Monday, March 31, 2008
Tennis ball hail earlier on OK-3 about 5 miles east of Lane, OK. This stone has been sitting in a cup for nearly an hour. We managed to find shelter and save the windows this time!
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Blasting south on I35 into north Texas.
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Sunday, March 30, 2008
Hail of a day today as we encountered the biggest hail I've seen since June of last year. Stones close to 3.5" in diameter crashed down on us in central Washita County and spidered my windshield as well as getting my first big hail dents in the van.
 
After the hail, we followed a storm well after dark til finally calling it a night in El Reno at the Super 8. We have another day upcoming tomorrow, so we shot north into Union City where we briefly took cover from 2.0" stones crashing into town.
Once the core cleared, we checked in for the night. Below are a few more shots from the day..
Full report to come later... need some sleep for tomorrow. Goodnight from El Reno!
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Sitting in Clinton, OK after an all-you-can eat lunch at the Cherokee Resturant and Trading Post. Prior to this, we were chasing controlled burns south of Sayre, Oklahoma where we got some wicked brush fire photos and video. Michael Carlson took some great photos of me in action and allowed me to post a couple, so here they are. I haven't processed my fire images yet, but they'll be up shortly.
  
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Can storms fire before dark... that is the question.
Reviewing the various models in hopes of finding signs of initiation before dark. The highest area of interest lies in northwest Oklahoma this evening near the triple point. There lies the better chances of earlier storm initiation. Further south along the dryline where forcing would be less, parameters are almost better in terms of moisture and CAPE, so if a storm forms down there, it will be one to watch.
As for tomorrow, a 30%-hatched areas from SPC covers most of eastern Oklahoma, southeastern Kansas, Missouri, and Arkansas. Southeast Kansas is not bad chasing, but further east and south of that leaves a lot to desire. I think I-35 is the western most extent of tomorrow's play, but the further east you go lies the better chances for discrete storms and possible strong tornadoes. The drawback with that is the obvious need to play in the trees. We're out and we'll chase it regardless, just hope we can get more favorable conditions. More on tomorrow later...
Today's plan still working itself out, but Woodward seems like the concensus for us to arrive at this afternoon. We are going to set up the chase vehicles before too long, then head on out. I'll probably let Carl drive us out so that I can wrap up the written portion of my Visual Basic midterm to which I finished the programming late Friday night. I can then zip all that up and have it ready for turn in before tomorrow night's deadline.
Live chase and blog will be active today and tomorrow, so stick around!
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Saturday, March 29, 2008
Sitting on Verne's floor in Amarillo after driving back out here! Seems like I was just here yesterday, and that's not that far of a statement.
Tomorrow holds good potential with the big question being whether or not storms can fire before dark. Darkness falls about 8pm local time, so we're hopeful that storms can fire within the last hour or so of light.
Tomorrow morning we're going to set up the vehicles. Michael and Eric Carlson drove down earlier in the day and will be with Verne in one vehicle. Carl and myself will be in the van. She's running pretty naked right now, but I'll get everything reinstalled in the morning.
More later... going to relax for the night and get ready for a couple big days.
Good night from Amarillo...
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Everything's a go for the next couple of days! Carl Young should be landing in Denver shortly after noon where we'll head straight down to Amarillo to meet with Verne and Michael for the night. From there, a quick shot out I-40 into western Oklahoma for Sunday. Verne and Michael will then split off and Carl and I will attempt to take on Monday in not-so-great terrain. From there, a break of a day or two to where I will return to Denver and get some work in before returning Wednesday night for Thursday's setup. I'll head home Friday.
All the gear is charged and ready to roll! I just have to run up into the hills to grab Verne's gear and all will be set! Updates from the road!
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Friday, March 28, 2008
A wacky week upcoming in the world of chasing in terms of setups. Sunday and Monday hold potential as well as the Wednesday/Thursday time frame I've been eying most of the week.
Carl Young and I have chatted and he'll be flying out Saturday where I will pick him up and drive down to Amarillo where we will meet Verne at his place. Prior to me getting Carl at the airport, I will be running up to Verne's house in Coal Creek Canyon to grab his gear to which he didn't bring down with him (hehe).
From Amarillo, we'd chase Sunday and Monday. This is where things get a bit interesting. I would fly back to Denver from wherever on Tuesday morning as I have to show my face on campus at least once next week to drop off some class projects and do a day at the station. If Wednesday looks like a chaseable day, I would fly back Tuesday night and meet up with Carl again for Wednesday and Thursday. If Wednesday looks quiet, I would work one more day then fly out Wednesday night and meet back up with Carl. While I'm back in Denver, I would leave Carl with my van and he'd come and get me later on. Thursday, or early Friday, I would drop Carl off in Tulsa for his event, then return to Denver Friday.
