Today is a chase day. I will be leaving Dodge City shortly, heading north to an area from Colby, KS to McCook, NE. Low level moisture will be lacking for tornadoes, it appears, however with a strong upper level disturbance moving into the high plains, good convergence and adequate instability and shear should support a decent supercell or two. I will be in search of "tail-end Charlie", a term storm chasers like to coin for the "end-of-the-line" southernmost storm that usually has the best environment to be a sustained longer-lived supercell. We’ll see what happens… at this point, it looks like tail-end Charlie will be vey near the NE/KS border… *maybe* as far south as I-70, but we’ll see. I don’t like the heavy cirro-stratus sheild moving into western KS at this time… but by 5pm, I think this will be less of a problem. -Mu
and do not necessarily represent those of official National Weather Service forecast products,
therefore read and enjoy at your own risk and edification!"
May 17, 2005
May 14, 2005
An active storm period winds down
The past few days beginning Tuesday, May 10th have been quite fruitful for many storm chasers:
May 10 – Two classic supercells, one near Grand Island Nebraska, and the other in eastern Iowa, provided beautiful storm structure photography and videography for many chasers. See storm photographer Mike Hollingshead’s photography from May 10th near Grand Island. Simply amazing and inspiring work. May 10 Storm Track Chase Accounts and Images
May 11 – The day that was hyped up as being the big tornado day. It didn’t really turn out that way, however, as the majority of the severe weather developed along the front along the KS/NE border and moved north of it, producing a destructive hailstorm in Hastings, Nebraska. Storm chasers did see some tornadoes in extreme southwestern Nebraska and near the Idalia, Colorado area. Two dryline supercells did develop after 8pm in southwestern Kansas. One of these supercells produced a long-track significant tornado northeast of Ulysses, KS right as darkness was setting in. Only a handful number of chasers documented this storm, as the rest of the chasers were farther north. May 11 Storm Track Chase Accounts and Images
May 12 – Big West Texas day. Numerous storm chasers documented tornadoes from Plainview east to South Plains, TX as well as a couple late evening tornadoes at dark northeast of Lubbock. The most widely documented tornadoes were the ones near South Plains, TX, as were shown on The Weather Channel. Many of the storm chasers that documented this tornado paid the price, however, with giant hail causing significant damage to their chase vehicles, including those with reputable storm chase tour groups like Cloud 9 Tours and Silver Lining Tours. May 12 Storm Track Chase Accounts and Images
May 13 – Western Oklahoma to Northwest Texas. The majority of storm chasers intercepted a meaty supercell thunderstorm from near Paducah, TX southeast to Truscott and points south. At least one decent sized tornado was observed by storm chasers near Truscott. A tornado was also observed by a storm chaser along the Texas Panhandle border with western Oklahoma near Allison, TX. May 13 Storm Track Chase Accounts and Images
Of course, during this good stretch of chasing, I have been at work on evening shifts, until Monday the 16th. I am looking at Tuesday 17th as a possible chase day on my day off as more westerly flow comes across the Rockies allowing a lee trough to develop bringing moisture back north. -Mu
May 10, 2005
Storm Chase – May 8
Upon driving to my target towards Medicine Lodge and points east, I noticed hard towers going up at like 1:30pm to my north. I was torn as to what to do, because I liked the area farther south with a bit higher instability and a little more shear. Nevertheless, the atmosphere was indeed telling me something visually, and you just can’t ignore a heavily congested area of Cu in the western portions of Central KS, especially in May.. regardless what the setup may be. So, I opted north and caught up with a south-southwestward propogating severe storm near Lyons, KS. For awhile, this was reminding me *a lot* of June 11th last year near Ft. Dodge, IA with the updrafts continuously developing on the south flank down the shear axis.
I did see a high-based funnel cloud that persisted a couple of minutes about 4 W of Lyons, but no evidence of a debris whirl beneath. I continued to follow it southeastward with periods of cyclonic shear zones with sometimes modest rotation. I did see at least two more distinct high based funnels, however, again, no debris cloud beneath. I did not observe the debris whirl weak landsput that both Davies and Roger Hill et al. observed.
The updraft of this storm was becoming less impressive with time as it was becoming more and more undercut by outflow from it’s FFD and the McPherson storm immediately downstream. The McPherson storm ultimately became the better looking storm, and after a brief break in Hutchinson, I optioned east towards Newton where I was greeted with a menacing shelf cloud. The underbelly of this shelf was spectacular with perhaps the most impressive "whale’s mouth" appearance I have ever seen. The Nikon D70 got a workout 
I drove south to stay ahead of this storm, and then I noticed a small LP updraft to my immediate south. This storm rapidly became supercellular-ish in appearance as it approached northwest Wichita, with a great looking bell-shaped updraft base:
I followed this storm into the northwest suburbs of Wichita just south of Maize. I did have some near 1" diameter hail pelt me as I was driving south towards the updraft, which made for some fairly neat video looking at this striated updraft base bearing down on me. I then got just east of the updraft and got this view just as it was getting dark:
On the way back home to Dodge City, I was able to get one hell of an incredible lightning show as viewed from near Kingman, KS. I clicked away on the shutter for a good 45 minutes as well as video. Probably my best night lightning documentation in a couple of years:
My thanks to both Jay Antle and Fritz Kruse for invaluable nowcast support.. from a photography standpoint, this was a *very* satisfying chase.
