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HeadcornWx

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  1. HeadcornWx
    [u][b]Tue 24th June 2014[/b][/u]
    Our final day of Tour 4 began in Sterling Colorado.
    Whilst todays risk looked to be a repeat of yesterday in NE Colorado, as we approached the target area so the whole system broke apart leaving us with nothing more than a Particularly Drizzly Situation.

    To our North, across in Wyoming things were starting to look interesting. A short hop on the freeway past Cheyenne and out on route 85 NE and we started to see 2" hail along the road. A beautiful hailbow stretched across the road ahead and a few sorry looking motorists emerging from the abyss licking the wounds on their vehicles. Although there were a few lowerings, a wall cloud as well as a radar indicated Tornado Vortex Signature we saw no evidence of anything else from this storm and it soon began a rapid decay as we headed South via Pine Bluffs to Cheyenne, our base for the night before returning to Denver and the flight to London.

    Photos from todays chase can be found on the following [url="https://www.dropbox.com/sh/htak3nmei1ga7c3/AAAfWQqrgDPJdnVCq3rYwDm4a/Day%2011%20-%20June%2024th"]Dropbox Link[/url] and all the [url="https://www.dropbox.com/sh/htak3nmei1ga7c3/AADVSVut43KGJYwdsgIU7D1na/HD%20Movies"]Videos can be found here[/url].

    From Colorado to Kansas, thru Nebraska, the Dakotas, Iowa, Minnesota, Wyoming and finally back to Colorado this is a truly wonderful and varied country. If it weren't for these tours I would never have visited many of the places or have had the opportunity to meet these kind people.

    Stormchasing has a massive following here in the US which is growing all the time. Unfortunately as in all walks of life there are those few who loose sight of the fundamental goal which is to provide timely information to protect life and property and further scientific knowledge. Only when that primary goal has been met should we look to capture the true spectacle of mother nature.

    There are those who talk about regulation of stormchasing. In my opinion it needs no more than a code of ethics which we should all abide by in life to look out for those around and apply a good deal of common sense on the roads to ensure a safe environment for all.

    As a visitor to this country, I'd like to think I've personally done everything I can to uphold this and given the severity of the storms over the past 2 weeks particularly in Nebraska would like to think that the timely actions of our team in reporting and advising has helped the affected communities in some small way.

    I will once again be making my photos and videos available to the [url="http://stormassist.org"]Storm Assist organization[/url], all profits which go to helping communities affected by Storms. I encourage you to visit their site and review their merchandise in particular their videos/BluRays available at a very reasonable price.

    Thank you for following these blogs this year and thankyou to Paul, Richard and Netweather. I hope you've enjoyed the coverage of these past 2 weeks of wild weather.
  2. HeadcornWx
    [u][b]Mon 23rd June 2014[/b][/u]
    Today we left Nebraska crossing the state line into Colorado. SPC had a slight risk for the state as well as a 2% tornado risk which was briefly elevated to 5% and then dropped again.
    HRRR indicated development in the NW portion of the state so we headed west of Sterling near Jackson Lake State Park to watch and wait.

    After brief interest with the storms developing to the South of Denver, we returned and focused on the storm near the Wyoming state line which was already Severe Warned and developing rapidly. As we approached from the SE we could see a few funnels dropping in the distance and the storm was structuring up nicely.

    This really was a structure day, some hail on the way back to Sterling and a beautiful example of a Back Sheared anvil however conditions really weren't conducive for any further development.

    Overnight tonight in the town of Sterling.

    Photos for the day in the [url="https://www.dropbox.com/sh/htak3nmei1ga7c3/AADV3dyB5TfsLS7w_UiYRYapa/Day%2010%20-%20June%2023rd"]Dropbox Gallery[/url].
  3. HeadcornWx
    [u][b]Sun 22nd June 2014[/b][/u]
    Given our far north location and the southerly risk area, we used today as a positioning day to head south towards the eastern Colorado state line ready for Tuesdays risk east of the Rockies.
    Heading south a developing cumulus field showed signs of development. As we neared North Platte the field became agitated and rapid convection was evident with tops soon reaching 40000ft+

    We passed through some heavy rain on the I-80 West and stopped just west. The storm was already dropping 3" hail by this time and a few funnels were seen forming but nothing else. A few photos included in todays [url="https://www.dropbox.com/sh/htak3nmei1ga7c3/AACXlUk_03bPAmfr0YV6ltOsa/Day%209%20-%20June%2022nd"]Dropbox Gallery[/url].

    Overnight tonight in the town of Ogallala Nebraska.
  4. HeadcornWx
    [u][b]Sat 21st June 2014[/b][/u]
    We began Saturday in Waterton South Dakota. SPC and HRRR were indicating a South Dakota Target today and with a boundary laying towards the North of the state this was prime territory for storm initiation later in the day.

