5/30/09: Down Day in Grand Island, Nebraska

The highlight of my day today was playing basketball in Grand Island. Sean Waugh, Brian Baker, Matt Koerner, Brandon McClung, Daniel Betten and I played on a court on the north side of town. We were all pretty out of shape, so the game went pretty slowly. Unfortunately, I got injured: let me explain.

I was a little out of position to guard Sean, and he cut to the basket on the right side. He looked as if he were going to go up for a shot, so I jumped. Well, he pumped faked as I went up high. Then, as I was coming back down he went up as I landed on his back. The torque of the collision sent me spinning backwards. I fell probably four feet to the asphalt beneath. I hit my rear end, both my hands, and my right elbow. Fortunately, the cuts I received were relatively superficial, but it looks pretty nasty. I tell you, I need to stop getting hurt!

Pretty rainbow near Ainsworth, NE.

5/29/09: Weak-Sauce Supercell in North-central Nebraska

Today, we left Topeka in the late morning to – maybe – target central Nebraska for the possibility of supercells. The shear was good, but the instability and the moisture were marginal. I really thought that we wouldn’t chase at all, but I was wrong.

After arriving in Grand Island, Nebraska (where we would stay for the night), we learned we would be heading northwest towards a developing storm in northern Nebraska. The development was over 200 miles away. It was already 4:30 p.m. Well, to make a long story short, we “expedited” the process of getting there. In doing so, more than five vehicles in the armada were pulled over by an increasingly angry county sheriff. After pulling over driver number 5, he said “If I pull over one more car in your armada, I’m going to write every [expletive] car a ticket. And I’m going to call all the county sheriffs and this state and we’re going to shut you down!” Well, the information was disseminated quickly (thankfully), and no one sped after that.

The storm was "supercellular" for -- maybe – four volume scans. The base of the storm was halfway up the troposphere. We did a south to north transect from the inflow and through the core towards Ainsworth on HW 7, and that was that. We headed back around sunset.

5/28/09: Ferry From Norman to Topeka

Today was ferry day. We drove for about six hours. My switch to mobile mesonet number 4 took place. I’m enjoying the autonomy of the new position!

5/27/09: Down Day in Norman

Today was a down day in Norman. I hung out with my family and a few friends.

5/26/09: Anticyclonic Supercell in North Texas

Today, we started the day in Childress, Texas. It was my last day in the field coordinator vehicle, and so I was hoping to end with a bang. The day looked somewhat promising: a southern stream wave was forecasted to impinge upon a highly unstable airmass by peak heating. Additionally, a well-defined outflow boundary was becoming unstable on its cool side. I hoped that this would locally enhance the shear since environmental shear was fairly low.

We hung out in Gainesville for the better part of two hours. We socialized as we watched the weather. Most of the armada gathered at a single gas station, which I thought was a pretty bad idea (since it was difficult to exit the gas station in a timely manner). Nevertheless, we were all able to get on the road swiftly when operations began.

A supercell thunderstorm developed northwest of Fort Worth, and there was some debate among the principal investigators as to whether or not we should pursue the storm. The FCs were not exactly thrilled about the idea of chasing in an urban area. Personally, I thought the idea was ludicrous, considering my previous experiences in the greater Dallas metro area. Fortunately, good sense prevailed and the PIs left that storm alone.Later on, we targeted a left-moving storm – associated with the aforementioned supercell WNW of Ft. Worth – that was moving toward Decatur. The storm was an anticyclonic supercell: instead of spinning counter-clockwise, this storm spun in a clockwise manner. We approached the storm from the northeast, and at some point, we were able to obtain a visual on the base of the storm. Sure enough, there was a wall cloud on the north side of the storm! There was some rotation, but it was relatively slow. The low-level organization of the storm was poor, but the upper part of the storm was obviously rotating – and that, anticyclonically! It was quite a sight! Not a bad day...

Cool clouds associated with the anticyclonic supercell.

