Had an awesome early afternoon at a park in Spearfish, SD and have made
our way down east of Rapid City. After watching a nice storm go up over
the Black Hills, we have decided not to go after it since it appeared to
be rooted in the terrain and driven by orographics and very weak shear.
Meanwhile, hi-res radar imagery shows strong cyclonic flow just east of
RAP with a number of feeder convective rolls spiraling in toward areas
just east of the city. The Cu field continues to grow with several areas
of strongly agitated Cu east and northeast of Rapid City. The deep layer
shear is also much improved with eastern and northern extent. Unlike
yesterday, the upper winds are from the northwest, which may lead to
storms struggling to maintain buoyancy as their anvil shadow is cast
downstream along the expected storm motion. Additionally, storm spacing
may be an issue with the entire axis of instability primed to go, so
mergers and outflow dominance may take over with time. Still hoping we
can maintain some discrete nature for a while, and that scenario looks
quite promising given the initial low level flow fields. Should be a fun
show regardless with maybe our first evening lightning photography
attempt afterwards. - Bookbinder
Evan and I began the day in Belle Fourche, SD where we set off for the
Badlands to drive around and sightsee (Evan has never seen the
Badlands). After that, we drove down Allen Rd... a 28-mile unpaved road
south of the Badlands eventually stopping at Martin, SD. There, we
pretty much resigned our fate to a busted chase... that is until we
pulled up visible satellite image and noticed towering cumulus
developing about 100 miles to our south. We plotted a course to
intercept this area of congested cumulus... which eventually turned into
a storm, albeit rather small. We intercepted the storm around 7pm CDT
just south of Thedford, but all that was left by the time we got there
was a shriveled up updraft base. This eventually croaked completely and
we then headed north back to South Dakota. Along the way, we
photographed a beautiful red sunset over the sandhills and one of the
large ponds (around Valentine Nat'l Wildlife Refuge). along US-83. As I
type at 115am, we are coming into Rapid City and are staying in Belle
Fourche. We are hooking back up with Jay Antle at a motel he already
reserved at Belle.
Tomorrow, Fri 6/29 looks pretty good up in the Baker, MT to Bowman, ND
area... and will probably settle in to Belle Fourche again after
tomorrow night's chase... as Saturday looks pretty decent for chaseable
storms southeast of the Badlands (somewhere across central/southern
South Dakota). On Sunday, July 1, the focus turns back to
northern/northeastern Montana. Monday, July 2, the last potential chase
day, still looks to be perhaps the best day of the last half of the trip
somewhere in North Dakota.