    We headed to Redfield for Lunch. On leaving there and heading west the storm had started taking hold into the boundary layer and tops were were already climbing rapidly through nearly 60000ft into a classic supercell structure.

    As we approached Bowdle, the storm was taking on real structure with a wall cloud forming to our west and rotation clearly evident. The storm tried a number of times to drop a funnel and then dropped a rotating wall cloud as it continued to move Southeast.

    We eventually moved southeast to Faulkton which would soon be hit by torrential rain and hail. Just as we were about to leave the cell became tornado warned. A massive shelf cloud was evident on the storm as we headed east then south out of town ahead of the circulation which although not confirmed most probably contained a rain wrapped tornado.

    After driving through torrential rain and winds of around 70mph, we arrived at Mitchell SD for the night.


    Photos from today can be found in the [url="https://www.dropbox.com/sh/htak3nmei1ga7c3/AACOWrV7znS1rpbv1dmTWY3Pa/Day%208%20-%20June%2021st"]Dropbox Gallery[/url]
  5. HeadcornWx
    [u][b]Fri 20th June 2014[/b][/u]
    It's Friday and SPC have todays Tornado risk firmly in Minnesota; and as Paul quite rightly quoted Land of 1000 lakes and a billion midges! Nestling up on the Canadian Border, Minnesota is a beautiful green state with lakes covering much of the North and East.

    Todays chase would start at Wahpeton, following the development of an LP Supercell which we'd already seen the predictions for on HRRR and then watched its developent as we drove North from the Dakotas.

    Today was a low CAPE and high Shear day, and although the storm was Tornado Warned and definitely showed tornadic potential dropping numerous funnels there were no reported Tornadoes. We followed the storm east with some great structure evident at times and rotation close to Henning but eventually broke away from it and headed south just after that point. The storm lost its tornado and severe warnings as it headed east across the state towards Wisconsin.

    The drive back was beautiful with green farmland and lakes everywhere. A few lake and sunset photos included in the gallery as well as a structure panorama of the storm.

    All photos from today can be found in the [url="https://www.dropbox.com/sh/htak3nmei1ga7c3/AACIDPPjaCLh-8jtqM_J7zpla/Day%207%20-%20June%2020th"]Dropbox Gallery[/url]

    HD Videos from the trip are in the [url="https://www.dropbox.com/sh/htak3nmei1ga7c3/AADVSVut43KGJYwdsgIU7D1na/HD%20Movies"]HD Movies Dropbox[/url]

    One final note and indeed a very sobering thought given the events of the past few days. I received comment yesterday from a US stormchaser commenting on the quality of our info over the past week in particular mentioning data they'd reviewed for the Pilger day. He mentioned we were tagged at Norfolk Nebraska that day and were one of the first out there. I commented that we were with Fire/EMS that day on the hills outside of Pilger, spotted the tornado re-forming and in discussion with them they acted on this instantly. If our actions meant a valuable few minutes or even just seconds of extra warning time were given then it makes everything totally worthwhile.
  6. HeadcornWx
    [u][b]Thu 19th June 2014[/b][/u]
    Today was a waiting game. The risk further east was clearly a line event as depicted by HRRR so we remained in South Dakota hopeful for the SPC 'See Text' risk and HRRR development mid-state.

    We headed North then West towards Pierre. As we aproached the town of Bluff the storm started to develop rapidly on radar. Already it had dropped a couple of tornadoes and numberous funnels.

    Chasing it North East we witnessed numerous funnels but this was a cold outflow dominant storm. One of the areas of rotation looked promising and briefly a rotating lowing in the distance appeared to be generating some ground disturbance however this was all over too quickly. See photos.

    Although we have no live stream this trip, you can follow us and other Storm Chasers during chases on the Live Map with Radar/Satellite Overlays available at: [url="http://www.spotternetwork.org/pages/map"]Spotter Network with the ID Nick Parnell[/url]. Also via Twitter [url="https://www.twitter.com/headcornweather"]@headcornweather[/url]

    Photos from today are available via the [url="https://www.dropbox.com/sh/htak3nmei1ga7c3/AADOgPfcT1RR7W9-SfAMuhA_a/Day%206%20-%20June%2019th"]Dropbox Gallery Link[/url].
  7. HeadcornWx
    [u][b]Wed 18th June 2014[/b][/u]
    We started today from Souix City, Iowa.
    Looking at the NOAA High Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR) model, it indicated late afternoon supercell development in the south eastern portion of South Dakota so we based our target on this and monitored both this and the SPC throughout the day to adjust our focus.

    We headed initially North then west on the I-90 toward Mitchell. Adjusting our final target as SPC issued their Mesoscale Discussion and watching for rapid convective development to our North West we headed up towards Wessington Springs.

    We could see funnels dropping and tornadoes had already been reported. As we headed east toward Crow Lake, a large wedge dropped behind us.

    We continued east on country roads and the odd farm track through the wind farm which was taking a few CG lightning strikes making for some exciting driving.

