6/2 Supercell-O-Rama
June just kicked May's butt yesterday. May got "owned". Once again, I tally up another "most memorable chase" to June. The sad state of affairs of course is I screwed up my camera shots (out of focus, frame offset) and didn't get enough distance in time to capture the best looking updraft structure I've ever seen personally or in others' photos. I have never seen an updraft structure like I saw yesterday.
The entire "barrel" updraft was perfectly striated in multiple layers in a corkscrewed or "barber pole" fashion. I'm even talking about the anvil, yes, the ANVIL level, where you could see the feathery part of it (precip) in sync with the striated updraft and wrapping into the top of the storm. From surface to 50,000 feet, this baby was rotating like crazy. I was in complete awe and a state of total chaser nirvana. :-)
For the report....it's a long one, so if you want to see the pics and skip this....scroll down. :-)
Started off the day targeting Lubbock/Hobbs/Midland vicinity. I sat around Wolfforth for awhile. Everything I was analyzing said that was the best place to be...right up to 5pm. I kept eyeing the bubbling boundary up around Hereford/Happy, but I was going to stick to my guns as i watched some healthy Cu continue to challenge the cap. I thought the stuff up there would become multi-clusterish which I had expereinced abit too much of in 2007. However, the storm around Hereford got going and it became clear on satellite that the cap was holding on a bit stronger in my target area. By 5:30, I could see the Hereford storm's updraft and that alone made an convincing argument to go play with it.
As I caught up to it near Dimmit, the updraft was impresive, but it was a high based storm...nothing special. In fact, I expected it to intensify and gust out quickly with dewpoint depressions running around 30F and weak 850mb firecast winds. However, I knew that storm motions would be SE and moving into much better moisture. In addition, the inflow wasn't weak...but more like 15-20 knots. AND, the storm was practically stationary....very important. The storm-relative winds in the mid and upper levels were marginal to ideal. Stationary storms also have a tendency to be strong devient movers eventually. This one had all the makings of a southward moving storm. But, I was still thinking it would becoming outflow dominant.
After about an hour though, I noticed that the precip core was really getting spread out downstream nicely from the updraft base...a nice separation. The precip core wasn't that heavy. The updraft base becaome more organized and started lowering as the better moisture started feeding into it. They popped a SVR on it and I watched this thing morph into a nice supercell with a screaming eagle appearance on radar along with some rotation evident in the cloud base. I got all giddy because it became clear this was going to become an intense isolated supercell!! No more clusterd crap or linear segments! Woohoo! :-)
It then began a southward drift and looking even better. As I maneuvered to stay in place, I saw an intense outflow jet knife out of the precip area (RFD?) into the updraft area. Interestingly, the inflow picked up abit. The wall cloud really got organized quickly and the rotation became more apparent just south of Dimmit. The outflow "jet" was amazing as it assaulted a large (and quite smelly) cattle feed lot. It had to be 70mph at least. As the rotation in the wall cloud above it got a tad better organized, some of the dust lifted a tad and would curl. This was very close to tornadogensis. However, the outflow won out...but only temporarily. The wall cloud was still organizing and the rotation at cloud base was evident.
As the storm slowly drifted south, the rotation in the base and wall cloud developed an intense area of circulation. Then, presto, a spinup on the ground underneath it! Tornado! I had been trying to call NWS LBB, but Cingular was being a major pain in the ass. Fortunately, David Drummong reached me and he relayed the report to them and the LBB TV station he works for. The ground rotation intensified and organized quickly after abit of chaotic attempt. A small funnel needled from the wall cloud. Things were nuts!! After rebooting my phone, I was able to call the NWS LBB and confirm my report...5 miles NW of Sunnyside. (I think it was more like 7 miles, but was 5 when the warning came out).
As I and a couple of locals watched the area of rotation become enveloped by a precip core (but still thin enough to see it), I saw a couple of nice vortices within it. About that time, this gentleman in a pickup truck passed us heading right into the strong rotation. I flagged him down though and he backed up...fortunately. He had no idea that he was about to drive into a developing tornado. Yikes.
I continued down some bob's roads watching the storm continue to grow and intensify. the tornadic corculation was now rain wrapped and difficult to see. However, the precip thinned enough to reveal a good-sized cone funnel within a LARGE area of wrapping/rotation rain curtains which I called in to the NWS again. It reminded me a bit of 6/12/05 as it looked like one big merry-go-round. I could not make out that the funnel was on the ground however.
After that, it got completely obscured again by the precip core and I couldn't see anything. Fortunately, spotters and a couple of chasers including Jason Boggs who passed me earlier, were in closer on it. I was a newly developing wall cloud to the east of it and I dropped back to watch it. However, the show would continue to be in the precip core for the next couple of hours. I got back in close again near Earth (yeah, that's a town name..lol) and watched a big wall cloud develop over the small town. I kept watching for signs of a tornado, but did not see any. Eventually, road networks and the storm's attempt to smack me with some isolated tennis ball hailstones being tossed out of the updraft didn't allow me to get back in close after that.
