Day 14-15

We started out day 14 of our trip in Guthrie, OK. The weather looked somewhat promising in the northwest corner of Kansas, but considering the storms weren't going to fire until late, it would have been too difficult to travel there and back since two of our cadets had 0500 flights the following morning in OKC. Instead of following the storms, we stayed put in Oklahoma City for the day and went to a small community pool. We met up as a team one final time that night for ice cream. Major Nixon had lost a previous bet to CDT Pengelley, and as a result, had to buy Pengelly's monstrous ice cream cone.

The following morning, we woke up to a flash flood warning and a heavy line of thunderstorms moving into the city.  The view outside the hotel room of the shelf cloud rolling in was incredible!  We made one last trek to the airport where we all went our separate ways.

All-in-all, this was a successful trip.  We got great information from the various bases we visited and were also able to observe numerous weather phenomenon including two tornadoes, gustnadoes, a developing haboob, supercells, hail, shelf clouds, etc.  Plus, criss-crossing the country, seeing the culture, and eating the local food was an unexpected bonus.  In all, we drove 5519 miles and visited five different states, missing New Mexico and Missouri by only a few miles.

Approaching shelf cloud over Oklahoma City.  Not a bad view from the hotel room!

CDT Pengelly enjoys his ice cream, much to the chagrin of Maj. Nixon who had to pay.

Day 13

We started off the day in Temple, TX and drove to Norman, OK for a 1300 tour of the National Weather Center.  The National Weather Center is part of a sprawling complex that houses numerous research offices, and the building itself houses the Storm Prediction Center, the local National Weather Service Forecast Office, the National Severe Storms Laboratory, and the University of Oklahoma Meteorology Department.  Among other things, we went to an observation deck that overlooked the town of Norman and learned about the center’s plans for expansion.  Our tour guide also showed us vehicles used by NWS for severe weather research including radar trucks. We were also able to visit the Storm Prediction Center stationed inside the building and immediately noticed how few meteorologists there were in the center, especially considering they are responsible for issuing all severe weather watches across the entire country. The local NWS Forecast Office, who is responsible for weather forecasts and warnings for the city and surrounding counties, was slightly larger.  The tour of the Weather Center was led by a "real life meteorologist", who seemed to take great pride in his profession.  Maj. Nixon, also a "real life meteorologist", seemed unimpressed.   

After the tour, we traveled to Tinker Air Force Base where we talked to their weather team. They explained daily operations and what they do in case of an emergency. They told us a few stories about the base’s interactions with tornadoes in the past, and also demonstrated how they transfer command when a shift is over. We ended the day in Guthrie, OK, just in case we decided to observe storms the next day, although the long drive and early flight times on Sunday make this unlikely.  

 In front of the National Weather Center in Norman, OK.

Movie props from the movie Twister.

Offices that house the Storm Prediction Center, the local National Weather Service Forecast Office, and the National Severe Storms Laboratory.

Cadets get a briefing from the Weather Team at Tinker AFB.

Tinker AFB.

Day 12

We started the day early in Lubbock, TX and began traveling southeast; the Storm Prediction Center had outlined an area of "enhanced" risk in south-central and south-east Texas.  The atmospheric conditions for southern Texas looked at least somewhat promising with unstable air, although upper-level support was lacking. We stopped in Junction, TX for a quick barbecue lunch, and shortly after lunch, storms started to fire as we approached the far northwest suburbs of San Antonio.  The topography here was quite different with large, rolling hills, numerous trees, and a winding road network.  Despite these limitations, we were able to watch a couple storms rapidly grow and eventually found a spot near Spring Branch, TX to observe the approaching thunderstorm. After watching the storm for a while, it was evident that it was not going to organize into a supercell.  As the storms began to form a line, we decided to call it a day in the mid-afternoon.  We hung out at a Starbucks (Maj. Nixon REALLY likes Starbucks) to let the storms pass before stopping in New Braunfels, TX to briefly visit friends of Dr. Kalkstein. Just above their house, we were able to observe some mammatus clouds under the anvil of the storm. We decided to stop for dinner and stay in Temple, TX, which would allow us a reasonable drive to make our tour of the Storm Prediction Center early tomorrow afternoon.

Approaching storm just south of Spring Branch, TX.

Radar image as we waited for the storm to pass.  Notice the distinctive shelf cloud radar signature at the bottom.  This line is the leading edge of the gust front and generally signifies the storm has become outflow dominant.

Big Country Pizza near Canyon Lake is perhaps the slowest pizza establishment in the country.  Sadly, we never did have an opportunity to sample their pizza.

 Mammatus clouds over New Braunfels, TX.  Thank you to Rob and Amy for hosting the cadets!

Lightning strike near Spring Branch.

Day 11

We started our morning in Wichita, KS and decided to make the long drive towards the general vicinity of Amarillo, TX, despite the Storm Prediction Center's forecast of only "marginal" conditions.  Due to a general lack of wind shear, rotating supercells were relatively unlikely.  Initial storms began firing near Earth, TX, but they quickly fizzled.  We then targeted developing thunderstorms between Needmore and Enochs.  This cluster of storms quickly strengthened, and for a while, moved very slowly which allowed us to observe strong, hurricane-force winds affecting the landscape to our south. The strong winds were moving a tremendous amount of dust from the surrounding fields.  Once the cluster started moving more quickly to the east, we moved north and then east again to get out of its way and give us another nice opportunity to observe.  Multiple spin-ups of dust (gustnadoes) were occurring in a nearby field as part of the outflow, and further away, we saw evidence of dust being transported up into the storm through a possible landspout.  Eventually, the increasing outflow created a dramtaic haboob (dust storm) that we watched form, and shortly thereafter, called it a day.  We stayed in Lubbock for the evening, where we observed some pretty serious street flooding along with some reckless drivers and stalled cars.  Lubbock, TX was far enough southeast to hopefully set ourselves up to observe forecast storms in southern Texas the next day.

