Wednesday’s storm chase was absolutely text book, Dan set the target for Lamar CO. We left Amarillo for Lamar stopping 10 miles South and watched the storm for around 3 hours from the same location! Perfection 👌
Tornado warnings ✔️
Lightning ✔️
Wall clouds ✔️
Happy ✔️ ✅️ ✔️
With more storms to chase on Thursday I haven’t had a chance to annotate the following photos that are roughly in the order they were taken. As I wrote this I was under another severe warned storm back in Texas!
Unlike most days out chasing storms we started Tuesday with stormy weather as a Mesoscale Convection System (MCS) moved over us during breakfast. We were enveloped by heavy rain and surrounded by lightning strikes. As this system moved through Dallas it produced damaging hurricane force winds that caused significant property damage and power outages, a sobering reminder that what we are here to witness while awe inspiring has a very real impact on those who live here.
After breakfast we headed to our target area for the day in West Texas. As we drove through the MCS lightning continued to strike around us.
After a straightforward set up drive the first super cell of the day popped up and the chase was on.
Our first storm of the day was severe warned, but kept changing in intensity, with the base forming and reforming multiple times.
As this storm started to weaken we selected a new target slightly North West of our current location that was moving into good air and had just received a severe warning.
There was a risk of tornados in the region we were in, but hail was the biggest threat from most of these storms with hail up to 5 inches being indicated.
The Time-lapse above shows the strong updraft and winds wrapping around the storm.
After repositioning a few times on this storm it started to go into outflow dominant after dropping it’s hail and rain, so it was time to select our 3rd target for the day.
Wanting to avoid damaging hail meant we had to relocate often on our 3rd storm. We played a game of cat and mouse, getting close to the storm and then retreating as we entered the edge of the precipitation.
We had one of our narrowest escapes getting away from 3 inch+ hail by a matter of seconds as the storm continued to move East.
After getting the most we could from this storm it was time to head to Amarillo for the night where we would have another display of nature at its most awesome.
As we got close to Amarillo our stop for the day we had the most incredible lightning show. We extended our storm chase into the evening and in return got to experience an incredible lightning display with huge bolts striking around.
A fine end to a brilliant and long, storm chase.
We started Monday in Tulsa Oklahoma, with the main objective for the day being to relocate to the West for storms on Tuesday. As it turned out there was some potential for activity around Dallas so we were off for our 3rd chase of the trip.
First stop was Paris Texas, the second best Paris I have visited.
After lunch, we headed to a nearby nature preserve to wait for the storms to pop up on radar. One of the things I enjoy about this hobby is the way it takes you to places you’d never have a reason to visit otherwise. The nature preserve was a lovely little oasis.
One of the things I enjoy most when on these trips is the excuse to travel to places you’d otherwise never have a reason to visit. After a leisurely hour in nature, the anvil from a storm developing over Dallas moved overhead and we were on our way.
This part of Texas makes for very challenging chase territory with lots of trees and few places to get a view of the interesting part of the storm.
With limited options for a view and not wanting to get into the precipitation we spent a large part of the day skirting around both towns and the storm.
With sunset that was the end of day 3, we didn’t expect much from Monday’s storms, so everything we got was a bonus, even if the territory was little frustrating!
After a successful first day out on Saturday we were heading into unchartered territory on Sunday!
The greatest risk of tornados looked to be in and around the Missouri/Illinois border. For us, this would have left us too far out of position for our target areas on Monday and Tuesday, combined with difficult territory for chasing, so we opted for a target along the Missouri, Arkansas Border. Still difficult terrain for chasing, but a more reasonable gamble.
The biggest challenge with a storm chase in this part of the world is the ability to find a view. Dan did an excellent job scouting locations on our setup drive that brought us to a great overlook near the apropriatly named town of Westview MO.
The benefit of having limited viewing options is that there is little incentive to relocate, which meant we could sit back, relax, and enjoy what this storm had to offer.
After our target storm got closer we needed to reposition to keep our eyes on the area of the storm, most likely to produce activity. On our way to find another location with a view we were hit with rain and the first signs of hail; we decided to shelter at a gas station and let the storm roll over us. What we experienced was intense lightning and golf ball sized hail.
