Entry posted by HeadcornWx
1,131 views
One word sums up todays chase. Amazing!
We left Scotts bluff and temps/dew points were just about right to make the whole place feel juicy and ideal for development of severe storms later that day.
As we headed west towards the Rockies we could see huge convection on top of the mountains. Things were looking good and soon these storms became severe warned.
[sharedmedia=gallery:images:18429]
Driving down toward the mountains to intercept, we passed the town of Wheatland and after about 5 miles could see the hook echo on radar and rotation markers. We waited and were joined by Matt Phelps from Extreme Chase Tours. Just down the road a funnel formed and for a few seconds the first tornado of the day was on the ground.
[sharedmedia=gallery:images:18430]
I don't think I've ever seen so many funnels in one day. A few minutes later one dropped nearby and golfball hail was falling everywhere with a few locals running for cover.
[sharedmedia=gallery:images:18432]
[sharedmedia=gallery:images:18431]
We drove further south east and followed a new storm developing on the tail end of the system. This was starting to drop funnels.
[sharedmedia=gallery:images:18433]
[sharedmedia=gallery:images:18434]
Soon the whole mesocyclone lowered and was rotating like a huge mothership just above the ground. As it left the high ground and moved out over the warm juicy plains this could only lead to intensification of an already monstrous system.
[sharedmedia=gallery:images:18437]
Driving further east we matched its speed driving alongside it, and could see rotation disturbance on the ground indicating a second tornado as shown in this [[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_03kwchkvj4"]YouTube Video[/url]] and the photos below.
[sharedmedia=gallery:images:18435]
[sharedmedia=gallery:images:18436]
Further down the road another candidate touchdown, possibly outflow this time. Everything was happening so quickly. Amazing lightning from this system too as shown in this [[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xve0F-7P0fM"]YouTube Video[/url]].
[sharedmedia=gallery:images:18438]
Our final catch of the day happened after we crossed into Nebraska. Just beyond the town of Dix we saw radar indicated rotation. We pulled off the road and whilst looking at an area of rotation the sheriff next to us called in a tornado. To our right was this beauty [[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2cfwYxTOVs"]YouTube Video[/url]] which initially we thought to be a landspout but experts have said this too is probably a tornado off the mesocyclone. I was pleased to be asked for a copy of this photo for the Denver TV news that evening.
[sharedmedia=gallery:images:18439]
What a fantastic end to the day and to the tour. Steaks well deserved for dinner tonight!
[sharedmedia=gallery:images:18440]
As always a full set of photos on todays [url="https://www.dropbox.com/sh/9qb5ckmqu727jap/sUqeN87Z72/Day%2010%20-%20June%2022nd"]Headcorn Weather Dropbox Gallery[/url].
I took 500 photos today and a huge amount of full HD video which will need editing. This will be published in due course and uploaded here so keep a watchful eye out. Some beautiful pictures to come once I get chance to fully review all of them.
Tomorrow we head back to Denver and the flight home. It could be another interesting day with a chance of tornadoes on our route back so even the chance of a bonus Day 11 chase!
Tour 5 this year has been great. We've seen some great places, met some great people and got to see the heartland of America.
This is now my second year chasing with Netweather. Pauls knowledge is outstanding and he's done a great job getting us on the best storms of the day almost every day.
From great structure to large funnels, funnels dropping by the roadside, huge hail, great
lightning shows and finally 3 stunning tornadoes we saw it all against the stunning backdrop of the sparsely populated Northern Plains.
To witness the immense power of nature up close is truly amazing but one must always treat it with
the greatest respect. 2013 has been a year that will remain in everyones memory for a very long time to come following the devastation and loss of life in Oklahoma.
This will hopefully make the scientific community even more determined to observe, report and analyse data to ultimately make predicting where and when the worst of these massive storms will strike more reliable.
I've thoroughly enjoyed being part of the tour and intend to return in 2014, hopefully to the Northern Plains again.
A very big thankyou to Paul, Dave, Ian and Netweather for making this such a great holiday.
As always, if you've been following the blogs and want to know more about stormchasing with Netweather please visit their dedicated holidays website [url="http://www.weatherholidays.com"]Weather Holidays[/url].
Thankyou for following. As mentioned above, I'll be uploading a few more photos and edits over the weeks to come onto the [url="https://www.dropbox.com/sh/9qb5ckmqu727jap/pu1luZ7OFJ"]Headcorn Weather Dropbox Photo Gallery[/url]. Please visit there to keep upto date.
[i]One final word. Whilst chasing this year I learnt about the Storm Assist organization which has been setup by storm chasers to provide support to those directly affected by damaging weather events in the US. If you're able to support with a donation please visit [url="http://stormassist.org/"]STORM ASSIST[/url] where you can read of their work and make a direct payment via PayPal or Credit Card. Thank you.[/i]
Until Next Time...