Time Lapse of a Severe Thunderstorm

Gustnado.

For all you Independence Day fans, “Welcome to Earth...Texas.”

Developing storm between Needmore and Enochs, TX.

Possible landspout near Needmore, TX.

The storm was kicking up a tremendous amount of dust with winds approaching hurricane force.  Radar-reported winds above the surface were well over hurricane force.

Day 9-10

On June 3, we started the day in Garden City, KS and decided to target the north, central part of the state.  Although it was a riskier target area (there was a strong stable layer in place just above the surface that would likely prevent storms from forming), the air above was highly unstable with modest wind shear.  This decision to head east was not the most promising from a storm perspective, but it put us in nice position to visit Fort Riley the following day.  In the end, no storms fired (which wasn't a surprise), and we spent the day in Junction City, KS. 

On June 4, we visited Fort Riley first thing in the morning. Their weather team was composed of mostly Airmen and a few civilians. They had a fairly large team, although many of its members were on deployment. They focused on protecting the bases' assets and personnel and also were responsible for briefing pilots on weather conditions before they took flight.  Although base contact with the local National Weather Service is somewhat limited, they do follow NWS discussion boards closely during severe weather.  After the visit, we decided to head further east, again hoping storms would be able to break through the stable layer and fire near the KS/MO border as a small shortwave trough moved through.  Again, nothing fired in the local area as any storm initiation stayed well to our east towards central and eastern Missouri.  With the forecast showing benign weather in the area, we made the decision to start a long drive further west towards the general area of the Texas Panhandle.  We'll be staying in Wichita for the night... 

Visiting Fort Riley.

Stopped for sushi in Topeka, KS...probably not the best idea, although so far, our stomachs are handling it alright.

Krispy Kreme just outside of Kansas City.

Day 8

We started our day in Amarillo, TX. At breakfast, we were trying to decide between two regions that had somewhat promising weather forecasts: southeastern Colorado and northern New Mexico. Colorado was closer to us, and we ultimately made the decision to head that way. We stopped at a local park in Lamar, Colorado and waited for the storms to start firing, but after about an hour and a half, we saw little development and decided to head south to Springfield, Colorado where at least a few modest storms were heading east. Here, we observed non-severe, multicellular clusters which had little organization and virtually no rotation.  It was interesting to see the importance of wind shear; without it, storms are unable to support sustained updrafts.  Once it started to get dark, we decided to spend the night in Garden City, Kansas to put us in better position the next day's storms.

Two Buttes mountain formation in SE Colorado.

Tossing the frisbee at Willow Creek Park in Lamar, CO.

 

 

 

 

Clouds just in Springfield, CO.

Day 7

We started day 7 of our trip in Guthrie, OK and were not terribly optimistic about our chances of severe weather observation due to a general lack of wind shear.  After a lengthy discussion, we decided to target the northern Texas Panhandle where we were hoping an outflow boundary from an old mesoscale convective system (MCS) would serve as an initiation point.  For much of the early afternoon, we were chasing ghosts as multicellular storm clusters would fire and quickly dissipate, as the shear was not sufficient to support sustained updrafts.  As the outflow boundary pushed south, we followed, and eventually, a couple supercells began to develop near Hollis, OK.  Although the first fizzled by the time we arrived, the second, southernmost storm was showing modest rotation and began bending to the right.  As we approached, it looked quite impressive.  With radar-indicated hail of over 2", we positioned ourselves southeast of the storm to watch.  After the rain subsided, we were able to collect some of the hail which was at least golf ball in size.  We decided to bail on the storm as it began to weaken, and thought our day was over as we headed towards our hotel in Amarillo, TX.  On the way to Amarillo, TX, we saw another beautiful supercell and fortunately arrived just before it crossed the interstate.  This storm lacked rotation, but was highly photogenic and put on quite the lightning show.  10 minutes after we passed, 2+" hail was reported on I-40.  Once we arrived in Amarillo, yet another severe-warned storm approached, and we observed an expansive shelf cloud, dime-sized hail, major street flooding, and some rather dramatic wind gusts.  We concluded the surprisingly eventful day with an enjoyable dinner at the Big Texan. 

Severe thunderstorm in Amarillo, TX.

Approaching supercell near Hollis, OK.

Golf ball sized hail.  Make note, this hail had been sitting out in rain for at least 3-5 minutes before we picked it up, so it was even larger when it fell.

Rainbow west of Hollis, OK.

Passing just ahead of a supercell on I-40, east of Amarillo, TX.  Ten minutes later, this storm dropped 2”+ hail on the highway.

Approaching shelf cloud in Amarillo.  We had been following this storm all day on radar since its initiation in NE New Mexico.  This storm brought us dime-sized hail, 60+mph winds, and bad street flooding.

Dinner at the Big Texan in Amarillo.  Notice the approaching storm in the background.