    We finally got clear of the wedge and got through to the small town of Lane. As we stopped, an area of rapid rotation formed to our South and dropped a cone which quickly matured. As I looked, a rope tornado was forming over our heads and into fields a few hundred metres away; an unbelievable scene.

    We continued East then North and finally withessed the developed cone which had become a stovepipe and finally roped out in front of us.

    In total 3 distinct tornadoes today. All tornadoes seen were reported to the local National Weather Service Office in Souix Falls.

    Photos from today can be found on the [url="https://www.dropbox.com/sh/htak3nmei1ga7c3/AABRQwTXZleN5uDCks0ouzvEa/Day%205%20-%20June%2018th"]Dropbox Link[/url].

    My videos can be found in the [url="https://www.dropbox.com/sh/htak3nmei1ga7c3/AADVSVut43KGJYwdsgIU7D1na/HD%20Movies"]HD Videos Dropbox[/url], however also checkout [url="http://www.youtube.com/user/HairyRusts22"]Rich's YouTube channel with videos from the tour[/url].
  8. HeadcornWx
    [u][b]Tue 17th June 2014[/b][/u]
    After yesterday I didn't think we could possibly equal such sights. How wrong could I be.
    We left our hotel in Columbus with two targets in mind, one to the NW in SW North Dakota and one in Central Iowa. Based on the High Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR) Model data from the SPC we eventually chose to go with the eastern option.

    As the day progressed and we entered Iowa with Temps of near 90F and Dewpoints aroundf 73F, the model was indicating a shift back to South Dakota/Nebraska so we headed North and West to cross the South Dakota state line near Vermillion.

    Heading south into Nebraska across the Missouri with CAPE of 6000, tops had exploded above 50000ft and we entered the core headed south keeping east of Coleridge where radar indicated rotation.

    As we emerged from moderate rain, to our west was a Wedge tornado which quickly became rain wrapped.

    As darkness fell, this system kept producing and we saw tornado after tornado; Cones, Wedges a beautiful stovepipe... A total of 6 for the day! What was strange was that for hours and hours this supercell only moved a few miles to the southeast seemingly trapped by the Missouri. Maybe the native Americans were right in building their settlements to the east of the great Missouri after all!

    Photos for the day can be found in the [url="https://www.dropbox.com/sh/htak3nmei1ga7c3/AADTLNoDDLAlz4ptk6GGYxZka/Day%204%20%20-%20June%2017th"]Dropbox Gallery[/url].

    Videos can be found in the [url="https://www.dropbox.com/sh/htak3nmei1ga7c3/AADVSVut43KGJYwdsgIU7D1na/HD%20Movies"]HD Videos Gallery[/url].
  9. HeadcornWx
    [u][b]Mon 16th June 2014[/b][/u]
    A day of mixed emotions. Firstly one of awe in seeing the sheer power of nature and the very rare occurance of two large tornadoes so close together. Secondly immense sadness for those affected in the towns and settlements where this tornado hit here in Nebraska. My thoughts and prayers go out to those people and may I ask you each consider a donation to the [url="http://stormassist.org/contribute"]Storm Assist organization[/url] which directly helps the victims of storm damage.

    We began the day today in Sioux City Iowa on the Eastern Banks of the Missouri. Following the passage of a late morning Mesoscale Convective System (MCS), we headed west to our intended target area of Norfolk, Nebraska.

    After a short break for lunch and a refueling stop it was soon clear a massive supercell was building behind us. Dewpoints were already juicy and convection explosive with a massive anvil forming and quickly growing to fill the Southwest sky..

    We headed out to our east, just south of the warm front where we could see the storm was headed towards and riding along. We drove up onto the hills near the town of Pilger and were joined by a local Fire and EMS official.

    Looking towards our south and in the distance we could see a funnel forming and eventually a tornado on the ground near Stanton. Local sirens were sounded in good time and reports and photos were sent to local NWS as the tornado strengthened and moved towards us.

    We moved on further up the hill. Looking back, we could see a second twin funnel forming. This soon gained strength and become a strong and destructive twin tornado. Unknown to us, this tornado was causing extensive damage to the town of Pilger.

    We witnessed other strong tornadoes near Wakefield and further north of there. Also countless funnels. In total 7 Tornadoes this day.

    Photos from today can be found in the [url="https://www.dropbox.com/sh/htak3nmei1ga7c3/AABdkLRFs8_ScL1pdiyUrJRra/Day%203%20-%20June%2016th"]Dropbox Gallery[/url]. Included in the HD Videos Dropbox is a [url="https://www.dropbox.com/sh/htak3nmei1ga7c3/AADVSVut43KGJYwdsgIU7D1na/HD%20Movies"]video of the Twin Tornadoes[/url].
  10. HeadcornWx
    [u][b]Sun 15th June 2014[/b][/u]
    Leaving our hotel Colby Kansas, we decided to leave todays risk and head North to Iowa positioning for Mondays significant potential over Nebraska/Iowa. An all-day drive took us out of Kansas, through Nebraska and eventually along I-80 to Lincoln where we exchanged the rather battered and bruised Jeep following yesterdays barrage of Hail.