*deep breath* Midweek still is far enough out to where I don't have to solidify anything just yet, but Thursday has been on my radar for most of the week and I want to make sure I am covered to do that day. If you can believe the current GFS for 0z Friday, its showing CAPE over 3000 just west of OKC, so the interest is definitely there with that system. But, its a week out, so it could change, but its is definitely of interest to me!!!
Much more later...
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Thursday, March 27, 2008
Construction note... US Hwy 287/40 west of Kit Carson is a one lane zone that delays upwards of 20 mins. The Two Buttes construction from last year has been completed.
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She's back!
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Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Wrapping up my obligations for the day before I take the Chevy Malibu back down to Amarillo and get my van back. Last I talked to the shop yesterday, they informed me they were going to be finishing up today barring an issue with an ordered part. In all likelihood, even with an issue, it should be finished by tomorrow and thus I find myself pretty safe to head on down tonight.
While the company did make efforts to try and get some of my rental taken care of, the Topeka shop owned declined to help with that. While it wasn't a huge chunk of change, it would've been nice to have them cover something stemming from mechanical failure of an $1850 part. No big deal, though. Still would've been nice of them, though.
When all is said and done, I should be home by tomorrow evening and likely will go into work on Friday and enjoy a quiet weekend at home knocking out the rest of my homework and projects before Monday. Next week, perhaps Wednesday, sits the next potential chase opportunity. I enjoy the start of my staggered schedule next week as well, so I can easily swap shifts as need be to get back out. More on next week's potential chase later. In the meantime, going to take a leisurely drive to Amarillo and get a good dinner before coming back tomorrow in my van.
in the course of writing this, Denver's Mix 100.3 played a pair of great songs from REO Speedwagon and Roxette. Love these retro lunchtime blocks!
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Monday, March 24, 2008
Sitting at work over Spring Break and am less than impressed with any chase potential at all during the next seven days. The GFS isn't too excited about the Thursday system, nor am I. While it was nice to see SPC jump on board in their 4-8 Day outlook, even they seem less than enthused about the weather.
Regardless, I'm Amarillo-bound at some point during the week. My plans remain to head down Wednesday afternoon and come home Thursday. This assuming I do not chase. If I do decide to chase, I'll do it from Amarillo with a Thursday morning departure. Beyond that, there likely won't be any changes in those plans weather-related. If the van is late, then I'll adjust the trip from there. Otherwise I will probably be back home Thursday evening, go back to work on Friday, then enjoy a workless weekend before hitting the semester home stretch going into April and finally May.
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Sunday, March 23, 2008
Did some minor website updates as I've been a bit busy dealing with the van and other issues. Also had to find the USB cord for the pocket digital camera to pull the picture from St. Patrick's Day that shows our big time bust in Texas...
 They thought I could use some cheering up after hearing the transmission story. So with green beers, we busted on St. Patrick's Day!
I won't have a log covering the chase as there wasn't much to talk about after our 300 mile-jont back to Amarillo in second gear.
Still planning on being in Amarillo Wednesday night to get my van back Thursday morning. SPC finally highlighted a chase area on Thursday as well, so in all likelihood, there will be a quick break-in on the new transmission.
More later.. Hoppy Easter all! We had a 2-inch snow squall last night which had hardly anything left in it by 10:00am after the sun came out. We'll enjoy 60s to near 70 early this week.
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Friday, March 21, 2008
Looks like everything is a go to pick up the van next week. The time estimate is Tuesday, so to allow for extra time and make sure everything is good, I'll head down Wednesday night and pick up the van Thursday morning. Also worth noting a potential system moving through the plains about that time, so I may luck out with a chase about the same time. The lifetime warranty is good, so all seems well in that department.
As for next week's chase potential, a lot of wishcasting going into things at this point as I am hopeful for convenient timing with the pickup of my van. The system doesn't look over overpowering and actually has potential to be much of nothing, but its about the only thing on the runs over the next week. We'll see how it all evolves as time gets closer.
Next week is my Spring Break, so I'll spend the first two days at work, then probably work half a day on Wednesday and head down to AMA for the night after clearing up my stuff here at the station. If no chase evolves, I'll return home Thursday. If a chase looks to be after the fact, I'll either push back by one day the van's pickup, or stay an extra night.
More later!
