USMA Severe Weather AIAD: Day 2

We started out the second day of the trip in Wichita, KS. Early in the morning, models indicated an enhanced risk of severe weather across southeast Wyoming, but that was far away from us, so we debated whether to head out or stay in Wichita to wait for storms the following day. We decided to travel northwest, cutting through Nebraska and ending up in noutheastern Colorado, about a 6 1/2 hr drive.

We stopped in a small town called Holyoke, Colorado to figure out which storm we should follow. The main storm in the area was a large supercell about an hour to our northwest. Several tornadoes were confirmed with that storm, but it was pulling away from us to the north.

Cadets throwing a football under a tornado siren in Holyoke, Colorado, waiting for storms to develop.

There was a second cell that developed about 30 miles southwest of Holyoke. Although it wasn't as impressive as the main supercell, this storm did show signs of rotation at around 11,000 ft. We decided to get a closer look at this storm, traveling down country roads south of Paoli, Colorado. Once we drove past the precipitation shield, we were able to sit and watch the rotation become more clearly defined over about 20 minutes time. As the storm intensified, we clearly saw the rotation of the storm and scud clouds being sucked up into the developing wall cloud.

Watching a developing supercell south of Paoli, CO. At the time, we were the only ones on this storm thanks to Maj Nixon's prophetic forecasting.

Throughout our observation, the structure of the storm was very clear, as we could see the wall cloud and the mesocyclone. Right before the first tornado, the team noticed an increase in temperature of the wind blowing into the storm. After the temperature change, the storm gained intensity rapidly and even shifted directions. We saw at least 4 small, brief tornadoes emerge. Each tornado lasted only a couple minutes at most.

Cadets in front of a possible tornado south of Paoli, CO. Notice the dust under the rotating wall cloud.

Brief tornado touchdown. Swirling dust and dirt on the ground under the rotating wall cloud.

In front of a supercell shortly after we observed a multi-vortex tornado that was on the ground 1-2 minutes.

Viewing the supercell as it travels away from our location and towards Holyoke, CO.

Clear view of the rotating mesocyclone in a supercell near Holyoke, CO.

After observing the initial storm, there was another developing supercell outside of Wray, CO. Our view was largely blocked by precipitation during this storm, but there was a very clear Beaver's tail, which is a type of inflow band into the storm. We also saw a distinct mesocyclone form.