    Along the way we saw town after town severely damaged by the straight line winds of upto 115mph the previous night. Whilst tornadoes generate a localised path of destruction, these straight line wind events can go on for 100s of miles and leave a huge trail of destruction.

    Crossing the Missouri we entered Iowa and headed North along its huge flood plain. Our final destination for the day was Sioux City, Iowa.

    Photos for the day can be found on the [url="https://www.dropbox.com/sh/htak3nmei1ga7c3/AABtqC4jOXJoJ8Xf7w2pj7B8a/Day%202%20-%20June%2015th"]Dropbox Gallery[/url]
  11. HeadcornWx
    [u][b]Sat 14th June 2014[/b][/u]
    [b]Denver Colorado: 4am Mountain Daylight Time[/b]
    After a good flight and 5hr snooze thanks mostly to a cheeky upgrade, arrived in Denver in good shape. Wide awake at 4am thanks to the jetlag so am blogging. SPC moderate risk for Very Large Hail, Damaging Winds and Isolated Tornadoes today for the risk area so we're headed out of here around 9-10 mountain time. Batteries charged for some hopefully great photos.

    [b]Post Chase Update:[/b]
    Wow! What an amazing day. The drive North East then south back towards Limon today revealed the development of massive supercell structure then just as we tried to head south we were caught under the base and touched the hail core being instantly hit by huge hail estimated at 4-5inches, Both cars smashed windscreens and dents following the event.
    This storm went on to line out and accelerate through the town we stayed in, speeding up eventually with forward motion around 115-120mph!

    [url="https://www.dropbox.com/sh/htak3nmei1ga7c3/AABCXNvhvrfTNxUvbwRY0nPPa/HD%20Movies/Jun%2014th%20-%20Limon%20Huge%20Hail%20-%20Courtesy%20Richard%20Mott.wmv"]Video of the Hail Encounter Courtesy of Richard Mott[/url]

    [url="https://www.dropbox.com/sh/htak3nmei1ga7c3/AAA1PN8XvBYupfipqJBPHJFda/Day%201%20-%20June%2014th"]Link to Todays Dropbox Gallery[/url]

    Follow our progresses as always on twitter [url="http://www.twitter.com/headcornweather"]@headcornweather[/url] and during chases on Spotter Network ID: Nick Parnell
  12. HeadcornWx
    [u][b]Fri 13th June 2014[/b][/u]
    After months of waiting and watching some excellent coverage of the past 3 tours, tour 4 is finally here.
    Friday 13th has been kind so far with a relatively quiet journey up to Heathrow T5.
    Oodles of time to spare and a 10 hour flight ahead now, but already SPC have issued a moderate risk for Day2 so we'll be hitting the ground running on Saturday. See you on the other side...
  13. HeadcornWx
    One word sums up todays chase. Amazing!
    We left Scotts bluff and temps/dew points were just about right to make the whole place feel juicy and ideal for development of severe storms later that day.

    As we headed west towards the Rockies we could see huge convection on top of the mountains. Things were looking good and soon these storms became severe warned.
    [sharedmedia=gallery:images:18429]
    Driving down toward the mountains to intercept, we passed the town of Wheatland and after about 5 miles could see the hook echo on radar and rotation markers. We waited and were joined by Matt Phelps from Extreme Chase Tours. Just down the road a funnel formed and for a few seconds the first tornado of the day was on the ground.
    [sharedmedia=gallery:images:18430]
    I don't think I've ever seen so many funnels in one day. A few minutes later one dropped nearby and golfball hail was falling everywhere with a few locals running for cover.
    [sharedmedia=gallery:images:18432]
    [sharedmedia=gallery:images:18431]
    We drove further south east and followed a new storm developing on the tail end of the system. This was starting to drop funnels.
    [sharedmedia=gallery:images:18433]
    [sharedmedia=gallery:images:18434]
    Soon the whole mesocyclone lowered and was rotating like a huge mothership just above the ground. As it left the high ground and moved out over the warm juicy plains this could only lead to intensification of an already monstrous system.
    [sharedmedia=gallery:images:18437]
    Driving further east we matched its speed driving alongside it, and could see rotation disturbance on the ground indicating a second tornado as shown in this [[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_03kwchkvj4"]YouTube Video[/url]] and the photos below.
    [sharedmedia=gallery:images:18435]
    [sharedmedia=gallery:images:18436]
    Further down the road another candidate touchdown, possibly outflow this time. Everything was happening so quickly. Amazing lightning from this system too as shown in this [[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xve0F-7P0fM"]YouTube Video[/url]].
    [sharedmedia=gallery:images:18438]
    Our final catch of the day happened after we crossed into Nebraska. Just beyond the town of Dix we saw radar indicated rotation. We pulled off the road and whilst looking at an area of rotation the sheriff next to us called in a tornado. To our right was this beauty [[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2cfwYxTOVs"]YouTube Video[/url]] which initially we thought to be a landspout but experts have said this too is probably a tornado off the mesocyclone. I was pleased to be asked for a copy of this photo for the Denver TV news that evening.
    [sharedmedia=gallery:images:18439]
    What a fantastic end to the day and to the tour. Steaks well deserved for dinner tonight!
    [sharedmedia=gallery:images:18440]