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Thursday, March 20, 2008
Update on the van... the transmission suffered "catastrophic failure", losing 2nd and 3rd gears with reverse going as well. I called and talked to the shop yesterday and heard that it was definitely a transmission problem (glad that was clarified), but they hadn't been in touch with the Topeka shop where I had the first transmission rebuilt and thus purchased the lifetime warranty. He assured me everything looks good, but needs to make the confirmation. Unfortunately I heard nothing from them today as promised in regards to a time estimate on the van, but he was pretty confident that it would be much longer than Monday. Another unfortunate piece of news is that they will NOT be covering the rental car I am stuck with until repairs are done. However, I have already been in touch with the powers that be in terms of getting something worked out (I shouldn't have to pay if the shop is behind, IMO), so hopefully I'll catch a bit of a break there. But at this point, I have no real clue as to when I'll be getting the van back.
Weather-wise, the GFS is looking rather quiet through most of next week, my Spring break. With the vehicle situation I have before me, that may not be a terribly bad thing. But I do know at some point I will have to go back down there to get the van, so I'm hopeful I can get a chase in at some point around that, then swap out the rides along the way.
That's the status as of now... if I don't hear anything by mid afternoon tomorrow, I'll call them back. Can't say I am terribly satisfied with the service thus far between the rude greeting and lack of them contacting me with any news (again, I called them yesterday). I understand they are busy, but they are also well aware I am out of state in a rental I am paying for, so they'll have to forgive me for being pushy for info. As far as I am concerned, warranty or not, an $1800 major repair and rebuild should last more than the less than 2 years since the rebuild (granted at 50,000 miles). With that said, I feel I am deserving of at least that, especially since I paid an extra $600 for the warranty. I'll keep you posted.
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Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Back in Denver, and back at work. Always something my supervisors have enjoyed about me; even though my schedule gets choppy, I am always back at work the very next day regardless. After a weekend full of big busts, I'm back home. A few things to catch up on..
THE VAN
The van remains in Amarillo in the hands of AAMCO transmission specialists. I am hopeful to get the lowdown this afternoon as to the timeframe for repairs. The store manager was less than friendly and was obviously trying very hard to find a hole in my lifetime warranty coverage, including some BS about how buying the warranty after repairing the transmission differed from state-to-state. I reminded him kindly after pointing out my receipt for the warranty that it was paid for and accepted at ALL AMMCO locations. He also went through to make sure I did my annual check-ups and saw the last being less than a week ago. Regardless, I am slightly uneasy about the whole mess and fear I will not get the hassle-free experience they promise. I'm hopeful that repairs are completed by Monday so I can take minimal time from Spring Break and/or work to drive down to retrieve it. We'll see how it all unfolds, so stay tuned.
THE CHASE
The weather was a bust for all practical purposes which probably saved both Verne and I from some serious therapy had we left an area that would later explode. Fortunately that wasn't the case and we let out a huge sigh of relief as a result. I want to give HUGE kudos to Tom Dulong for meeting us and giving us that extra option and emergency lift if need be. Tom, thank you! Thank you! Thank you!!! The following day was a bust as well with a total of two reported tornadoes, including one less than a mile from my Grandmother's house in Corpus Christi, Texas (more on that below). The other tornado was in northeast Arkansas.
CORPUS CHRISTI TORNADO
One of the two tornadoes to touch down on Tuesday was a 100-yard wide EF0 that did some minor tree and fence damage in Corpus Christi less than a mile to the north from where my Grandmom and mom reside. The damage was limited to trees and fences, as well as shattered windows in vehicles and shingle damage to an apartment complex. No one was injured, fortunately. I'm waiting to hear back from my Grandmother (my Mom was at work on the island at the time) to get her reaction to that.
OHIO FLOODING
Heavy rains are hitting my old stomping grounds and my hometown is under a flood warning. The Scioto River in Circleville is expected to crest at just under 24 feet, 10 feet above flood stage for that area. While the town itself should remain unharmed aside from urban flooding resulting directly from the rains, areas north and west along US Hwy 23 will see extensive lowland flooding along the river. However, areas near Canal between Ohio and Mill Street southwest of downtown may see some minor flooding. The river at this point curves along Hwy 23 and gets closest to town in this area. Several smaller tributaries run into the river through town and may be cause of very localized concern. The creek along the YMCA on the east side of town is always good to watch overflow onto the bike paths in that area. Flood warnings are also in effect for various other areas of the state and flash flood warnings are also being issued for areas along the Ohio River in Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky as well as other areas being affected by this large heavy rain event.
That's pretty well it. My Spring Break starts upon leaving work Saturday evening, so between a hopeful chase and getting my van back, it oughta be a busy week between work shifts I cram in there. I'll keep you all updated.
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Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Throckmorton to Amarillo... 285 miles... all in second gear. Top speed of around 50mph, we made the trip in nearly 6 hours as we limped back from what turned out to be a big bust all across the board. The two tornadoes near and south of I-20 were way out of our target and we would likely have never seen either of them, so we consider the early retreat after the transmission failure a blessing.
