Thur, Apr 23rd
I was sure I wasn’t chasing this one, since I had to obtain a fresh windshield. My first target was north central Texas anyway, disgustingly close to the metroplex, so I was fine with getting the car ready for the road and then leaving Amarillo for northern Oklahoma to get set up for the next day in Kansas. It turned out Safelite Auto Glass had the same tech support as I do. Their database showed that they had my glass in stock, contrary to reality. They said it might be Monday before they could get it. I took deep breaths. What would Saddam do? After a series of phone calls, a suitable windshield turned up somewhere in Amarillo, and by 11am I was ready to go. Maybe not everyone should own a gun. Since I had to wait a half-hour to let the adhesive cure, I went down the street for lunch and a look at the latest data. Colorado began to call me. I have to admit spc inspired this drive. I had looked at eastern Colorado early in the day and thought, “Brrrrr.” When I read the spc update I took a close look and saw the possibilities, it looked like an easy drive. I wanted to shoot time-lapse and lightning anyway, and I could still be set up for Friday when it was over.
My cell coverage vanished as I crossed into Colorado. I thought of the growing number of chasers who lament having abundant data while on the road, and how they missed the old days of organic chasing. Just come to southeastern Colorado, folks. Bring some kale. The ranchers out here love kale. It got really organic in a heartbeat. I figured this would happen and was prepared to just evaluate the storms visually, without radar, as we did in olden times. It was not long before I could see the cells coming off the mountains. The number of storms, and their intensity given the lean moisture, surprised me. One cell north of I-70 was even tornado-warned. The activity in my preferred area, the southeastern part of the state, was mostly isolated cells (good) but not as intense (bad). I stayed south, because of the increasingly linear character of the storms in northern Colorado. Cell coverage had improved and I had survived this brush with organic chasing. After venturing up to Eads, I went east and then south to a lackluster storm moving south of Lamar. I confess to gunshyness after what occurred in Hereford the day before, so I stopped in Granada to shoot a double rainbow on the storm’s west side and consider blasting east into Kansas. The updraft was maturing which meant the hail would get larger with time.
I followed the storm into Kansas as it got better because there was nothing fresh coming off the Front Range. At about this time Dodge City issued a tornado warning based on the radar. I skirted the north edge of the storm and made it to Syracuse with just some small hailstones, thus christening the new windshield. Around Syracuse’s suburbs, I observed repeated tornadogenesis failures. Not being judgmental, just saying. It was fun to watch, something weather nerds do.
I went a mile south of Syracuse to watch another cycle of shame. A huge mass of rain-cooled air condensed and attached to the base while rotating, and yet coming to nothing but humongous outflow. There were no tornado warnings during this phase. I wanted lightning, and I wanted a decent night’s sleep, and an easy route to Dodge City for a room. None of these things did I receive.
The storm dropped two-inch diameter hail as it rode the main road east out of Syracuse, so I dropped two dozen miles south and then headed east for Dodge. During this dash the storm developed a lovely hook and got another tor warning. I watched in the lightning as it developed a magnificent inflow tail and lowering but saw no debris. Sure looked good, though.
Amazingly, there was enough low cloud to ruin another lightning possibility. Probably just as well, given my fatigue. I’m not driving a prodigious number of miles each day, but I am playing 8-dimensional chess with the atmosphere, road network, photography, various electronics, and the clock. I also had to endure the Cubs bullpen and the Giants near-loss via siriusxm,.The human brain is an eternal miracle and I sure do want one.
Criminy. I cannot believe that the only confirmed tornado report west of Florida was the storm in northeastern Colorado during the afternoon. Am I worshipping the wrong Gawd, or what? Vivid stars punctuated by flying electricity near Garden City entertained me enough to keep me awake until I got to Dodge, but not by much. Still, this was another decent day. My forecasts have been good. I am getting good pictures. Could be worse. And tomorrow should be the best day.