5/25/09: V2 Kills Supercells in Texas and Oklahoma

Today was another marginal chase day. During the morning briefing, we learned that we would be targeting the eastern Texas panhandle for the remote potential of supercells and even more remote possibility of a tornado. Personally, I felt that this day presented no real threat for even a supercell, since the previous day’s NAM suggested that no instability would form whatsoever. However, since I slept well last night, my mood today was slightly better than yesterday. Though I still thought the setup looked sub-marginal, I was slightly keener on chasing.

At any rate, we left Amarillo a bit after noon (after a brief stop at Wal-Mart and Best Buy). We arrived at our initial target of Clarendon, Texas a few minutes after 1 p.m. After eating a little ice cream at the local Dairy Queen, we ventured just outside of town to watch the clouds. After a little while, towering cumulus began to bubble to our southeast. The FC decided it was time to reposition. We targeted the town of Estelline, Texas.

Just north of Estelline, we watched several dust devils in nearby fields; a few of them were quite strong. At the same time, towering cumulus reached higher and higher into the sky. One of them in particular had a large base, and it began to produce light rain over us. This cell eventually took off, and it began to show the signs of becoming a supercell. For some reason, though, the cap began to “eat” the cell. The updraft became smaller in diameter, and the base began to take on a laminar appearance -- both signs of a weakening storm.We repositioned further east into (YAY!) Oklahoma. At Hollis, the FCs deliberated about whether or not to target another storm in Roger Mills County. The storm in question appeared to be tracking along an old outflow boundary. The main concerns were moving away from the original target area in the eastern Texas panhandle, and the potentially stable air east of the outflow boundary. For this reason, there was some disagreement among the principal investigators about which storm to target. Eventually, however, the PIs decided that we would target the Roger Mills storm. Personally, I was quite relieved, since I believed the target storm had better potential to produce a tornado (it seemed to be propagating on an outflow boundary). From a ways off, the storm looked quite impressive. New updraft towers fed the storm from the southwest. The presentation on the WSR-8D at Frederick continued to look better and better. At one point, I was actually beginning to think that the storm might produce a tornado – and that, before we got there! Well, when we arrived (near Rocky, Oklahoma), the storm definitely looked like a supercell: the updraft was striated, inflow bands came into the storm from the east, and a pronounced lowering was centered beneath it all. Just as we got in position, however, the same thing that happened to the previous target cell began to happen to the new cell. The base shrank as it became more laminar in appearance. Uh oh. And so it was, that at the very moment V2 seemed to have found a decent storm, it died on us. But never fear! A new storm started going crazy in the eastern Texas panhandle – our target area all along!

We began to race back to the northwest toward this new cell. I bet you can guess what happened next! Yup, you guessed right. We killed the storm – again. I guess V2 generates a lot of subsidence. *shrug*Near Sweetwater, Oklahoma, we spent some time taking pictures of a beautiful sunset. It was a fine consolation prize to an exciting but somewhat disappointing day.

Developing storm north of Childress, Texas.

Supercell near Sentinel, Oklahoma.

5/24/09: North Platte to Amarillo

Today was a travel day. For a couple of days, we anticipated moving south for better chase opportunities in the Southern Plains as the southern jet stream began to lift northward. We left North Platte about mid-morning and began the long trek to Amarillo.

I traded spots with Brian Baker, allowing him some much-needed rest after several long days of driving. The drive was quite scenic, as we saw many different kinds of wildflowers arrayed across the countryside. Additionally, we “cored” a weak thunderstorm south of Perryton; we stopped very briefly to take pictures. The gust front was actually quite dynamic, much to my surprise.

During the evening, Sean Waugh and I went to Chili’s for a bit of food. Afterwards, we went to the local theater and watched a late showing of “X-Men: Wolverine.” The movie was quite good, and it was nice respite from the reality of the “Death Ridge.”

Gust front south of Perryton, Texas.

5/23/09: "Co-Field Coordinating" Near North Platte

Since Erik Rasmussen was gone today, I was “promoted” to co-field coordinator. Basically, today was expected to be a travel day, but there was some mind being paid toward a possibility of brief tornadoes along I-80 between Ogallala and North Platte, Nebraska. David Dowell – the remaining field coordinator – informed me that my job would be “monitoring the weather.” In other words, “Please don’t touch anything!”