Other photos are located on my May 8th storm chase gallery
May 7, 2005
Storm Chase – May 7
Pretty much a bust. I first went after a lame excuse for a small storms in Kiowa and Edwards Co., farther east removed from the dryline convergence. I didn’t like this area because the storms would eventually move east out of the best convergence and instability. Sure enough they croaked as I neared Great Bend. Westward Ho to the dryline. I drove west to Ness City and monitored turkeys for the rest of the chase. I saw enough turkey towers try sooo hard… to last me the rest of the chase season. Short story is I went back and forth on US283 from south of Wakeeney to Ness City up till 8pm.
There were at least two "groupings" of turkeys that had my interest, but never could they do anything… with hardly any bases. Just not enough convergence for the strong near surface speed shear I guess. Of course, when I decide to blow the chase off and drive south back home, one of the clumps of turkeys decided to develop a nice, long flat base. I didn’t think much of it and kept driving.. I should have known better, for about 10 minutes later, I actually had rock-hard towers going well up into the far reaches of the troposphere. I turned around and went back north in hopes of sunset photography with the small Cb. I didn’t quite get the photography I was looking for with nuisance cloud debris between me and the Cb. The storm pretty much croaked just after sunset north of Wakeeney.
I put a few pics on my website here
Storm Chase – May 6
I had a rather spontaneous storm chase on the evening of May 6th in far western Oklahoma Panhandle. I intercepted a picturesque, small "LP" supercell thunderstorm after 7:30pm CDT. I posted a few pictures on my website gallery.
Here’s one of those photographs:
May 5, 2005
Storm Chasing May 7-8
Welp, the first significant chase event of the spring season will commence this weekend. I am off work May 7-9, so I am free to roam the plains. This weekend chasing situation is one where there will probably be a widespread "target" for chaseable supercell thunderstorms from South Dakota to North Texas. The entire dryline from Nebraska down into West TX is vulnerable to good storms with widespread high amounts of instability and low level moisture, along with deep layer shear and subtle cold advection in the mid levels.
In this situation, It may be best to chase closest to home, which I may very well end up doing. I am very leery chasing eastern TX Panhandle and Western OK on Saturday given the congruence of a number of things that could make it a "zoo" of chasers out there…. It’s May 7th, It’s a Saturday, It’s the first good chase day in a long time, It marks the beginning of many storm chasers’ "chasecations". I have visions of "Sitka" in my mind, and this isn’t even Memorial Day Weekend! Thankfully, there will be the large area of potential supercell thunderstorms, so the "hordes" should be dispersed.
The slow moving upper trough will allow the the front/dryline to slugishly move eastward such that Sunday’s convective activity will probably fire from Northwest Iowa south through eastern KS… down into N. Texas. I really like the looks of North Texas, but this is quite a haul from Dodge City, althought it *may* be worth it.
I just try to avoid Oklahoma at all costs during the peak of storm chase season (roughly the 1st week of May through the 1st week of June)…. I’m hoping for a locally enhanced area in NW KS or something ahead of the trough… I can simply never go wrong, many times, chasing in my home state. -Mu
May 4, 2005
Storm Photo
April 10th, 2005: supercell thunderstorm w/ a well-pronounced rear-flank downdraft "clear slot" and bulbous funnel cloud. This is actually a tornado, believe it or not, as other chasers closer to this feature confirmed strong ground circulation over the Cedar Bluff Reservoir in western central Kansas.
May 2, 2005
High “10″ and “30″
Okay, I’m allowed to gloat every now again, it’s my blog! 
In bowling we refer to highest game many times as high "10", in reference to highest score in 10 frames… and 3-game series as high "30"…
Highest game: 300
May 4, 1997 :: AMF Northland Lanes (Kansas City, MO) ::
Kansas City Open (youth tournament)July 11, 1997 :: Laurel Lanes (Raytown, MO) ::
Youth Sweeper TournamentOctober 18, 2003 :: Ayr Lanes (Liberal, KS) ::
Western Kansas Scratch Bowlers Tour, unsanctionedNovember 2, 2003 :: Centennial Lanes (Hays, KS) ::
Western Kansas Scratch Bowlers Tour, unsanctionedMarch 31, 2003 :: Spare Tyme Bowl (Dodge City, KS) ::
Wednesday Triple Threat LeagueSeptember 22, 2004 :: Spare Tyme Bowl (Dodge City, KS) ::
Wednesday Triple Threat LeagueOctober 5, 2004 :: Spare Tyme Bowl (Dodge City, KS) ::
Wednesday Triple Threat LeagueNovember 29, 2005 :: Spare Tyme Bowl (Dodge City, KS) ::
Tuesday Continental League
Highest Series: 777
October 5, 2004 :: Spare Tyme Bowl (Dodge City, KS) ::
Wednesday Triple Threat League
-Mu
The twelfth frame
Well tomorrow is the end-of-season banquet for the Wednesday night league I bowl on. It is the close of bowling for the Winter 2004-2005 season, and I am looking forward to the break. I thought I’d share a little bit of my history in bowling dating back to my young teenage years in Overland Park.
