During our morning meeting yesterday we decided our target was somewhere near El Reno OK, and we wound up at a truck stop a couple of exits west of there on I-40 watching a bulge in the dry line as storms tried to form. We could literally see the dry line visually as it was evidenced by a line of cumulus clouds followed by bright blue sky to the west.
When the line came too close we moved a bit north and west and settled at a sports complex in Calumet OK, where I snapped the photo above. We sat here for about 3 hours, watching convective towers build and die in a panorama to our south and west. While we were there the Storm Prediction Center issued first a Mesoscale Discussion and then a tornado watch box. Our location was smack dab in the middle of this box so our forecasting was right on target and a few hours ahead of the SPC!! Unfortunately no storms whatsoever fired in the box and the SPC took down the tornado watch as we were on the road to our destination for the night in Enid OK.
Today we're heading to central Kansas where the conditions look much better for supercells and tornadoes. Track us on the Hokie Stormchase page. We're in hopes of some good results today, but we hope all the severe weather happens in rural areas without impacting folks out here.
1 comments:
It's really fascinating to read about anything related to weather; especially when it's from someone from your hometown. I enjoy watching the weather myself but to be on the hunt for the "big moment" I have to say that I'm a little jealous.
Hope you have a lot of success out there but most of all stay safe.
I would love to hear more about your adventures and research. If you are ever available when in Fredericksburg, it would be great to chat with you and learn more about storm chasing.
Thanks for the pictures- awesome.
John Pates, Jr.
Fredericksburg, VA
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