We left Hot Springs late morning and ate lunch in Alliance (where we had spent quite a bit of time a few days earlier). The Subway – our restaurant of choice – was quite busy, so we settled on Arby’s. I ate in the FC vehicle and monitored the weather as we continued southward. After a quick nap, I woke up in time to note a fairly impressive storm just south of North Platte. Not too long after, we got a report from the V2 Operations Center (VOC) letting us know that the storm produced a tornado not 15 miles from our hotel! Such has been the season.

Anyway, we targeted another storm near Grant, Nebraska. We conducted operations on that for about 2 hours. For a while, it looked like it might have potential to produce a tornado, but after a while, it just looked too cold. The cloud base became quite laminar in appearance and scud clouds raced out ahead of the storm – indicative of an outflow dominated storm (these don’t produce tornadoes). We gave up on the storm around 7 p.m. and headed to our hotel in North Platte.

Weak thunderstorm east of Grant, Nebraska.

5/22/09: Sub-marginal Supercell in South Dakota

Today, there was another sub-marginal prospect for severe weather. But -- as has become the rule of late -- we chased it. Really, I wouldn’t chase this stuff if it were close to my house. But, chasing is our job, and so that’s what we did.

The target was eastern Wyoming into southwestern South Dakota. We hung out at the hotel in Hot Springs for several hours. Finally, we decided to go west out of Hot Springs toward Edgemont, South Dakota. About thirty miles north of our location, a supercell had formed. The storm was in the Black Hills forest, so there really wasn’t a path to intercept. We decided to set up east of the Black Hills and hope the storm would hold together toward Highway 79 east of Hot Springs. Unfortunately, the storm got “eaten” by the cap. After hanging out with the mobile mesonets on a dirt road east of 79, the field coordinators decided we would head back to the hotel and monitor the weather from there.When we arrived, several of the guys got together to play football in the parking lot while we waited. After a while, we heard through the grapevine that the FCs had called “end of mission.” Brian Baker (FC driver) informed me that he would be driving to Rapid City, South Dakota to drop Erik Rasmussen off at his hotel (Erik would be flying out in the morning). Brian asked me to join him to keep him company on the way back. I agreed.

When we arrived in Rapid City, we decided to grab a bite to eat. We found a little Italian restaurant on Microsoft Streets and Trips that looked interesting (“Botticelli’s Italian Restaurant”). We parked the mobile mesonet downtown and, as usual, immediately attracted the attention of the locals. I’ve gotten a bit tired of answering their questions, but fortunately, Erik was up to the task. A group of (relatively) young and somewhat inebriated ladies asked us if we chased tornadoes. Upon hearing the answer in the affirmative from Erik, she responded “Then why are you in Rapid City? There aren’t any tornadoes around here!” I laughed as I noted her considerable observational and reasoning abilities.

After we ate, we left to drop Erik off at his hotel. Erik had forgotten which hotel, and we needed to get on the internet. The keyboard of the computer in the mobile mesonet didn’t work at first. After rearranging the batteries (it’s a wireless keyboard), I was able to get it working. However, when we tried to use the data card to access the net, we realized that the net was so slow that by the time we got Erik’s hotel info, his plane flight would be in the air. By some miracle, Erik was able to connect to a hi-speed WiFi hotspot at a convenience spot. Finally, we were able to find Erik’s hotel, and we dropped him off. We arrived back in Hot Springs about an hour later and went to bed not long after.

Weak supercell in the Black Hills Forest, South Dakota.

Sean Waugh was interviewed by the Weather Channel.

5/21/09: Mount Rushmore

Today, we left Alliance, Nebraska to go to Hot Springs, South Dakota to position for Day 2 possibilities. As has become the usual, we stopped at a local Subway and grabbed lunch. We arrived at Hot Springs around 2 p.m. (MDT), and so it was a little early for the 3 p.m. check-in time. However, the nice clerk let us check in early. Since we were in quite a scenic area (the Badlands/Black Hills), we all decided that we would take an afternoon trip. Some went hiking, some went fishing, and some went to Mount Rushmore. Since I hadn’t seen Rushmore in almost two decades, I decided that I would go there.