Our original plan was to make it to Lubbock and rent a car from there. However, I figured we'd arrive in AMA about the same time at our current speed as we would dealing with the rental pickup and van drop-off. With that in mind and the van running as well as it could at 4000rpms, we pushed it and made it back to Verne's. This will give us a chance to unload, pick up the van, drop off the van at AAMCO and discuss things in person with a mechanic, then head home in time for dinner.
I'll have to return to Amarillo over the weekend to retrieve the van and perhaps get lucky and score a chase as well. This will be the second replacement of the transmission since I bought the van in 2005; fortunatly I opted for the lifetime warrenty, so I should be covered 100%.
Logs from today and older ones from the beginning of March should go up this week. This is the last week before Spring Break, so I am going to try and get caught up on the real world before next week's vacation.
Goodnight again from Amarillo... so glad we made it back.
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Monday, March 17, 2008
Limping back to Lubbock, TX after blowing my transmission outside of Throckmorton. Van in 2nd gear at 50 mph at best. Going to take advantage of AAMCO lifetime warrenty. More later...
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Sitting at Graham's Lake just north of Graham on US 380 waiting around. We're thinking the best chance for daytime tornadoes will be north of I-20 as models hint at the area around the triple point going around 0z before the dryline to the south goes around 2z (9:00pm CDT). We'll likely chase north and east towards to the Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex before calling it a night and going to OKC or back to Amarillo from there.
As today is St. Patrick's Day, I should throw up a picture in hopes it'll bring us some luck..
And of course, I wore Green...
Darrell Green that is...
More later...
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Gassing up in Throckmorton TX. Going to start drifting east.
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Admiring Claude, TX on our way southeast on Hwy 287.
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Sunday, March 16, 2008
Vernon by 1:00pm CDT... that's our final answer for tonight...
Based on model runs and guesses as to what the developing convection will do, we're going to shoot down Hwy 287 to Vernon and make the 175 mile trip from Amarillo. Once we arrive, we'll take a look at the obs and see how things are unfolding and decide if we move up to western Oklahoma, shoot down towards I-20, or hang tight in Vernon. The list of what-ifs remains large for tomorrow and will play heavily in how we advance through tomorrow.
As for the current situation, GRLevel3 radar is showing developing convection to our north and west. General tracks are running north/northwest at this point, so it may be a couple of hours before we see anything here in town. We likely will not make a huge effort to do much with things tonight, but a quick lightning photo or two may happen if things warrent.
Going to think about crashing here for the night and enjoying a decent night's sleep before tomorrow. We're hopeful for northern Texas or western Oklahoma as models are showing a sharp dryline play with a potential for a buldge in this area.
More in the morning... goodnight from Amarillo!
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Sitting at Verne's house in Amarillo hoping that tonight's planned convection doesn't happen. A weak cluster of showers developed west of us along the TX/NM border and is drifting northeast as we speak. The sun has finally broke through here in town giving some warmth to the 33 degree temperatures that welcomed us in when we arrived. Dews have slowly been increasing from the southwest and should continue to do so overnight. The big question with tomorrow is whether we can get around whatever crap develops tonight. SPC's slight basically covers the midnight to 6am time frame when conditions peak for storm development. Not expecting tornatic storms, but may get some hailers in places. It should all move northeast and hopefully leave southwestern Oklahoma and northern Texas alone overnight and prime for tomorrow's setup.
More later...
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Verne and I in Pueblo aftter battling fog and snow.
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Quick update this morning as Verne will be here in an hour and we'll take off for the Panhandles. Everything's a go for the next two days starting with todya. Our chase will be dubbed a "Spotter" chase as its on-the-way to Monday's setup. We're hopeful for hail and lightning this evening. Perhaps if the low level jey kicks in and squares up a bit more moisture, enough shear exists to present weak tornatic potential. Again, not something we're eyeing, but it could chance the complexion of today if that falls together. Verne will be riding down with me, so I have to do a quick vehicle prep to make room for the planes and other gear. We'll base in Amarillo tonight after our trip concludes. More from the road...
Remember the LIVE CHASE PAGE will be online...
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Saturday, March 15, 2008
A lot of changes in the forecast for the next couple of days, but all is still a go for the trip. Snow has returned quickly into the Denver forecast as Winter Storm Watches have been posted in a hasty response to the changing models. The GFS, while looking best for chasing, is progging about 4-8 inches of snow for Denver Sunday night into Monday. This won't be a MAJOR storm, but it'll make for a fun morning rush hour. I need to solidify my permissions and likely will do web work for the station on the road just to make sure I am able to help while I'm gone.
As for the chase trip, tomorrow is also starting to evolve into an interesting day. Almost as much as Monday in terms of storm chances. Tornado chances not so much, but hail and lightning may be on order. Will probably leave midmorning for the Oklahoma Panhandle via the Limon/Lamar route (Hwy 287/385) and set up between Guymon and Dumas.