I decided to get some distance on it and try to do some lightning shots since it was getting dark. I had been having HORRENDOUS problems with GR3 radar data (I could get everything else..BUT radar images) and I didn't want to risk it. As I setup, here comes David Drummond down the same isolated dirt road I was on. LOL!! As we did some lightning shots, the CGs were getting dangerously close....and I then realized who was standing next to me...the human lightning rod himself. ;-) So we vamoosed and my intent now was to drive alot more to get out further away and do some lightning/structure shots.
When I did and stopped to get out and look, that's when my jaw hit the dirt road as I observed the structure described above. it wouldn't fit in the viewfinder, so I needed to make some more distance. By that time, the structure was still great, but additional mid clouds came in and couldn't see it anymore. And of course, I somehow managed to set the camera a tad out of focuse again and wasn't watching the viewfinder. So, I got alot of slightly fuzzy pics with part of the bottom portion of the storm out of the frame. DOH!! I definitely need to get a good wider angled lens for sure...and something easier to focus at night. My 17-40mm is just too sensitive around the infinity setting.
I ended up getting squeezed by this storm and a new one erupting about 20 miles to the south. I made for the escape "corridor" to my east and called it a night.
Anyway, still got some good shots and the video is pretty darned good which I'll post a clip sometime later. There was a small chaser convergence, but not bad at all. I just wish that when pulling over, some don't slow down to 30mph for a thousand feet or more looking for a place to park...especially when the speed limit is 70mph. At one point, the roadway came to a near-complete stop for about three vehicles s-l-o-w-l-y pulling off onto a nice, big broad flat short grassy surface. Sheesh!
Anyway, the dirt road network is good out there and they were dry for the most part which allowed for a good dispersal of chasers, spotters and LE. I did almost get stuck on one road though as I tried to escape for the night. That was abit tense. I also saw another Honda Element chaser vehicle. LOL!! I ended up right behind it a few miles and even pulled over on the same road with them. They weren't the sociable type however...perhaps in a hurry.
Overall, an incredible chase! I always enjoy watching a storm like this go through an entire life cycle from just a Joe B. Average storm to a wild and crazy tornadic supercell...all while lumbering along in a slow fashion. I got to do more observing and drooling than frantic driving and navigating. The structure on this thing alone was worth every penny I spent on gas and munchies. If it's June in the TX PH.....you chase!! :-)
What I'm interested in knowing is what in the heck happened today to produce such a significant tornadic supercell event? I think subtle residual outflow boundaries oriented perfectly with the NWish flow and instability/moisture axis combined with a weak mid level impulse are the main players. The storm motions nearly due south also had alot to do with it too creating both ideal storm relative winds and increased storm-relative helicites. But, the way these cells looked on radar, there had to be something else at play here. They were all corkscrewing screaming eagle cells with sharp hooks on them. If we would have had some stronger low level flow, there would have been more large and more violent tornadoes without a doubt.
For today, I'll sit it out unless something fires close to Amarillo (which I doubt). SW TX is way too far for a work night. The models are going absolutely nuts for the next 10 days and beyond with a pattern more associated with May. June is going to roack and roll big time for sure. I need to save my gas money for the upcoming better setups for the next couple of weeks. :-)
Okay...okay....some pics:
http://texastailchaser.com/chases/2007/june2/pictures/
A few teasers:
A tasty, invigorating juice beverage to help locally enhance storm-relative helicities. This might be my new good-luck charm since it was the first time I've tried it. The results are scientifically
proven ;-)
Rotating wall cloud immediately after first tornado.
Can you make out the funnel in the merry-go-round wrapping rain curtains?
Storm woodie alert.
The entire "barrel" updraft was perfectly striated in multiple layers in a corkscrewed or "barber pole" fashion. I'm even talking about the anvil, yes, the ANVIL level, where you could see the feathery part of it (precip) in sync with the striated updraft and wrapping into the top of the storm. From surface to 50,000 feet, this baby was rotating like crazy. I was in complete awe and a state of total chaser nirvana. :-)
For the report....it's a long one, so if you want to see the pics and skip this....scroll down. :-)
Started off the day targeting Lubbock/Hobbs/Midland vicinity. I sat around Wolfforth for awhile. Everything I was analyzing said that was the best place to be...right up to 5pm. I kept eyeing the bubbling boundary up around Hereford/Happy, but I was going to stick to my guns as i watched some healthy Cu continue to challenge the cap. I thought the stuff up there would become multi-clusterish which I had expereinced abit too much of in 2007. However, the storm around Hereford got going and it became clear on satellite that the cap was holding on a bit stronger in my target area. By 5:30, I could see the Hereford storm's updraft and that alone made an convincing argument to go play with it.
As I caught up to it near Dimmit, the updraft was impresive, but it was a high based storm...nothing special. In fact, I expected it to intensify and gust out quickly with dewpoint depressions running around 30F and weak 850mb firecast winds. However, I knew that storm motions would be SE and moving into much better moisture. In addition, the inflow wasn't weak...but more like 15-20 knots. AND, the storm was practically stationary....very important. The storm-relative winds in the mid and upper levels were marginal to ideal. Stationary storms also have a tendency to be strong devient movers eventually. This one had all the makings of a southward moving storm. But, I was still thinking it would becoming outflow dominant.