I was the navigator for this particular trip. For directions, I used a map that I had found at the hotel in Hot Springs, and it wasn’t a very good one. As a result, I managed to find the most inefficient method of getting to Rushmore. We saw a sign: “Mount Rushmore – 31 Miles.” Fifteen minutes later, we saw another sign: “Mount Rushmore – 33 Miles.” What in the world?! How we got so off track, I’ll never know. Anyway, we found a curvy, po-dunk path called “Iron Mountain Road.” Since we’d taken a mobile mesonet, we were very concerned about low clearance (the instruments on top of the van reached ~12 feet). We encountered several one lane bridges carved out of rock, but we were able to get under with little trouble. On our way out of the last one, we finally caught a glimpse of Mount Rushmore.

We stopped a ways off from Rushmore to get a bit of the context surrounding it. After that, we drove to the main location. When we arrived, we noted that several V2 teams were already there including the NO-XP and UMass groups. We walked through the corridor with all the flags and then stopped to take pictures in front of Rushmore. There was a little walking path nearby, so we walked along that for about 40 minutes. To be honest, I was quite ready to leave after only 15 minutes or so. I suppose that’s because the Presidents don’t really change expression. In any case, it was pretty fun, and I can check that box off (I didn’t remember much of the trip as a child).

5/20/09: Supercell in Northwest Nebraska

Different day, same story. We were slightly more optimistic about the possibility of storms today over western Nebraska into eastern Wyoming. Generally, though, it looked sub-marginal. I certainly wouldn’t chase this junk, even if it were close to Norman. But, this year is as lean as it gets, so we chased.

Initially, we targeted Alliance, Nebraska. Upon arrival there, we had lunch at McDonald’s (my stomach hates me!), and then went northwest to our new target, Hemingford, Nebraska. There was a big party in town as the armada arrived. The FC vehicle didn’t get to join in the festivities, unfortunately. We stayed about a mile west of town and watched the cumulus bubble upwards. Eventually, two storms formed: one was located in Converse County, Wyoming, the other in Banner County, Nebraska. Eventually, we rolled the dice on the Nebraska storm and headed south from Hemingford. When we come to a location several miles east of Alliance, I spotted a blocky wall cloud to my southwest. That quickly dissipated, and the storm never regained its previous look. We went as far as Hyannis, and then we turned back to Alliance.

Along the way, another storm took shape northwest of Alliance – right where we’d been earlier in the day. And wouldn’t you know it? It actually became a supercell! Now, the supercell was a bit weak sauce, but hey, when things are this bad, you take what you can get.

Cumulus clouds bubble upwards west of Hemingford, Nebraska.

Supercell thunderstorm north of Alliance, Nebraska.

5/19/09: Dry Microburst Chasing

Today, I skipped out on the daily weather briefing. I’ve had a pretty long bout with a stomach virus that I got in Hays, so I didn’t really feel up to going. After a bit of lounging in my hotel room, I went down to the lobby. I found out that – even though conditions for severe storms were sub-marginal – we were going to go “dry microburst chasing.” I have to confess, it’s not my cup of tea. As I previously mentioned, I wasn’t really feeling up to it either.

We targeted Sidney, NE. Upon arriving in Sidney, Brian Baker (FC driver) and I went Dairy Queen for a Blizzard. It was probably a bad idea, considering the state of my stomach. Fortunately, I suffered no ill-effects from the ice cream. And it was good.After this, we intercepted some weak multi-cell junk southwest of Sidney. There were a few microbursts, but nothing spectacular (as would be evidenced by flying dust). At any rate, I actually slept for a little while during the mission. David Dowell asked me if I was “having fun yet?” Whoops! I roused and decided to try to make lemonade out of the lemons the atmosphere was tossing us. The mission ended fairly quickly, and we headed back to Ogallala for the evening.

5/18/09: Hays to Ogallala

Today was a ferry/down day for the group. Left Hays around noon to go to Ogallala, NE. Along the way, Erik, David, Doug and I went on a nature walk on a trail on the south side of Alma, Nebraska. It actually turned out to be quite a lovely day. The meadows were lush and green, and we heard the beautiful chirping of several different species of bird.