After the most severe part of the storm passed, we got back on the road to try and get one more view before the storm moved into the mountains.
As the storms continued to track North East we said farewell to our first MO storm chase and headed to Tulsa Oklahoma for the night.
The plan for Monday is to head to Texas and see what we might find, but not expecting a huge amount of activity in the locations we can reach today.
Arriving in Denver feels like coming home. This year’s stormchasing trip marks the 10th year I’ve been out in the MidWest chasing severe weather. Every year has offered something unique, and always spectacular and this year started with a Tornado warned storm on day one!
The potential targets for Saturday were either Kansas South of Wichita or Eastern Oklahoma. Since we were starting the day in Denver, we opted for the Kansas target area, with better odds of an isolated supercell and a bit less suseptible to storm chaser convergence! Once again, Dan’s forecasting was spot on taking us directly into a severe warned storm.
Heading South from Wichita this was our first view of the forming supercell that would be our target for the day.
One of the challenges with chasing in the region of Kansas we were in on Monday is the hilly nature of the terrain. Fortunately, Dan’s local knowledge helped get us to a great viewing spot to watch and enjoy the development of our storm.
As the storm got it’s severe warning, we decided to relocate in order to stay in a good position on the storm. The storms were moving fairly rapidly across the ground at between 35 and 40 knots, this meant the biggest challenge on Saturday was staying in the right position relative to the storm.
We were able to watch the storm continue to develop with increasing rotation that would soon trigger a Tornado warning.
After seeing rotation and the Tornado warning go up, we relocated again to stay in position.
We didn’t get a ton of photos after getting back on the road as we were playing a game of cat and mouse with the storm, hoping to avoid hail and the likely rainwrapped Tornado.
Shortly after this we stopped just South East of where a Tornado was reported, there was an ominous rumble that didn’t sound like thunder and we think could well have been the sound of the Tornado on the ground.
After following the storms progress up route 2, staying just behind the worst of the hail, we came across the path of the Tornado it had contained. It was a stark reminder of the destructive reality of what we are here to witness.
As we made our way back to Wichita for the night, we were treated to an impressive lightning show with lightning lighting up the storms around us.
A great start to the week, off to Missouri next.
And just like that we were on our final day of this year’s stormchase. We had to get back to Denver on Saturday night so the enhanced risk down in Texas wasn’t an option, and even if it was there were many reasons to not get sucked into some crazy chaser convergence!
Our target area was initially Western Kansas/ South Eastern Colorado where there is a good chance the storms that formed over the mountains would run into good air for storm development.
As we headed West towards our target area we picked an initial setup drive, taking us into Colorado.
Our first storm of the day, moving towards us as the sun set behind.
Overall it was a great week, over 3200 miles driven. Severe warned storms on 6 out of 8 days and only one truly storm free day.
Dan’s forecasting was always on point extracting the best possible show from the set ups available.
Every year I’ve been out has had a different character, and this year, the theme has been lightning! Tuesday, in particular, was probably the best storm for lightning I’ve ever chased. Both the proximity, the long-lasting nature of each bolt, and the New Mexico mountains as a backdrop were just something else. Having a beer with my fellow chasers on an empty road as the light faded and the storm put on a show was truly one of life’s best moments.
Looking forward to next year already!
We started the day in Dodge City Kansas, and had an initial set up drive East heading towards Boise City Oklahoma. Dan shared some interesting history on Boise City and the con artists who founded it!
Once at Boise we had one of the more challenging chasing scenarios which, sitting and waiting before selecting a target storm. The inclination is to go and get on the road for the first thing on radar. Instead we waited to see which storms had the best potential before selecting a target. Great work by Dan once again as we were caught up by other storm chasers and in great position for our storm of the day.
We headed towards our first target near Springfield CO. Continuing on to our first stop near Pritchett.
After getting the most out of our storm we decided to move on to a couple of storms to our South, heading out of Boise towards Dalhart TX.
We’ve had some good lightning this week and Friday was another great lightning show. The following are some of my favorites.
