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.
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| Approaching storm just south of Spring Branch, TX. |
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| 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. |
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| 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. |
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| Mammatus clouds over New Braunfels, TX. Thank you to Rob and Amy for hosting the cadets! |
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| Lightning strike near Spring Branch. |
