt (sr 453), where we parked for a bit and watched to the storm to our northwest. We were beginning to think that the storm to our northwest was going to die, so we were strategizing how to navigate the unappealing road network to the south so we could intercept the southwest cell.  As we were fumbling around with our computers in the car, I just happened to look up and ... uh ... saw a tornado to our northwest about 20-25 miles away. I was stunned. We jumped out and snapped a few pics before it dissipated. The storm slowly died thereafter, but continued to spin like crazy for a bit, producing intermittent funnels and bowl-like features. The southern storm had now become dominant, but we had no easy way to get to it. So, we slid back to Clayton, then south. We finally pushed through the core near Nara Vista. This storm dissipated atop us, but another supercell was rolling across the High Plains to our southwest. The lighting was a bit harsh, but we captured some shots of this supercell between Logan and Nara Vista. The best scene was as the horseshoe moved atop us southwest of Nara Vista. We filmed the back side of the storm, before calling it quits and heading to Amarillo. Had dinner with Scott Blair and colleague, later overnighting in Canyon, TX.

A couple lapse sequences.

6/3/2014 - I-80 Shelf

Another higher-end 2014 day that resulted in lackluster results. We ferried up from Hays, KS to the Kearney-Elm Creek, NE area, spending most of the afternoon watching the pattern unfold. What initially looked like an outbreak day, was squashed by cold, outflowish storms to the north and a stout cap racing in from the southwest. We sat in Elm Creek for a long time, never budging north for any of the elevated, HPish, warned storms despite their tor warnings. Our hope for surface-based convection to the west shriveled as the hot air moved in aloft, choking the cu to our west. We eventually decided to pull east just in case the only show was going to be a line segment heading for LNK.  After about 45-min east, a surface-based storm formed to our west. Naturally, we raced back west ... and, as we approached, it was undercut. Argh. So, we slid back east and caught another of the cars in the line-segment train, stopping east of GI and south of York for shots of the fast moving shelf.  The storm overtook us south of York, producing lots of dust to chew on. Continuing southeast, we followed the storm all the way to St. Joe where we overnighted.

Quick lapse segment.

Trip 3 map.

6/1/2014 - Ashland, KS Supercell

Began another short jaunt to the Plains very, very early Sunday morning. We targeted western Kansas, but continually shifted our target southward as we got closer. After driving through a couple hours of elevated convection along the Kansas-Nebraska border, we finally broke into the "hot" air just north of I-70. We continued south into the messy setup, latching onto some severe convection near Dighton, KS. We enjoyed the scene, but eventually turned our attention to a tail-end storm near Ulysses, KS -- naturally, as we finally got ahead of this storm, we killed it. Ah, but not to be deterred after hundreds of miles of driving, we continued to focus on convection to our east, flanking a line of rapidly intensifying storms north of Meade, KS.  It was fascinating to watch this convection cross a boundary and intensify as the LLJ ramped up. We raced east and south, finally getting ahead of the storms near US 160-283 west of Ashland, KS. The line put on a hell of a show in the evening light. We continued to jump a few miles down the road as the line pushed south. Just north of Englewood, KS, a storm pinched off from the line and became a nice supercell in perfect evening light. Just a spectacular scene as the sun set on us. We grabbed some gas in Buffalo after shooting lighting for a bit. Overnighted in Woodward, OK.

Scene lapses.