My alert will go to severe later this evening once I get some time to do some website work. Also gonna activate the live chase page again for this chase. Will update again later tonight or in the morning.
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Monday's setup continues to beckon the attention of chasers and I continue to make plans for a trip back to Texas starting as early as tomorrow. As it stands right now, I'll meet Verne at his place in Amarillo tomorrow and we'll head out in one vehicle for west-central Texas for Monday. Tuesday still remains a question for me, so we'll return to AMA at some point either late Monday or early Tuesday to get back to our own vehicles. I'll probably decide better in the coming days, but its still under serious consideration. I haven't had a real chance yet this morning to pour over the models, but my quick glimpse still maintains a decent severe weather threat on Monday across west-central Texas.
Last night, a possible tornado struck downtown Atlanta. Fortunately it was not as bad as it certainly could've been. As of this writing, there have been no fatalities and only a handful of injuries. The tornado tracked from northwest to southeast across the metro area damaging a handful of buildings and hitting the Georgia Dome during a college basketball game. Again, it was very fortunate this event wasn't worse.
That's the big news right now... I am still waking up, so I haven't coherently looked at much. Will update again this afternoon with my plans.
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Friday, March 14, 2008
Chances remain decent for a chase on Monday and plans continue to unfold in that direction. Latest models continue to show a decent setup in central Texas on Monday. Latest runs again keep the 500mb low way south along the US/Mexico border, but I will keep a targte along and just north of I-20. In fact, was eyeing Sunday evening as a chase chance as well with the potential to shoot some lightning in the evening. SPC slapped a 'See Text' over the Texas/Oklahoma panhandles for late Sunday and has mentioned hail as a possibility as well. Pending the instability that actually shows up, there may be a higher risk outlook issued for the area. Regardless, using the "on-the-way" excuse, I may leave mid-morning Sunday for the panhandles and go for my first lightning shots of the season. Pending where that "chase" ends up, may actually suit me a bit better for Monday's target in west-central Texas. Tuesday also needs to be watched in the event the system slows enough to warrent a chase in east-central Texas. That's still far enough out to keep it sketchy, but will be played as it comes. I don't think I'll end up in Mississippi for this one, so it won't be as far a drive home if I play it.
More from me later... shifted into 'MODERATE' as things continue to hold together for a chase as soon as Sunday.
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Thursday, March 13, 2008
Monday continues to show spunk for the southern plains. I like spunk... spunk is good. The other question is will the cold side impact the northern front range and Denver? The ECMWF has the low bottoming out well south of the region keeping all the messy stuff out of Colorado. The GFS has a bit more promise to it as it tracks the low up through Kansas. SPC has joined in the fun highlighting Monday on their 4-8 Day Outlook and also mentioning Tuesday as a potential day as well. With the usual bias of the models to be too quick with the system, I'd say there is a remote chance Tuesday may come into play if it holds in the same general area. Seeing as I do have work and school on Wednesday, I'd rather not leave myself with a 900 mile drive back home on Wednesday. Still far enough out for either day to not make any commitments either way. I will step up my alert to slight and perhaps even to moderate later today or tomorrow if trends continue to point that direction. The only fly in the ointment would be the potential for a major snowstorm on Monday here in Denver that would require me to hang back and work. We'll see how it all evolves.
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Wednesday, March 12, 2008
A quick update in regards to the next several days... SPC has thrown out a 30% hatched slight for Friday across Arkansas, western Tennessee, and northern Mississippi and Alabama. I have already ruled myself out for that due to a Friday morning midterm and other tings going on this weekend I am better suited to be at. Not to mention the Monday system still in the cards that will possibly get me out as soon as Sunday. The real question with Monday, and the GFS has also been consistent with this, is lack of moisture after Friday's system sweeps through. Recovery of the airmass may not occur in time for the Monday system, thus lacking the fuel it needs. However, quick return time can certainly happen, so its definitely not being ruled out. If a chase does unfold, the strength of this system will mean very fast motions. 500mb winds are progged to be at or above 100kts during this time frame and that could make for some helacious speeds across the target area. Again, it all bears watching and I will continue to do so through the rest of the week. If Sunday doesn't shape up for anything, I'll use it as a leisurely travel day for Monday and return home Tuesday.
More later...
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Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Work on the van's interior was completed as of an hour ago. I installed the last radios and wired up everything. Technically, there is one last piece of work needing to be done, but she's ready to roll as of now. That final piece of work is to figure out why when transmitting on my CB does it knock out the USB devices on my laptop. I think its an antenna issue, but I have tried two different ones only to have the same problem. I'll leave it as is for now until I figure out a solution. Everything else fired up just fine, transmitted without issues, and scanned well. All while not exploding in my face! Thanks again to Ace Hardware for allowing me to buy ONE piece instead of a dozen in a package.