It was another one of those long, boring summers in the early 90s, when I was around 14 years old or so… when going to the public pool and playing stickball in the neighborhood was just getting to be too much of a regular thing and getting old fairly quickly. I want to say it was the summer of 1994. Anyway, my brother, myself, and a couple neighborhood friends went to the local bowling alley just up the road for a casual game of bowling. This was to be the beginning. We had so much fun; I instantly became addicted. I wanted to bowl more. So the next week, we took advantage of a special summer rate and went again.
By the fall, we were all in our first youth bowling league. We all sucked (relatively speaking), with an average around 110 or so. I remember having a 114 average the first month of the league. I got my first bowling ball from K-mart, some POS plastic Brunswick ball, but it was drilled specifically for my hand, with my name engraved above the fingers!! I thought this was so cool. With this bowling ball, I began to try out "the hook". Now, plastic bowling balls, because of the outer material, are not meant to hook… but I tried to hook it anyway. It turned out that by the end of that bowling season, I turned my 114 average into something like a 146.
It wasn’t until the next season that I got my first "reactive resin" bowling ball. My average continued to climb. My brother and I bowled every Saturday morning, and it was something we looked forward to every day of the week. Our home house was AMF College Lanes in Overland Park, KS. Another year went by, and I decided to bowl in the Kansas City youth travel league. The competition was very intimidating. There were a couple of incredible youth bowlers, and one youth in this league who bowled out of Independence carried about a 220 average with one of the most graceful and intimidating styles I had ever seen. I knew he was gonna be a professional bowler sometime down the line… and sure enough he did, Ritchie Allen, and has actually won a national PBA event.
So my "golden season" as a youth bowler, when I really began to blossom, was probably the 1996-97 season when I was carrying around a 210 average, touching 215 many times. I bowled my first 300 game on May 4th, 1997, at a YABA (Young America Bowling Alliance) sanctioned tournament in North Kansas City (Kansas City Open). I continued to carry an average between 210 and 215 through 1999, my last season as a YABA sanctioned bowler. My last Kansas State Youth (Coca-Cola) Tournament was spring of 1999. I bowled in the scratch division and won the state tournament in Wichita. It is my biggest tournament bowling accomplishment to date; winning this tournament allowed me to participate in the International Youth Coca-Cola Classic Tournament in Salt Lake City, UT in August – all expenses paid. What an incredible experience as a youth bowler to be able to compete with the world’s best young bowlers; several of which were certainly bound to make bowling their profession.
I ended up finishing like 46th out of 64 in the scratch division of that tournament, but the experience, again, was just awesome. So came to an end, my days as a YABA bowler. Afterwards, I was putting pretty much all of my focus on my education and bowling was tertiary following school/studying and other meteorological/storm chasing activities. This pretty much took most all of my time from the end of 1999 up until the beginning of 2002. I made it a vow to get back in to bowling once I settled down with a new job…. so this leads me to Dodge City.
Upon moving to Dodge City for my new job, I started bowling only about a month later on a Thursday night league. I carried about a 205 average right off the bat, and then I began substituting on a regular basis on my co-worker’s Wednesday night team. This takes me up to current time. I am still bowling on both leagues, but my Thursday night team is now moving to Tuesday nights for the 2005-06 season, and I will more than likely be the regular 5th man on Wednesday night… we shall see! Since moving to Dodge City, I have bowled 5 more perfect game 300s, 2 of them in un-sanctioned tournaments, unfortunately. But, I do have two ABC 300 rings now to go along with my one YABA 300 ring and YABA 300 jacket, which, yes I am proud of 
For reasons that should be obvious to those that know me, I only bowl with "Storm" equipment
-Mu
April 30, 2005
KC this weekend..
I have today and Sunday off, so decided to drive to KC to visit the fam, since I probably won’t come to KC Mother’s Day weekend. On the way to KC last evening, I decided to drive through the Flint Hills and do a little photography. The Flints are just beautiful right now, with the new short grass growing after March burning. The hills were definitely alive. I’ve got a low-res photo posted below, and I’ll submit more on my gallery page over the next few days. My favorite area in the Flints is a small area along the border of Chase and Greenwood County about 25 miles SSW of Emporia where "Texaco Hill" is located if you look on a detailed map (i.e., Delorme StreetAtlas). -Mu