After getting some final shots of lightning in Oklahoma we continued South into New Mexico. The light started to fade, lightning striking around us and the Twister Soundtrack for added atmosphere!
As we entered New Mexico we made a final stop for sunset and some final lightning.
Saturday is our final chase and with the need to return to Denver for the evening we are not attempting to chase the enhanced risk South of Dallas. Logistically it would be a challenge and a hefty overnight drive. From past experience an enhanced risk on a weekend near some densely populated cities is a recipe for a chaser traffic jam. We’re going to try our luck in North Western Kansas instead.
We started the day in Santa Rosa, NM. and chose a target area of Clayton NM. Which turned out to be spot on! We went through Clayton 4 times over the course of the chase.
First stop was Tucumcari home to a railroad museum that seemingly doesn’t have trains, and a Dinosaur Museum with an impressive fossil collection!
After extracting maximum amounts of fun that all Tucumcari has to offer we were back on the road heading to Clayton.
Storms were initially forming to the NorthEast of Clayton with several cells starting and then running out of steam.
After our initial storms started to die we relocated West of Clayton where our storm of the day was developing.
As the storm rolled towards us we were hit with some pretty strong outflow that can best be described as akin to sticking your head out the car in an interstate!
After enjoying some impressive outflow, we decided to relocate South, which was also the right direction for our second night in Amarillo.
Because of the storms position relative to the sun the colors underneath the shelf cloud were incredible. Almost indigo in some places!
As we headed South we were able to get out in front of the shelf cloud and our best view of some structure of the trip so far.
As we began to lose the light we pressed on to Amarillo and dinner at the Big Texan.
We continued to get some lightning a d a rather atmospheric sunset for entertainment on the drive.
Thunder is good, thunder is impressive; but it is lightning that does the work.- Mark Twain
We started the day in Woodward OK. With a Birthday celebration for Dan who loves people making a fuss for him!
And since it was his Birthday our first stop was the happiest place in the world, The Shattuck windmill museum! What may well be the greatest windmill Museum in the world!
After extracting maximum fun from the windmill museum, we headed off to our target area for the day around Tucumcari NM.
By around 4pm we had identified our target storm for the day in the mountains between Tucumcari and Wagon Mound NM. While the roads were challenging they happened to take is right to where we need we to be and the scenery was spectacular!
We found a brilliant vantage point with storms to our North and South and were treated to the most stunning lighting show. With intense bolts that were incredibly long duration. Which made capturing the spectacle straight forward even for someone with my limited photography skills. Being at high elevation helped things too!
After we decided to leave the storm the drive to our stop for the night in Santa Rosa continued to put on a show.
Wednesday could be a repeat storm chase in the mountains or a dice roll back in the Pan Handle.
We started yesterday in Amarillo with a fairly ambiguous forecast for the day, no obvious target and not an awful lot to get excited about.
Initial target was Childress TX, but on the way we ran into what would normally be a fairly uninteresting storm, but with little else to chase we decided to have a play and see what we could get. What we got was about 5 hours of solid stormchasing in return!
We left I-40 and decided to head South East on 287 towards Jesly TX to stay on the drier side of the storm that continued to gain momentum. By 12.30 we even had some structure.
We turned back towards I-40 where we found a great spot on a hill just off the highway. I definitely remember some words of advice about hills and lightning storms…
Once again, my photo skills have failed to capture the moment but we were treated to some brilliant lightning just outside of Alanreed TX. Multiple bolts hitting simultaneously.
Most of the ingredients were there, but lack of lift and weak winds meant this storm just couldn’t quite get organized.
Without one dominant cell, there were multiple smaller storms traveling in pretty much every direction. The result was some heavy precipitation with very neatly defined boundaries criss crossing the highway. It felt like we drove through all seasons of the year every few miles!
Having started at 11.30 and almost immediately on the storm we decided to wrap up the chase by 6 as the storms lost what organization they had and head to our stop for the night in Childress TX. Mondays forecast is a crapshoot with low potential for something from NM to Oklahoma.
Kudos to Dan once again for finding the action in a difficult forecast on Sunday!