Did my annual checkup on my brakes and transmission, both lifetime covered parts. Both checked out just fine. I may dump a few hundred bucks into some repairs on the van Thursday just to get everything up to speed. Tires and everything else I did last year and most are still in good shape. Depending on how much early season chasing I do before Mayathon will determine whether I need to look into new tires for summer.
Still eyeing the potential for a chase or big snowstorm in the Sunday/Monday timeframe. The GFS has been very consistant in bringing a very strong storm system into the CONUS late in the weekend, so its a safe bet at this point to say something will happen somewhere. At this point, it doesn't look as if the system will close up and bring a giant snowstorm to Denver, thus I will remain well focused on the warm sector for severe chances. Sunday looks good in the Texas panhandle/western Oklahoma, but that's certainly up in the air. This is all coming from the 500mb charts as I really haven't dug into the surface features at this point. Those won't come into play til Thursday or Friday as they will change a hundred times within its own run before then (sarcasm, but close). Either way, I'll continue to watch.
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Sunday, March 09, 2008
Spent a good chunk of today's lovely weather wrapping up the radio installation in my van. I mounted the second HAM radio and assembled the quick-release systems so the radios can be removed and reinstalled quickly and easily. I still need to wire up the second HAM radio as I was missing a connector I thought I had, but that should be a quick fix Tuesday.
Denver-area forecast discussions are talking about a system late next weekend that "may have our number". The latest GFS shows this as a very slow moving system that could bring a multi-day chase scenario setting up across the southern plains and also could result in a rather big snowstorm for the front range. The talked about system midweek has pretty well fallen off the map at this point, so I'm not terribly concerned with any chase possibilities. The weekend system has had a few runs behind it, so I'll keep tabs on it through the week.
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Saturday, March 08, 2008
As of today, I have wrapped up all non-school/non-work obligations and have a mostly free schedule to get me through the end of the semester for any and all chasing that arises between now and then. I'm happy to say my biggest questions sit with my scheduling of my chase time come the end of my semester. I will again be chasing with Tim Samaras and his crew for a part of the spring/summer months. The timeline of that has ye tto be nailed down, but I would imagine that clearing up in the coming weeks. I'm so beyond excited for it, you have no idea! I can barely sit still with anticipation of getting out on the road for such an extended period of time. While last weekend's chase was less than great weather-wise, it was more than enough to send me over the edge in terms of wanting more than just to chase. I want to hit the road!
Spring Break kicks off two weeks from tomorrow, and starting April 1, I go to a modified work/school schedule that gives me Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays off for the rest of the semester. I am trying this approach as opposed to previous years where I took all my days off in a row. In doing this, not only do I stagger my work days, but it gievs me a bit more flexibility with my changing shifts in the event I end up chasing. The downside, I am always having to take a day off to chase, but with the scattering of those days, I can easily make up the hours missed and take few days off over a multi-day stretch. Last weekend was a good example as I only missed Monday's hours at work and school in exchange for leaving Saturday evening and returning home Tuesday night.
Tomorrow I go back to work on my van in terms of preparing her for the chasing season. I have some mechanical work, mostly optional stuff, that I would like to get done and may do so on Tuesday. I also need to renew my plates for the new county I'm in. As for tomorrow, the completion of the radio installations in pretty well all I have left for the interior. Everything else is out-of-vehicle and can be done at just about any point during the week.
Last weekend's run gave me a chance to test out my field gear and with a few small additions, I am very happy and set for all of that. A small setback is my chasing laptop has a busted optical-rom drive that I cannot find the broken piece to (my cats are likely to blame). It was on my list of parts to replace and will probably find an Ebay replacement this week.
Meanwhile, my old stomping grounds took on the biggest snowstorm in quite a few years this weekend. Some areas around my hometown of Circleville, Ohio saw upwards of 20 inches of snow! For them, that's unheard of. Unconfirmed reports from WBNS-10tv in Columbus say that the 24 hour record for snowfall was shattered with 15 inches falling during that time. Fortunately the storm hit Friday night through today and probably lessened the blow had it come through midweek. I'm curious to see reports from the Wilmington NWS office with totals and other goodies. Of course, I'll be bothering my hometown friends for their details and pictures as well.
That's all I have right now. Enjoying a quiet weekend after moving my good friend, Krista this morning. GFS is being watched for the next possible setup. Midweek this week and way the hell out at the end of the loop (10 days). I rarely take stock in anything more than five days out unless its amazingly consistant, but the overall synopsis hints to me a potentially active pattern is on its way.