We arrived in Ogallala about at about 6:30 p.m. (MDT). We grabbed a bite to eat at the restaurant/saloon next door and then hung out the swimming pool for a while. Not bad for being under a ridge!

A dog driving a semi-truck in Hays, Kansas.
Big bird above a nature trail in Alma, Nebraska. A beautiful meadow near Alma, Nebraska.

5/17/09: Down Day in Hays

On Sunday, there was no threat for severe weather anywhere on the Plains. As such, we were allowed a down day to do whatever our hearts desired. I was thinking about visiting some museums and such, but really, I only had time to catch up on email and phone calls before our 7 p.m. special VORTEX discussion. I did have some time to get a run in, which was quite nice.

The VORTEX discussion was pretty neat, actually. All the groups that were there discussed what they did right and what they'll do differently. I suppose it's good to make the most of our time, while we're waiting for big storms.

5/16/09: Down Day in Quivira National Wildlife Refuge

Today, we departed Enid to go to Hays, Kansas. The convective future is uncertain, so Hays is a fairly central location on the Plains from which upcoming operations can be based. Originally, I wanted to try to come back to Norman, but that didn't set well with the FCs, so I decided to "opt out" of my attempted "opt out." It turned out to be a good choice.

Erik Rasmussen, David Dowell, Doug Kennedy and I spent the afternoon with the birds in Quivira National Wildlife Refuge. Quivira isn't that spectacular, I'm not going to lie, but we had good conversation (and a good 5 mile walk!). The only really bad thing was the mosquitoes -- they were horrible! Other than that, I think the highlight of the day for me was seeing a Great Blue Heron. I hadn't seen one of those since I went rafting with my grandfather on the Salmon river.

On the way to Hays, we enjoyed breathtaking views of the hills of central Kansas. It's so green! :)

David Dowell, Dough Kennedy, and Erik Rasmussen at Quivira.

This bird eluded my camera for some time before I shot him.

5/15/09: Squall Line in Northwest Oklahoma

Today, we had a reasonable hope of supercells. But, like every chase day of late, we were concerned with the anemic flow in the mid-troposphere. Low-level shear was fairly modest, but we hoped big CAPE would overcome the distinct lack of vertical shear. Further, we were concerned about storm mode (i.e., a squall line forming), since most of the numerical models indicated that a line of storms would form quickly and eliminate any chance for supercells.

Unfortunately, the numerical models were very accurate. Our original target was Enid, Oklahoma, with an eye toward the eastern Texas panhandle (where a very potent supercell thunderstorm eventually formed). We ended up sticking with the NW/NC Oklahoma target. We set up shop in Cherokee, Oklahoma; we stayed there for 2 hours as the squall line slowly approached. The squall line was actually pretty neat-looking, though relatively weak. Then we sat in rain for about 1 hour before we gave up for the day and headed to Enid for the night. In Enid, we ate bad Chinese food: a fitting end to a mediocre chase day.

Mammatus clouds near Cherokee, Oklahoma.

Approaching squall line, north of Cherokee, Oklahoma.
Embedded supercell structure north of Cherokee, Oklahoma.

5/14/09: Down Day in Wichita

Today, I managed to get a ride to Norman from Yukon (where we stayed the previous night). The mobile mesonets needed "some fixin'," so I was able to visit my folks for a while.

We shot north to Wichita later that evening in order to be in position for Day 2.

5/13/09: Supercells in Western Oklahoma

On Wednesday, we started in Childress, Texas. The initial target was Clinton, Oklahoma. We didn’t have high hopes for tornadoes, but the probability of a few good supercells seemed pretty good. The trip to Clinton was fairly uneventful, except for a small detour after we missed turn west of Childress. Upon arriving in Clinton, we ate at the local Subway. The skies were blue and cloudless, and really, there wasn’t much evidence of moisture at all. Nevertheless, dewpoints were maintained in the mid-upper 60s.
Around 2 p.m., the field coordinators sent the word that we would be repositioning toward Watonga, OK. The FC vehicle hadn’t filled up on gasoline, so we searched around Clinton for a place to fill up on diesel fuel. After what seemed like a very long time, we were on our way to the target. I think the armada was halfway to Watonga by the time we got out of Clinton. As it turned out, it really didn’t matter, since the next target was a bit further to the west, so we all met in the middle (at Canton, Oklahoma).

