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Tour Notes from Chase Tour 2 - May 2012

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Stormchase 2012 - Day 10

[b]We're not in Kansas Anymore...[/b] Day 10 is finally here. Our last day chasing. SPC have a slight risk for the Plains from Oklahoma up through Kansas to Nebraska. We set out from our base of McPherson in 40mph hot winds which soon reached 97F and headed for the dry line. Dry line Definition: [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_line"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_line[/url] [attachment=134491:Dry Line.jpg] A quick stop for Breakfast and the Dow Trucks were already out a

HeadcornWx

HeadcornWx

Stormchase 2012 - Day 9

We began the day in Hays, Kansas. Todays risk was far up North so the plan for the day was to drive down to Hutchingson and visit the Space Museum there where they also have an IMAX cinema showing Sean Caseys "Tornado Alley". Temperatures today were crazy. By 2pm it had reached 93F with winds around 40mph but a really dry heat. The drive took us through some amazing scenery and fields of crops flowing like rivers in the wind. We visited the historic town of Claffin with its wild west fro

HeadcornWx

HeadcornWx

Stormchase 2012 - Day 8

Thursdays Chase day began in the town of Limon Colorado, situated at 5377 ft ASL and made famous as being the site of the most gruesome lynching in American history back in 1900. Fortunately nothing quite as gruesome during our stay! The most recent and significant Tornadic event of note was back in 1990 when a EF3 touched down west of Limon. We woke to a pleasant change in the forecast from the Storm Prediction Centre (SPC). Even early on, distinct tops could be seen over the Rockies and

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HeadcornWx

Stormchase 2012 - Day 7

Day 7 began in Amarillo. Initially we'd planned to drive into eastern Oklahoma, however looking at the model forecasts for Fri/Sat we decided to head North into Colorado and await developments for Western Kansas. The drive took us through the final portion of the Texas Panhandle into a narrow strip of the Oklahoma panhandle. The land is so flat here, a playground for Tornadoes; all the towns we passed have the warning sirens in place. Railroads are key to local transportation and we saw some

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HeadcornWx

Stormchase 2012 - Day 6

Tuesday was our longest drive so far. Leaving Sonora we drove North and into the the Texas Panhandle, our first view of Tornado Alley proper. The area is flat, towns are few and far between and skies are big. Dust Devils can often be seen dancing in the distance across the hot and vast wide open spaces. [attachment=134264:P1010126.JPG] Todays weather was hot and clear. Although some convection existed towards the south, the cap held and skies quickly cleared on the drive north to Amari

HeadcornWx

HeadcornWx

Stormchase 2012 - Day 5

Nothing could quite follow Sundays amazing day at Roswell. Monday in Carlsbad started with a storm and heavy rain early morning. It was all looking good. We saw Sean Casey and Brandon Ivey from Team TIV at breakfast who were also headed south to the Mexican boarder to pick up the days threat potential down there, however on the way down we passed the DOW (Doppler on Wheels) trucks headed the opposite way. We reached Big Bend National Park and had little to no radar coverage and no internet

HeadcornWx

HeadcornWx

Stormchase 2012 - Day 4

[font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif][b][size=4]The Roswell Mothership Supercell [/size][/b][/font] [size=4][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif][color=#323232]What a day![/color] [color=#323232]Starting off this morning in Carlsbad New Mexico, we first headed north to Artesia. Here we waited patiently as a cell formed to the west over the foothills of the Rockies. It looked promising at first, but as soon as it left the sanctuary of the mountains it lost energy and collapsed.[/color][/font][/size]

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Stormchase 2012 - Day 3

[attachment=134128:P1000293.JPG] Todays tour was a re-positioning day ahead of whats looking like a very promising setup for Sunday. Our chase target for the next few days is New Mexico, and in the morning things were already looking promising. The drive took us through parts of Western Texas then out on to the flatter plains of New Mexico, finally to Calrsbad in the evening where we enjoyed an excellent meal at local restaurant. [attachment=134131:P1000304.JPG] [attachment=134129:P1

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HeadcornWx

Stormchase 2012 - Day 2

Day 2 began in Corpus Christi on the Gulf coast. After a night of severe storms alleged to be the worst in 20 years causing significant damage in and around Corpus Christi; Friday morning started dry and hot with temps climbing into the mid 90s. On what initially looked to be a pretty dead day, a drive to the beach had to be done followed by a quick dip in the gulf all streamed live to whet the appetites of our growing audience of hundreds. [attachment=134098:P1000233.JPG] Our planned d

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HeadcornWx

Stormchase 2012 - Day 1

What an amazing day! For those of you not watching the livestream, todays chase started in Irving Texas. A quick drive thru downdown Dallas, then the long drive south via Waco and Austin where the skies soon began to look interesting! After passing through the MCS (Mesoscale Convective System) we finally reached a stream of supercells headed up from Mexico. Bang! A huge lump of hail hit the roof of the car - Just one piece but it sounded like a rock hitting. We headed into the town of Kened

HeadcornWx

HeadcornWx

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