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Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Back at work after a three day road trip that covered nearly 2800 miles from Colorado to Mississippi. To correct my log from last night, the chase from Mississippi will sit second behind last year's June 7 chase to Wisconsin where I racked up nearly 1850 miles on a single chase. I split the drive home over two days, so I had spaced it out last night. The 1818 miles to and from Mississippi is second place to the 2007 Wisconsin chase. Another funny mileage fact from the weekend, after the Oklahoma chase, I was sitting at 2424 miles for the season. When you add the 1818 to that, the mileage flips to 4242. Just a funny play on numbers.
I have all my images pulled from the camera and will begin processing them over the next few days. I have a lot of data to go through as well, so my logs will be a week or so in the making. One thing I am going to try and do is get more use from my GPS logs to better identify where I was and when. I'm going to start fiddling with that for these logs.
As for the dry-run, a helluva way to break in White Lightning on the year. I still have some interior setup to complete, but everything worked great. The Sprint card with the amp was connected about 99% of the time with just two drop outs during the chase (both were quickly reconnected). The amp again proved invaluable in terms of holding that connection. Seems all the problems with my Stormlab software have been figured out. Sunday I was unable to get Spotter Network to work, but turns out I was missing the last letter of my ID code, so that went up for Monday. GPS with both Topo 7 and Street Atlas worked fine the entire time. The van itself displayed no problems and even boasted a 30+ mpg rating on the way out thanks to winds at my back. I returned to normal the following days when the winds were against me. The van ran smooth and I came across nothing that put me into worry. I started her up this morning like nothing had ever happened.
So lots to do this week, both chase-related and not. But I have made it back to Denver and look to sit in a quiet pattern through the weekend before the GFS shows another system pushing into the plains midweek. Being a week out, nothing I'm going to start tripping over yet, but now that we've jumped into March, the season will quickly begin to ramp up!
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Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Have arrived safely home after the Mississippi grunge bust breaks a 6 year old record for longest single chase ever by 4 miles. Details and pics from this weekend coming in the next few days...
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... on a steek!
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Lunch time! Halfway home and need a good, Texas steak! Yummerz!!
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Passing thru Dallas. Hail Skins... Hehehe
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Hitting the road from Tyler, TX. Its about 900 miles via Hwy 287 back home.
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Monday, March 03, 2008
Stopping in Shreveport, LA for gas, Taco Bell, and a wizz. Staying at thr Tyler, TX Days Inn before tomorrow's marathon back to Denver. Busted near Jackdonville but had a blast. Details and great stories later.
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Crossing the Mighty Miss and setting up for the day in Vicksburg.
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Passing thru Longview, TX on I20 giving the squall line a prostate exam. Hoping to be on the dry side within 30 minutes.
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Took a look at things today and will go ahead with plans to chase. My initial target is Monroe, LA with a secondary target of Jackson, MS. My thoughts on today are basically to pick a spot in the path of an oncoming supercell and let it come at me. The unfavorable terrain combined with high storm speeds will make this a sit and watch it fly by event.
As for the trip home, I have three options in terms of routes from Jackson, MS. The first is backtrack along I-20 into Dallas and can then either go via Hwy 287 thru Amarillo or interstate the trip along I-35 to Salina, then over to Denver via I-70. The second is up to Memphis, then west through Little Rock and OKC, then up along I-35 to I-70. Lastly, I could go north out of Memphis via I-55 to St. Louis, then west all the way home to I-70. My initial thoughts are to drive to Memphis tonight, then I could feasably make what would then be an 1100 mile trip home Tuesday. The differences in the I-35 verses the I-55 in terms of mileage is less than 30, so its negligable in terms of what would be fastest. However, the Hwy. 287 drive would shave about 90 miles off the trip, so I may consider that option if for some reason I do not make it to Jackson today.
The squall line according to GRLevel3, isn't even to Tyler, TX yet, so I think once I get into LA, I will be east of the line. It hasn't moved a lot in the five hours I slept, so I'm hopeful I can get ahead of it fairly quickly. While western Mississippi is my favorite pick in terms of targeting, I imagine I'll pick up my first discrete storms in Louisiana just after noon.
With that all said, I am going to get packed and hit the road. I want to give kudos to Verne Carlson and Amos Magliocco for allowing me to crash at their places the last two nights. I've saved myself the equivilent of about three tanks of gas that I'm sure will be used by day's end. Thank you guys so much for the place to stay.