We left Scotts bluff and temps/dew points were just about right to make the whole place feel juicy and ideal for development of severe storms later that day.
As we headed west towards the Rockies we could see huge convection on top of the mountains. Things were looking good and soon these storms became severe warned.
[sharedmedia=gallery:images:18429]
Driving down toward the mountains to intercept, we passed the town of Wheatland and after about 5 miles could see the hook echo on radar and rotation markers. We waited and were joined by Matt Phelps from Extreme Chase Tours. Just down the road a funnel formed and for a few seconds the first tornado of the day was on the ground.
[sharedmedia=gallery:images:18430]
I don't think I've ever seen so many funnels in one day. A few minutes later one dropped nearby and golfball hail was falling everywhere with a few locals running for cover.
[sharedmedia=gallery:images:18432]
[sharedmedia=gallery:images:18431]
We drove further south east and followed a new storm developing on the tail end of the system. This was starting to drop funnels.
[sharedmedia=gallery:images:18433]
[sharedmedia=gallery:images:18434]
Soon the whole mesocyclone lowered and was rotating like a huge mothership just above the ground. As it left the high ground and moved out over the warm juicy plains this could only lead to intensification of an already monstrous system.
[sharedmedia=gallery:images:18437]
Driving further east we matched its speed driving alongside it, and could see rotation disturbance on the ground indicating a second tornado as shown in this [[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_03kwchkvj4"]YouTube Video[/url]] and the photos below.
[sharedmedia=gallery:images:18435]
[sharedmedia=gallery:images:18436]
Further down the road another candidate touchdown, possibly outflow this time. Everything was happening so quickly. Amazing lightning from this system too as shown in this [[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xve0F-7P0fM"]YouTube Video[/url]].
[sharedmedia=gallery:images:18438]
Our final catch of the day happened after we crossed into Nebraska. Just beyond the town of Dix we saw radar indicated rotation. We pulled off the road and whilst looking at an area of rotation the sheriff next to us called in a tornado. To our right was this beauty [[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2cfwYxTOVs"]YouTube Video[/url]] which initially we thought to be a landspout but experts have said this too is probably a tornado off the mesocyclone. I was pleased to be asked for a copy of this photo for the Denver TV news that evening.
[sharedmedia=gallery:images:18439]
What a fantastic end to the day and to the tour. Steaks well deserved for dinner tonight!
[sharedmedia=gallery:images:18440]
As always a full set of photos on todays [url="https://www.dropbox.com/sh/9qb5ckmqu727jap/sUqeN87Z72/Day%2010%20-%20June%2022nd"]Headcorn Weather Dropbox Gallery[/url].
I took 500 photos today and a huge amount of full HD video which will need editing. This will be published in due course and uploaded here so keep a watchful eye out. Some beautiful pictures to come once I get chance to fully review all of them.
Tomorrow we head back to Denver and the flight home. It could be another interesting day with a chance of tornadoes on our route back so even the chance of a bonus Day 11 chase!
Tour 5 this year has been great. We've seen some great places, met some great people and got to see the heartland of America.
This is now my second year chasing with Netweather. Pauls knowledge is outstanding and he's done a great job getting us on the best storms of the day almost every day.
From great structure to large funnels, funnels dropping by the roadside, huge hail, great
lightning shows and finally 3 stunning tornadoes we saw it all against the stunning backdrop of the sparsely populated Northern Plains.
To witness the immense power of nature up close is truly amazing but one must always treat it with
the greatest respect. 2013 has been a year that will remain in everyones memory for a very long time to come following the devastation and loss of life in Oklahoma.
This will hopefully make the scientific community even more determined to observe, report and analyse data to ultimately make predicting where and when the worst of these massive storms will strike more reliable.
I've thoroughly enjoyed being part of the tour and intend to return in 2014, hopefully to the Northern Plains again.
A very big thankyou to Paul, Dave, Ian and Netweather for making this such a great holiday.
As always, if you've been following the blogs and want to know more about stormchasing with Netweather please visit their dedicated holidays website [url="http://www.weatherholidays.com"]Weather Holidays[/url].
Thankyou for following. As mentioned above, I'll be uploading a few more photos and edits over the weeks to come onto the [url="https://www.dropbox.com/sh/9qb5ckmqu727jap/pu1luZ7OFJ"]Headcorn Weather Dropbox Photo Gallery[/url]. Please visit there to keep upto date.
[i]One final word. Whilst chasing this year I learnt about the Storm Assist organization which has been setup by storm chasers to provide support to those directly affected by damaging weather events in the US. If you're able to support with a donation please visit [url="http://stormassist.org/"]STORM ASSIST[/url] where you can read of their work and make a direct payment via PayPal or Credit Card. Thank you.[/i]
Until Next Time...
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