    As always a full set of photos on todays [url="https://www.dropbox.com/sh/9qb5ckmqu727jap/sUqeN87Z72/Day%2010%20-%20June%2022nd"]Headcorn Weather Dropbox Gallery[/url].
    I took 500 photos today and a huge amount of full HD video which will need editing. This will be published in due course and uploaded here so keep a watchful eye out. Some beautiful pictures to come once I get chance to fully review all of them.

    Tomorrow we head back to Denver and the flight home. It could be another interesting day with a chance of tornadoes on our route back so even the chance of a bonus Day 11 chase!
    Tour 5 this year has been great. We've seen some great places, met some great people and got to see the heartland of America.

    This is now my second year chasing with Netweather. Pauls knowledge is outstanding and he's done a great job getting us on the best storms of the day almost every day.

    From great structure to large funnels, funnels dropping by the roadside, huge hail, great
    lightning shows and finally 3 stunning tornadoes we saw it all against the stunning backdrop of the sparsely populated Northern Plains.

    To witness the immense power of nature up close is truly amazing but one must always treat it with
    the greatest respect. 2013 has been a year that will remain in everyones memory for a very long time to come following the devastation and loss of life in Oklahoma.

    This will hopefully make the scientific community even more determined to observe, report and analyse data to ultimately make predicting where and when the worst of these massive storms will strike more reliable.

    I've thoroughly enjoyed being part of the tour and intend to return in 2014, hopefully to the Northern Plains again.

    A very big thankyou to Paul, Dave, Ian and Netweather for making this such a great holiday.

    As always, if you've been following the blogs and want to know more about stormchasing with Netweather please visit their dedicated holidays website [url="http://www.weatherholidays.com"]Weather Holidays[/url].

    Thankyou for following. As mentioned above, I'll be uploading a few more photos and edits over the weeks to come onto the [url="https://www.dropbox.com/sh/9qb5ckmqu727jap/pu1luZ7OFJ"]Headcorn Weather Dropbox Photo Gallery[/url]. Please visit there to keep upto date.

    [i]One final word. Whilst chasing this year I learnt about the Storm Assist organization which has been setup by storm chasers to provide support to those directly affected by damaging weather events in the US. If you're able to support with a donation please visit [url="http://stormassist.org/"]STORM ASSIST[/url] where you can read of their work and make a direct payment via PayPal or Credit Card. Thank you.[/i]

    Until Next Time...
  14. HeadcornWx
    After a wild days chasing in North Dakota yesterday, a well deserved lay-in this morning.
    This was rudely disturbed around 7am by elevated storms to our south over the Badlands National park. These quickly turned severe with very large hail upto 4 inches reported and damaging wind gusts.

    They finally moved off to the East and by late morning we left for lunch in the South Dakota town of wall with its western themed buildings and bars.
    [sharedmedia=gallery:images:18426]
    The plan for the afternoon was to drive to the extreme Southwest corner of South Dakota for initiation of the storm. This we did, however apart from some close lightning, hail and basic structure the storms didn't deliver any visible rotation.
    [sharedmedia=gallery:images:18427]
    Tomorrow we head back into South Dakota for the final chase then a late night drive back to Denver for Sundays flight.

    The full photo set is available at the [url="https://www.dropbox.com/sh/9qb5ckmqu727jap/mCoLAhupDO/Day%209%20-%20June%2021st"]Headcorn Weather Dropbox Gallery[/url].
  15. HeadcornWx
    After a great night of lightning photography we left our hotel in Chadron, Nebraska and headed North into the green countryside of South Dakota.

    [sharedmedia=gallery:images:18404]

    Passing the Black hills and Mount Rushmore we headed first East then North towards the triple point where the cold, warm and occluded fronts meet; always a hot-spot for interesting weather wherever it occurs and where our storms would be initiating.

    As we approached the North Dakota stateline we could see the anvil from 75 miles out.
    After a frustrating delay in roadworks at the stateline we made the final push into North Dakota just outside the town of Strasburg.

    A wall cloud was already present and we followed the system on a farm road to a great viewing point.

    [sharedmedia=gallery:images:18405]
    Rotation was insane in multiple parts of the wall cloud which was quite linear in nature. Most promising was a large funnel which lowered ahead of us almost 3/4 way to the ground. This was well on the way to forming a wedge tornado but was sheared apart just like all the others.