Just west of Canton, Jeff Snyder, Jana Houser, and others shot the breeze while waiting for storms to develop. At first, development was very slow, and had all the earmarks of a squall line in the making. For this reason, I wasn’t too optimistic. In fact, I had every hope of making it to Norman in the evening. Alas! The atmosphere had different plans. With each failed attempt at convective initiation (thunderstorm development), the new attempt would exceed the previous attempts ever so slightly. I suppose it kind of reminded of a battle scene: the men on the front line would sacrifice their lives and bodies to make headway for the troops behind. These “sacrificial” attempts at initiation would go up in a seemingly identical way: at first, they would “cauliflower” as a group of towers, then they would get “choked” by the capping layer, then they would become horizontal with a laminar appearance. Methinks that these successive attempts would each cool the capping layer by just a little bit, until any remaining convective inhibition was removed.
After the cap broke, several different updrafts formed. The storm evolution was very slow – in spite of the extreme instability – probably, because the deep-layer shear was just too weak. At any rate, we drifted east to Okeene, and then dropped just south of town to observe the storm. After about a half hour and a few “repositionings” south and east, the storm began to show some slight signs of rotation at cloud base. After not too long, the storm became a full-fledged supercell. Unfortunately, new cells grew to the southwest of the updraft along the front, which then precipitated into the supercell’s updraft and weakened it. However, a new circulation began to develop to our southwest as convective development occurred further down the cold front.

This new mesocyclone was quite intense at the mid-levels, and one of our FCs (Erik Rasmussen) was quite certain that it would “tornado.” The frustrating part of the deal was that I couldn’t see what was going on behind me during this period (we were driving south at the time). Finally, we stopped just north of 40 on the 281 spur NE of Bridgeport, OK. The structure was really fantastic, and for a while there, I thought it might actually produce. The RFD began to move around the circulation, but it was quite rain-filled. I think this may have reduced the buoyancy somewhat. At any rate, darkness was settling on us, so the FCs called it day. The same storm complex we saw produced a tornado in Anadarko, Oklahoma. An earlier storm in NC Oklahoma produced a tornado near Tonkawa. It was somewhat disappointing – but then again, that has been the theme of 2009.

The field coordinator vehicle just south of Okeene.
New convection developed to the southwest.
Ominous -- but benign -- wall cloud near Bridgeport, Oklahoma.
The structure was amazing.

5/12/09: Texas Panhandle MCS

Today was the first true “field day” for Project VORTEX. The cold front I wrote about in previous posts began to lift to the north as a warm front during the morning hours. The forecast was quite complex: do you target the intersection of the warm front and the dryline, the free warm sector, or even upslope storms in Colorado and Kansas? Since forecasting storms is beyond the scope of my responsibilities, I decided not to care. Lol. Actually, it’s kind of funny for me because – for the first time in my chase career – I really don’t have to care! Don’t get me wrong: I love the weather. But today, I just decided not to sweat what would have otherwise created some slight bit of anxiety for me.

This afternoon, we “ferried” to Amarillo. On the way, heavy fog kept us going at a slow place. It was actually kind of scary there for a bit because we really couldn’t see the exits off the interstate (we took I-40 west from Clinton). In any event, we eventually got out of the murk just west of Groom, Texas (where the tall cross south of the interstate is stationed). We arrived in Amarillo and had a quick lunch at the local Wendy’s. After, we made a quick jaunt down to our target town, Tulia.

Upon arriving in Tulia, we waited for a while ('e ol' "hurry up and wait") and hoped that convection would form. To our southwest, we saw some hints of lift approaching the area: a band of relatively thick cirrostratus began to initiate showers in the dry air to our southwest. We reasoned that this was a pretty good sign, since the surface observations where these showers were occurring was characaterized by temps in the 90s and dewpoints in the mid-upper 30s! So, it seemed likely that condensation was occurring fairly high in the atmosphere (where temps were in the mid-upper 30s). After what seemed like an eternity, weak convection actually did develop, albeit slowly. The FC decided to target Silverton, Texas (to the east of Tulia) to put us in a central location, since convection was forming southwest and southeast of us (the latter along a warm front).