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Sunday, March 02, 2008
Made it to Denton, TX along with Amos Magliocco and am awaiting to see how tomorrow is looking. Right now, I'm sitting at about 85% to chase tomorrow in LA and perhaps as far east as Mississippi. If there's a huge shift east of the main target, I'll back out of tomorrow's setup and begin to head home. Otherwise, I'll play tomorrow until about dark where I'll turn around and get as far west as I can. From there, it remains up in the air what will happen. I would like to try and be back home Tuesday night, and from Jackson, Mississippi, it's 1300 miles back to Denver. I've flirted with the idea of leaving my van at an airport and flying back home for the week. I would then return Sunday to retrieve my van and come home that night.
A long 48 hours upcoming for me as tomorrow will lead me a long way from home. Barring a major eastward shift in the target, I will be out tomorrow. How I get home and when I get home will be determined per where I turn around to run west. More in the morning.
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Heading north out of Vernon toward Altus to get on north side of apparent dryline buldge.
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Sitting at Sonic in Childress, TX grabbing some lunch. I'm with Verne, Michael, and Eric Carlson at the moment. We're likely to head to either Vernon or Wichita Falls (God help me) and then drift north a bit. The dryline has just passed us as the dews here went from 52 to 48 in the last ob. See a bludge developing and thus may drift to get on the north side of it.
As for tomorrow, I am reconsidering and may decide to make the trip east for tomorrow's setup. Many logistical issues exist with doing this, but I am working some avenues to keep the option open. Won't worry too much about that til tonight when I determine what it'll take for me to get into prime position should I go after Monday's setup.
More later...
By the way, the live chase page IS active. I am only running the Stormlab radar at this time, but it'll keep you updated on my position as well as the storm I am on. Check it out here.
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Good morning from the same place I said good night last night. We're gathering our wits and waking up to the morning runs. An adjusted target sits along a Lawton, OK to Wichita Falls (aack) line. The WRF Precip Graphics model hints at convection breaking out as far west as the eastern Texas Panhandle. Very interesting to see how that unfolds through the day. Without question, definitely no hurry to race out of here. Will probably spend the morning fine tuning the van's setup.
Tomorrow went moderate with a 45% hatched, mostly in Louisiana and western Mississippi and actually stretching up to near Memphis. I've already called off tomorrow, but would have the option to make a massive marathon if I really get tempted. We'll see how things work out today and we'll worry about changing my mind later! LOL
More from the road!
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Saturday, March 01, 2008
I arrived about 15 minutes ago to Verne's place here in Amarillo and am about to crash for the evening. I filled up my tank after riding the wind through New Mexico to a crazy 32mpg! Never before have I done that well in the van. Having 30mph gusts right at your back the entire stretch of Hwy 87/64 between Raton and Clayton will definitely help! That and the construction was done and the road was 70mph except for the "Safety Corridor" where its 65 (lights on for safety). Anywoo, everyone here is crashed out and I am going to do the same. The Day 1 has a very large SLIGHT RISK over Oklahoma and North Texas. Definitely looks as if we'll be shooting a few hours east of here for tomorrow's action. A 5% tornado risk is also up; have read or looked at nothing other than the graphic, but will dive into things more in the morning. Goodnight from Amarillo! So nice to be back in Texas! :o)
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Capulin Volcano... AT NIGHT!!!! Oooo!
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Walsenburg was a good idea. Gas in Raton is a fleecing 3.29 a gallon. Go me! Go me!
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Topping off in Walsenburg hoping to avoid the fleecing for gas in New Mexico. Paid 3.04 a gallon here, so we'll see how it looks in Raton.
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Everything's a go for the drive to Amarillo. SPC's Day 3 outlined the area I was thinking would be Monday's target. An area and a setup I'll happily pass on in exchange for the road trip and time with the Carlson's and other chase buds I run into our there. I'm on campus now with the gear stowed in the office, all ready to go per my 5:00pm punch out. I anticipate rolling into AMA between 11p and midnight central time. Verne has graciously offered me some space at his new digs in AMA, so I'll have the night in the hotel.
My return trip is slated for Monday, but pending how far east I elect to chase, I may opt to splitting the trip home over the two days if I end up far enough. We'll see. Having a day off following my return wouldn't be so bad. We'll play it by year. Bottom line is I am in no hurry to rush back Monday.
The GFS took over the WRF's position as the preferred model overnight, so its interesting to see the differences in terms of what we're rooting to verify now. I'm not terribly confident in the setup, but under the circumstances, it's just for fun! If I had to set my chances and goals for Sunday, lightning after dark would end up being my big play. Supercell and tornado chances, at least IMO, are fairly low. Hail, while a bit better, isn't terribly great either. But its an early March chase in northern Texas with friends! I'd be crazy to say no to such a thing! Maybe we'll be surprised and rewarded for our efforts. Either that or I take the opportunity to officially celebrate my Tennessee catch with the Big Texan in AMA!
More from the road unless something insane changes. All gear, the van, McLean, and myself are ready to roll come 5pm!
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