Day 2 of storm chasing 2022 was very much dominated by 1 thing, hail!

We started the day in Childress TX so had an easy set up drive heading South towards Lamesa, TX. Conditions were less optimal than Tuesday’s chase but still promising with the potential for Tornados.

After heading South our target storm was given a severe warning by the national weather service, primarily due to its potential to produce large damaging hail.

Just a short trek further down the road the storm continued to take shape and put on a show with frequent lightning strikes and some impressive Mamatus.

As the storm continued to develop it started to turn South and East which meant we had to get South quickly to avoid the hail core. Unfortunately a limited number of road options meant we had to choose between a long detour back where we had driven from or a treacherous drive into the core of the storm. We decided to risk a core punch to try and reposition South.

Unfortunately our progress through the storm was hampered by a lot of traffic, we were in the heart of oil country and our storm coincided with the end of day commute for the areas oil workers.

Heavy winds, severe hail meant it was slow going and the storm continued to shift South and East along the road we were on.

Although initially frustrated at the slow progress and difficult conditions we were ultimately rewarded with views of the heaviest accumulations of hail i have seen, comfortably 2-3 inches over a wide area. West Texas was briefly transformed into an icy wonderland.

The huge deposits of hail were a sign the updraft on our storm was weakening and it began to get sucked into a line of cells moving West from NM into TX. The potential for isolated super cells was over for the day. Odessa, TX was our stop for the night and we arrived in town early enough for a proper meal!