We lingered in Tulia for quite a while waiting for storms to show signs of rotation, but the deep-layer shear was apparently too weak to promote a quick transition from multicell to supercell. The FCs sent the teams northward toward a cell that showed some promise, but asked that the teams not go too far because of the potential for development in a cluster of cells to our southeast. Well, it seemed as though they did go too far: we were out of radio range. The FCs had a slight "panic" moment: they thought things were going to go bonkers to our east while all the teams scanned the piddly storm to our north. We (the FCs and I) were still in centrally-located Silverton, so we raised the mast for better communication (the mast is about 20 feet tall). About 5 minutes later, a strong gust of wind almost toppled the FC vehicle (which, by the way, is a converted ambulance). Fortunately, the FC vehicle did not turn over and the other teams began to make their way south. The FCs then targeted Turkey, Texas for the new storm, and everyone made their way eastward.


It was clear from the look of the storms that there simply wasn't enough moisture for tornadoes. The cloud bases were extremely high -- they seemed to go halfway up the troposphere. Not good for tornadoes. Nevertheless, they produced an excessive amount inter-cloud lightning, which was nice. We saw a mid-level funnel near Quitaque, which was pretty cool. Since it was getting dark, the FC called off the chase and we stayed the night in Childress.

Upon arriving in Childress, Sean Waugh, Brian Baker and I went east of town to shoot lightning. The lightning was really spectacular: a large number of cloud-to-ground strokes, inter-cloud flashes, and anvil crawlers kept us entertained for about an hour. They got some great shots, but I didn't have a tripod, so none of mine turned out. Still fun, though!

The armada waits for convection in Tulia, Texas.
David Dowell monitors convective trends.
Our high-based storm with a mid-level funnel.

5/11/09: Clinton, OK

Today was another down day. The aforementioned front was still stalled over central Texas, keeping the high octane juice just out of reach. So, the field coordinators decided that it was most reasonable to simply set up shop for “Day 2” potential (i.e., tomorrow). In any case, V2 participants were instructed to travel to Clinton, Oklahoma at their leisure. I was hoping we would stay in Norman a bit longer, but I suppose we had to establish a little forward momentum.
After the usual morning briefing, I talked with one of the FCs (David Dowell) about when we were planning on heading out to Clinton. He said he didn’t know and asked about my preference for departure time. “I wouldn’t mind staying around Norman for a bit,” I replied.

After this, I “chatted it up” with some other V2 members before deciding to go to lunch at Santa Fe with Dan Dawson, Robin Tanamachi and Harald Richter. Right before we left, Harald ran into Steve Hodanish, so he decided to skip out on lunch to catch up with Steve. While at Santa Fe, I got a call from Brian Baker (the driver of the FC vehicle): he said that the FC vehicle would be departing for Clinton straight-away. Having just received a frosty Dr. Pepper from the waitress, I was in a bit of a pickle. I called Brian to see if Erik and David wished to join us for lunch. Erik was cordial, but indicated that they would be doing more testing on the road. I grabbed a quick bowl of soup and then headed promptly to Wal-Mart: thank goodness I drove my car to the Holiday Inn! (Otherwise, I might have been left behind.)

We arrived in Clinton, Oklahoma during the early afternoon. By this time, about half of the armada had already arrived. A media “feeding frenzy” began as reporters from CNN, the Weather Channel, and even the local paper descended upon the scientists. Craig Schwartz and I posed for a storm chasing “action shot” in front of one of the mobile mesonets. Craig stepped up on floorboard of the driver’s side of the vehicle while I stepped out on the passenger side with the ham radio mike in my hand; we both stared at some invisible tornado in the distance! :-P

This evening, we attempted to eat at “Pop Hicks Cafe” in downtown Clinton, just off historic Route 66. Unfortunately, we didn’t find the place: apparently, it burned down 10 years ago! We ended up eating at a quaint, little Mexican restaurant called “Pedro’s”. Tonight, we finished off the evening playing several rounds of as many poker variants as there were rounds. I met most of the North Carolina State group during this period: they are a pretty fun bunch.