    [sharedmedia=gallery:images:18406]
    This was the day of the funnels. They formed, they lowered and they retracted.

    Plenty of candidates and i'm sure there were a few people who may have called some of them as tornadoes. Either way it was great watching and some great opportunities to take photos over wide open country.

    [sharedmedia=gallery:images:18407]
    [sharedmedia=gallery:images:18411]
    [sharedmedia=gallery:images:18409]
    [sharedmedia=gallery:images:18410]
  16. HeadcornWx
    After leaving Burlington this morning we initially headed south for a dry line risk of storms initiating west of Lamar.

    [sharedmedia=gallery:images:18381]

    Whilst a few promising ones kicked off mid afternoon with a few CGs and some streamed on the webcam we decided to abandon this for the risk areas to the far North and east in the Dakotas and possibly Minnesota.

    Tonight we make the long drive North staying in Chadron. The final stretch now towards what could hopefully be a moderate risk over the next few days.

    As I write this we're driving North across the plains of Colorado and into Nebraska. The setting sun to our west and dust blowing across areas of parched landscape desperately in need of rain.

    [sharedmedia=gallery:images:18379]

    Finally we move into an area of greener farmland. We turn off the main highway and onto the country routes. Ian reminds Paul that it's only 50 miles to go on these dirt roads as we head further North into the darkness.

    [sharedmedia=gallery:images:18378]

    We get to see some great lightning after dark from the storms over Wyoming to our West as we punch through into Nebraska.These dark skies could be wonderful for nighttime photography over the next few days.

    [sharedmedia=gallery:images:18380]

    Totally different country ahead. The chase goes on...
  17. HeadcornWx
    After a stay in Burlington, Colorado, we left late morning only to find a dead battery in the SUV. [img]http://f.nwstatic.co.uk/forum//public/style_emoticons/default/help.gif[/img]
    This was quickly sorted with the help of the local police and we were soon on our way towards
    Denver and the [url="http://www.theweatherprediction.com/weatherpapers/013/"]Denver Cyclone Convergence Zone (DCVZ)[/url], an area renowned for spawning many of the tornadoes in eastern Colorado.

    After a stop in Limon, we waitied for Initiation of the DCVZ and headed west. Things happened very
    quickly and a tornado was reported at Denver Airport ahead of us which unfortunately we missed.

    We headed SE on I-70 towards Kit Casrson for the afternoon and were saw a couple of well formed
    funnels, one of which formed just north of the road and started to cross the road ahead of us
    before retracting back into the wall cloud, an amazing sight to see.

    [sharedmedia=gallery:images:18374]
    [sharedmedia=gallery:images:18373]
    [sharedmedia=gallery:images:18372]
    The storm also had an amazing shelf cloud associated with it and some intense gust front winds.

    [sharedmedia=gallery:images:18375]
    We're back tonight in Burlington. Tomorrows risk area currently is SE Colorado or the far high plains.
    A full set of photos can he found in todays [url="https://www.dropbox.com/sh/9qb5ckmqu727jap/8oDbmozijw/Day%206%20-%20June%2018th"]Headcorn Weather Dropbox Gallery[/url].

    Don't forget you can follow us live via the [url="http://www.netweather.tv/index.cgi?action=chaselive;sess="]Live Netweather Stream[/url] or on [url="http://www.chasertv.com/wall/"]Chaser TV[/url] as UKTWISTERHUNTERS.

    For those of you wishing to find out more about stormchasing with Netweather, or the other tours offered please visit the [url="http://www.weatherholidays.com"]Weather Holidays[/url] site.
  18. HeadcornWx
    Leaving North Platt today we headed back along our old favourite route I-80 west, a road that has become rather familiar over the past few days given the amount of chases that have centered around the East to West Nebraska areas.

    We headed to Ogalalla first of all for lunch in the western style saloon then once things started initiating we moved west towards Kimball.

    Realising that storms to the south had more potential, we took the decision to head south towards Brush and began chasing a huge supercell into North East Colorado which became tornadic spinning up a quick funnel captured by all of us on camera.

    Today was definitely the day of the Rainbows, or should I say Hailbows. It seemed everywhere we looked there was a rainbow and set against the stunning colours of the Colorado plains it looked quite amazing.

    [sharedmedia=gallery:images:18367]
    We stopped at a great vantage point and [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7RFjFx-ewA"]watched the mesocyclone over a farm[/url]. The wind was being drawn into the system and dust and small debris was being blown around. Quite an amazing experience with the ever present Hailbows always in shot as shown in this [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7RFjFx-ewA"]YouTube Video.[/url]

    [sharedmedia=gallery:images:18368]
    [sharedmedia=gallery:images:18369]

    The cell lost energy and we drove off, however as we followed a small county road towards Burlington it pulsed up again covering the fields with Hail as if it had been snowing.

