A cold front finally broke days of near 100 degree heat across northeast Kansas. The front and associated showers pushed through Lawrence, KS near sunset on the evening of 27 June 2009. A spectacular display of color resulted as the virga and showers turned a vibrant pink. The color was possibly enhanced with the presence of scattered ash from volcanic eruptions off the coast of Alaska.
June 11, 2009
Started the day in GLD and made LIC my preliminary target from a road option perspective. Jumped on the initial cell north of Boone, just east of Pueblo. After being somewhat high based, it quickly organized and drifted a touch south of east, throwing up to 2.25" hail on my east dirt road option. I noticed a new large tower and low base to the south, so I elected for pavement and reemerged on Hwy 50 near Fowler. Was in good position from south of Rocky Ford to Swink to discover the southern storm's updraft had suffered some sort of traumatic dry air intrusion, perhaps from RFD. Noticing still excellent structure on the cell north of La Junta, I made a concerned effort to reposition on it. There might have been a ~2 minute tornado 5 N Hadley. A somewhat laminar-looking tube condensed under the wall cloud with obvious cyclonic motion. It maintained its structure during this duration and my initial impressions in the field was a tornado, although I was a good 5 miles away. Otherwise, it was quite a structure show! I spent a lot of time near Ft Lyon watching an amazing vault, before dropping south of Hwy 50, stopping intermittently from Caddoa to Prowers to Lamar. I was fortunate to find a rain-free overlook at sunset south of Prowers to enjoy amazing storm structure with rich color. At twilight, I had hoped to drop south of Lamar and shoot some lightning stills, but a one-lane construction zone on Hwy 287 stopped traffic just as the supercell was approaching. 2"-2.50" diameter hail in the vault crossed the highway shortly after. Regardless, a fantastic day...
June 5, 2009
Made the long drive to western Nebraska and watched the previously tornadic storm in far western Wyoming. The storm presented excellent structure throughout its lifespan. First observed the storm in between Harrisburg and Bridgeport, NE and followed it southeastward to Osborne by sunset. A decent cloud-to-ground lightning show near the vault occurred at twilight. More photos and summary to eventually follow.
May 13, 2009
Followed a long-lived severe storm with Deroche from Emporia to Westphalia to Bronson, KS. The highlights were modest storm structure, a couple rounds of golfball sized hail, and a spectacular mammatus-filled sunset near Fulton, KS. I hope to include additional photos and a summary shortly.
View the 2009 chase accounts for new photos from 2009.
Observed 3 tornadoes near South Plains / Cedar Hill, TX this evening. The first tornado was a long, skinny rope originating from an old occluded updraft to my north in the vicinity of South Plains. The second tornado was a spectacular fat cone that eventually narrowed with time. The tornado was approximately 10 minutes in duration from 6:06pm to 6:16pm. It crossed Ranch Road 97 roughly 2 W Cedar Hill, snapping several power poles. After crossing the road, the tornado moved ESE for its lifetime. As the second tornado was roping out, a third tornado was observed from a new area of rotation to the east of the ongoing tornado. This tornado persisted for less than 5 minutes before dissipating. The supercell then evolved more into a HP, making additional observations challenging.
April 18, 2009
The photos above were taken 8 N Burrton, KS in central Kansas from a tiny severe storm that produced copious amounts of hail in a narrow swath.
View the 2009 chase accounts for new photos from 2009.
March 30, 2009
The photo above was taken across portions of the Flint Hills in eastern Kansas from non-severe convection on 30 March 2009.
View the 2009 chase accounts for new photos from 2009.
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