Tomorrow, we may have some storms somewhere in the Southern Plains. The biggest problem will be the capping inversion, which is itself a product of the meager moisture return across the Plains. That last cold front really did a number on the moisture quality. A week of NW flow aloft isn’t going to help matters, since it will likely drive more cold fronts to the Gulf and take with it any hope of good storms. Time to start praying

The three-ring circus in Clinton, Oklahoma.

Owen Shieh interviews with CNN.

Mike Bettis of the Weather Channel sets up for a live broadcast.
The Mobile Mesonet crew at Pedro's.

5/10/09: Norman, OK

Sunday was a “down day” for the project. A surface front pushed southward toward central Texas, leaving most of the Plains relatively stable. Crews were instructed to test their equipment in anticipation of better chase days to come.

As for me, I hung around the NWC for a little while to see if anyone needed any help. Well, as it turned out, one of the field coordinators (FC Erik Rasmussen) wanted coffee. Wanting to be of service, I volunteered to go to 7-Eleven. The FC gave me a puzzled look, as if to say, “Who in the world are you?” It was a fine opportunity to introduce myself: “Hello, I’m Gabe Garfield; I’m your navigator.” He immediately smiled and gave me two bucks to go get him some coffee. I figure it’s a good thing to start off on the right foot with someone you’ll be working with for a while. :-P

At any rate, after getting the coffee, I hung out in the vehicle bay with some friends from other crews. During that time, Mike Bettes – of Weather Channel fame – decided it was a grand opportunity for an interview. Being a bit tired and inarticulate, I opted to let my friends Mike and Chris take the questions. Besides, I think I’ve spent enough time answering the questions of the media. ;) In any case, I got a text last night from a friend informing me that they saw me on the Weather Channel. So much for avoiding the interview!

Erik Rasmussen gives the daily weather briefing in NWC 5600.

Sean Waugh surprises Chris Schwarz in the mobile mesonet (Mike Buban looking on).

5/9/09: Norman, OK

Today, V2 participants gathered in NWC 1313 for the "All-Hands Meeting" and discussed the particulars of the mission. Specifically, the principal investigators (PIs) wished to convey the importance of proper chase etiquette, the logistics of our hotel situation, and how we can obtain important V2 information online. The meeting was generally informative and surprisingly brief: I think the meeting lasted one hour.

On a personal note, it was great to see the folks from CSWR and the TIV crew today. I had the great pleasure of seeing Herb Stein, Justin Walker, Sean Casey, Ronan Nagle, Byron Turk, Brian Gainey, and Kyle Wheeler. It'll be great to catch up with them in the near future. Also, I think one of the most exciting aspects of this project is getting to meet all sorts of people. I am really looking forward to making new friends on this trip. Oh yeah, and hopefully catching some good storms, too!

The principal investigators gave us the "low-down" of the project.

NWC 1313 during the "All-Hands" Meeting

5/8/09: Norman, OK

First of all, welcome to Gabe Garfield's blogging spot for VORTEX-2. I will try to keep this as updated as possible, including images from our adventures. I will probably keep some information to myself, in order to protect the guilty (;-)).

On Friday, the mobile mesonet group met at the National Weather Center to get an overview of how the mobile mesonet works. We learned that there are three different temperature sensors on the mobile mesonet. Apparently, the multiplicity helps to determine the accuracy of the various thermistor models during different situations -- e.g., in the rain and hail vs. the inflow of a supercell. We also learned about the computer stuff that is installed below the floorboard: a computer, two high-speed internet cards, and a cell phone amplifier.

In the mobile mesonet, there is a ham radio, switches for both power and hazard lights, and a really slick set-up for data collection and navigation information. In particular, a new program called "SASSI" is capable of showing the position of all vehicles in V2, the mobile mesonet data in real-time, 88-D data, and -- possibly -- data from the 5 or 6 mobile radars in REAL TIME. Can you say "AWESOME"?!

Mobile mesonet crew members during operation orientation.