    [sharedmedia=gallery:images:18370]
    Definitely a day to remember and hopefully to be repeated soon.

    Tuesdays Target looks to be Eastern Colorado again.

    Visit todays [url="https://www.dropbox.com/sh/9qb5ckmqu727jap/hcc-mcipgT/Day%205%20-%20June%2017th"]Headcorn Weather Dropbox Gallery[/url] for all the latest Photos!
  19. HeadcornWx
    We begun Day 4 in Sterling Colorado. Initially planning a chase into Nebraska then dropping south into Kansas. After meeting up with experienced chaser David Ewoldt, we watched the development of the cells near Madrid Nebraska from initiation to formation of supercells and a very deceiving formation which caught the eye of many viewers ... Our Scudnado!

    We then moved North to Ogallalla and Arthur as a large hailer developed to our North.

    Limited time to get the blog done today, however a few great photos online at the following link:

    [url="https://www.dropbox.com/sh/9qb5ckmqu727jap/M7vYyrRATh/Day%204%20-%20June%2016th"]Headcorn Weather Day 4 Dropbox Gallery[/url]
  20. HeadcornWx
    After a very late night of chasing down what seemed to be the last remaining hotel rooms in the state, we left Eastern Nebraska headed west for the risk area developing in North East Colorado.

    As we headed west, tops of the developing supercells were clearly visible over 200 miles away.

    Initially we headed towards Cheyenne then dropped south to intercept a line of promising cells. They were pulsing every few radar sweeps and just when we thought the storm was dead it burst back into life with an even greater amount of energy.

    Although some brief funnels spun up, the main feature of these cells was Hail. As we passed through the edge of the core we were greeted by ping pong ball sized pieces bouncing off the roof and road however just behind just this increased to baseball size and one of some of the other chasers weren't so lucky with a few broken windshields to mend.

    [sharedmedia=gallery:images:18351]

    One distinct advantage of traveling with an experienced team like Netweather is the equipment used. The barons radar system provides the latest radar information available allowing us to get close to the action but far enough away from anything that may cause problems!

    Heading further south into clear air, we had a great view of this majestic storm over the Colorado plains.

    [sharedmedia=gallery:images:18352]
    [sharedmedia=gallery:images:18353]
    [sharedmedia=gallery:images:18350]

    As always, for all the latest photos visit the [url="https://www.dropbox.com/sh/9qb5ckmqu727jap/pu1luZ7OFJ"]Headcorn Weather Dropbox Gallery[/url]

    Sundays Chase Target looks to be Kansas... We're hoping the Wizard can deliver something special over the plains today.
  21. HeadcornWx
    We left our hotel in Sidney (Nebraska not OZ!) early headed east towards a developing risk area on the Eastern Nebraska and Western Iowa state line close to the Missouri river.

    Temps quickly climbed through the 90s into the 100s and dewpoints were ideal for development of some impressive storms with plenty of available CAPE around 3500.

    [sharedmedia=gallery:images:18337] [sharedmedia=gallery:images:18336]

    As we aproached eastern Nebraska storms were already firing across Kansas. Initially we targeted the area from Norfolk Nebraska to Yankton South Dakota however after seeing a shift in the warm front we quickly dropped south towards Columbus. In front of our eyes along the warm front we could see the system exploding. Outside the car you could hear the roar of the storm gaining strength and inflow winds were being drawn in past us.

    [sharedmedia=gallery:images:18338]

    We positioned in the zone to the Southeast of the developing storm and waited.

    Structure was developing, and soon we had a photogenic classic supercell in-front of us.

    [sharedmedia=gallery:images:18349]
    The system developed into an MCS as the evening progressed.

    [sharedmedia=gallery:images:18340]

    We headed to the town of Blair and found a convenient gas station to shelter from the rain and winds then met up with Skip Talbot for a great BBQ dinner and some lightning viewing over western Iowa.
  22. HeadcornWx
    Day 1 began in Denver. After an early start we headed North to the Wyoming state line given the forecast SPC slight risk. All the way up we had great views of the Rockies out to our West and these provided much of the source of lifting for the storms that were to develop later in the day.

    [sharedmedia=gallery:images:18327]
    Following lunch we waited around the town of Wheatland, Wyoming for development off the Rockies which proved to be very slow to produce.

    [sharedmedia=gallery:images:18329]
    One cell looked promising. We followed this east where it took on supercell properties for a while before breaking down, however produced some reasonable sized hail.

    [sharedmedia=gallery:images:18328]
    South of us in Colorado on the lower end of the risk cells became tornado warned and dropped brief tornados today. Tonight we moved east into Nebraska ahead of what could be a significant day for the eastern part of the state. A 5% tornado risk has been issued by SPC.

