(Sent by Mike’s Alltel Blackberry smartphone)
disclaimer: "The meteorological
views/forecast
thinking expressed are those solely of the author of this blog
and do not necessarily represent those of official National Weather Service forecast products,
therefore read and enjoy at your own risk and edification!"
and do not necessarily represent those of official National Weather Service forecast products,
therefore read and enjoy at your own risk and edification!"
June 15, 2009
Day 5 (June 15): Southwest Kansas Prospects
Had another nice stay in Lamar last night. Mike, =
Jay, and I got
to eat at our favorite Thai place again — the Spicy Basil. Just cross =
back
into Central Time as we’re headed to Garden City for lunch and to
evaluate the volatile scenario shaping up for later this afternoon. =
Purchased a
Frisbee this morning as I think for once we’ll have some time to =
bake.
Definitely a large threat area, and we all have a feeling that the best =
target
may not be as obvious as it appears at this hour. Should hopefully be a =
long
chase evening! If all goes well, we should have live streaming up at =
www.stormchaselive.com
, although this will come secondary to our own safety and photographic
endeavors. Will be avoiding the hail as our windshield likely =
can’t
sustain much more. Have fun all!
- Evan
Day 4 (June 14): Eastern Colorado Storms
Evan, Jay, and I saw the end of the Karval, CO supercell(s) as we were sorely out of position earlier in the afternoon up along I-70 near Siebert. We busted south and west to get to tail-end charlie, but by the time we got there, the best of the show was likely over. We did catch some of the striated barrel updraft of the eastern supercell as we were driving east toward Karval. Ugh I wish we were closer. Best images of the day for me were daytime CG lightning from the high-based linear storms north of Limon overlooking a farmstead on a dirt road north and east of Limon. Obviously, am disappointed in Leaving DDC at damn near Noon missing the supercell and tornado in Haskell county. I over-analyzed this one. D’oh!
June 14, 2009
Chase day 6/14 complete
Well, the Karval, Colorado storms were rather picturesque with some
banded, barrel-shaped structure (the eastern storm), including a nice
wall cloud. However this did not last very long. The storms died a
rather painful death about 20 minutes after we finally had a good view
at a farm road intersection. Nevertheless, got some okay images. The
best images of the day, by far, were daytime lightning images from the
high-based storms north of Limon earlier in the afternoon. We are
headed to Lamar, CO for the night.
–
Mike Umscheid Photography
http://gallery.underthemeso.com
mesomike@gmail.com
Mothership structure near Karval CO!
We are getting closer to some kick ass supercell structure!
(Sent by Mike’s Alltel Blackberry smartphone)
supercell with TVS signature 30 miles west of us near Karval, CO
Finally catching the storms that are “tail end charlie” after driving
for awhile off of I-70. Two adjacent supercells west of us, we are
driving west currently for the intercept.
–
Mike Umscheid Photography
http://gallery.underthemeso.com
mesomike@gmail.com
nice lightning photography so far, storms about to hit moisture
We are 11 N Arriba on farm roads photographing high-based storms with
photogenic lightning. The storms are about to ingest lower 60s
dewpoints, so we are hoping for a transformation of sorts toward more
significant severe storms. We are heading to I-70 and then east again
to stay ahead of this stuff. We realize we missed the tornado(es) in
SW KS. This was a misforecast on our part. We overanalyzed things,
but that’s part of chasing. Day is not done yet though!
–
Mike Umscheid Photography
http://gallery.underthemeso.com
mesomike@gmail.com
We plan to head north from Limon
I think the best 2-hr play is to head north from Limon into Washington
County. SPC Mesoanalysis suggests 3000 J/kg CAPE just upstream of the
area where severe storms were to the northwest of Limon. Once these
storms hit the good moisture east of Limon, they may take on a very
different character. High CAPE and High Shear will likely yield a
very aggressive severe storm/supercell. Stay tuned!
–
Mike Umscheid Photography
http://gallery.underthemeso.com
mesomike@gmail.com