    [sharedmedia=gallery:images:18330]

    As ever, a full set of photos is available from the [url="https://www.dropbox.com/sh/9qb5ckmqu727jap/pu1luZ7OFJ"]Headcorn Weather Stormchase Dropbox link[/url] and you can follow us at the [url="http://www.netweather.tv/index.cgi?action=chaselive;sess="]Netweather Chase Link[/url] or via [url="http://www.spotternetwork.org/google.php"]Spotter Network[/url] ID 'Nick Parnell'

    More Later...
  23. HeadcornWx

    Were Here!

    By HeadcornWx,

    Its finally arrived. After a very good and speedy flight over yesterday it was great to meet up with the team in Denver. Jet lag has set in nicely so after about 2 hours sleep I'm up writing the blog!

    I may not be so coherent later on our long drive North into Wyoming for todays slight risk area stretching from Southern Wyoming up into Montanna but it's a great way to start the tour. Some great views of the Rockies are promised on the way up.

    Tracking as usal via the[url="http://www.netweather.tv/index.cgi?action=chaselive;sess="] live tracking and streaming link[/url] network coverage permitting in the wilds of Wyoming.

    See the full tour photo gallery in my [url="https://www.dropbox.com/sh/9qb5ckmqu727jap/pu1luZ7OFJ"]Headcorn Weather Photo Dropbox[/url] updated daily.

    [sharedmedia=gallery:images:18324]
  24. HeadcornWx
    [size=5]I[/size]t's hard to believe but over a year has passed since my first stormchase with Netweather.

    In 2012 I joined tour 2 out of Dallas/Ft Worth, and although just 1 tornado we had storms most days with some amazing structure including a mothership supercell over Roswell of all places and this late afternoon stunner over the farmland of Oklahoma.

    In 2013 I'm joining tour 5 out of Denver destined for the northern plains of Colorado, Nebraska and the Dakotas. It promises to be an amazing trip and as always you can follow us live (network coverage permitting) via the [url="http://www.netweather.tv/index.cgi?action=chaselive;sess="]Live Video Stream Link[/url] with blog updates here, photo updates both here and via the [url="http://www.headcorn.org/html/stormchase.html"]Headcorn Weather Stormchase Page[/url] and twitter updates via [twitter]headcornweather[/twitter].

    Until June...
  25. HeadcornWx
    [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 and about.

    [attachment=134369:P1010362.JPG]

    We passed through the town of Greensburg which was previously devestated by a major tornado during the evening
    of May 4th 2007. Although much has been rebuilt, the signs of that day remain everywhere.

    We crossed the state line headed South into Oklahoma. Ahead of us we could see the dry line streaching South to
    North across the sky.

    [attachment=134370:P1010377.JPG] [attachment=134492:P1010384.JPG]

    As we watched, to our North we could see massive and intense build-up along the line. In just 15 minutes some of
    these storms went from nothing to being Severe Warned!

    We waited. At first it looked as if we'd chosen a point too far south. The cap was holding firm, then boom... the cap
    broke and convection started going up all along the dry line.

    [attachment=134371:P1010418.JPG]

    Moving on we picked a couple of good vantage points to watch the developing storms.

    Lightning was all around us and funnels were visible from many of the cells we saw.

    [attachment=134372:P1010467.JPG] [attachment=134373:P1010540.JPG] [attachment=134375:P1010572.JPG]

    [attachment=134376:P1010575.JPG] [attachment=134377:P1010594.JPG]

    Finally as dusk aproached and we drove through the town of Clinton, Oklahoma we looked West. There on the Horizon it was, our first Tornado on the ground.

    [attachment=134493:Tornado 5 Miles West of Clinton OK.jpg]

    - Acknowledgments to Dave Vicary for this video screenshot of the Tornado.

    We finished up the evening with the Storm coming over us from the safety of a Gas Station to provide protection from large hail and went on to witness an amazing lightning show.

    [attachment=134378:P1010637.JPG] [attachment=134379:P1010645.JPG] [attachment=134380:P1010648.JPG]

    [attachment=134381:P1010653.JPG] [attachment=134382:P1010658.JPG] [attachment=134383:P1010662.JPG]

    The people of Tornado Alley take this all in their stride. Whilst devestating, the chances of actually being the victim of
    a Tornado here are pretty small. Nevertheless, every year they strike and every year they impact on the lives of these
    people. With more knowledge comes beter systems to warn those who live here. Systems such as automatic cell-phone alerts are already being proposed and the more people understand the behaviour of the storms the greater warning times that can be given.

    I hope you've all enjoyed this brief insight into Tornado Alley, a tour which has taken us 4000 miles around America.

    This has been one amazing trip. Although pretty quiet on the Tornado front, some of the structure we've seen has been
    unbelievable. Netweather know how to make Stormchasing fun. Paul and Dave have done an excellent job in getting us
    to the best positions for the storms as well as all the general organisation.

    If you're still undecided whether to go or not, look back through the photos. You've gotta be prepared to travel to see
    the sights but you will see the real America, meet some wonderful people and see weather like you've never seen before!

    Thanks for reading.
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