After about an hour though, I noticed that the precip core was really getting spread out downstream nicely from the updraft base...a nice separation. The precip core wasn't that heavy. The updraft base becaome more organized and started lowering as the better moisture started feeding into it. They popped a SVR on it and I watched this thing morph into a nice supercell with a screaming eagle appearance on radar along with some rotation evident in the cloud base. I got all giddy because it became clear this was going to become an intense isolated supercell!! No more clusterd crap or linear segments! Woohoo! :-)
It then began a southward drift and looking even better. As I maneuvered to stay in place, I saw an intense outflow jet knife out of the precip area (RFD?) into the updraft area. Interestingly, the inflow picked up abit. The wall cloud really got organized quickly and the rotation became more apparent just south of Dimmit. The outflow "jet" was amazing as it assaulted a large (and quite smelly) cattle feed lot. It had to be 70mph at least. As the rotation in the wall cloud above it got a tad better organized, some of the dust lifted a tad and would curl. This was very close to tornadogensis. However, the outflow won out...but only temporarily. The wall cloud was still organizing and the rotation at cloud base was evident.
As the storm slowly drifted south, the rotation in the base and wall cloud developed an intense area of circulation. Then, presto, a spinup on the ground underneath it! Tornado! I had been trying to call NWS LBB, but Cingular was being a major pain in the ass. Fortunately, David Drummong reached me and he relayed the report to them and the LBB TV station he works for. The ground rotation intensified and organized quickly after abit of chaotic attempt. A small funnel needled from the wall cloud. Things were nuts!! After rebooting my phone, I was able to call the NWS LBB and confirm my report...5 miles NW of Sunnyside. (I think it was more like 7 miles, but was 5 when the warning came out).
As I and a couple of locals watched the area of rotation become enveloped by a precip core (but still thin enough to see it), I saw a couple of nice vortices within it. About that time, this gentleman in a pickup truck passed us heading right into the strong rotation. I flagged him down though and he backed up...fortunately. He had no idea that he was about to drive into a developing tornado. Yikes.
I continued down some bob's roads watching the storm continue to grow and intensify. the tornadic corculation was now rain wrapped and difficult to see. However, the precip thinned enough to reveal a good-sized cone funnel within a LARGE area of wrapping/rotation rain curtains which I called in to the NWS again. It reminded me a bit of 6/12/05 as it looked like one big merry-go-round. I could not make out that the funnel was on the ground however.
After that, it got completely obscured again by the precip core and I couldn't see anything. Fortunately, spotters and a couple of chasers including Jason Boggs who passed me earlier, were in closer on it. I was a newly developing wall cloud to the east of it and I dropped back to watch it. However, the show would continue to be in the precip core for the next couple of hours. I got back in close again near Earth (yeah, that's a town name..lol) and watched a big wall cloud develop over the small town. I kept watching for signs of a tornado, but did not see any. Eventually, road networks and the storm's attempt to smack me with some isolated tennis ball hailstones being tossed out of the updraft didn't allow me to get back in close after that.
I decided to get some distance on it and try to do some lightning shots since it was getting dark. I had been having HORRENDOUS problems with GR3 radar data (I could get everything else..BUT radar images) and I didn't want to risk it. As I setup, here comes David Drummond down the same isolated dirt road I was on. LOL!! As we did some lightning shots, the CGs were getting dangerously close....and I then realized who was standing next to me...the human lightning rod himself. ;-) So we vamoosed and my intent now was to drive alot more to get out further away and do some lightning/structure shots.
When I did and stopped to get out and look, that's when my jaw hit the dirt road as I observed the structure described above. it wouldn't fit in the viewfinder, so I needed to make some more distance. By that time, the structure was still great, but additional mid clouds came in and couldn't see it anymore. And of course, I somehow managed to set the camera a tad out of focuse again and wasn't watching the viewfinder. So, I got alot of slightly fuzzy pics with part of the bottom portion of the storm out of the frame. DOH!! I definitely need to get a good wider angled lens for sure...and something easier to focus at night. My 17-40mm is just too sensitive around the infinity setting.
I ended up getting squeezed by this storm and a new one erupting about 20 miles to the south. I made for the escape "corridor" to my east and called it a night.
Anyway, still got some good shots and the video is pretty darned good which I'll post a clip sometime later. There was a small chaser convergence, but not bad at all. I just wish that when pulling over, some don't slow down to 30mph for a thousand feet or more looking for a place to park...especially when the speed limit is 70mph. At one point, the roadway came to a near-complete stop for about three vehicles s-l-o-w-l-y pulling off onto a nice, big broad flat short grassy surface. Sheesh!
Anyway, the dirt road network is good out there and they were dry for the most part which allowed for a good dispersal of chasers, spotters and LE. I did almost get stuck on one road though as I tried to escape for the night. That was abit tense. I also saw another Honda Element chaser vehicle. LOL!! I ended up right behind it a few miles and even pulled over on the same road with them. They weren't the sociable type however...perhaps in a hurry.
Overall, an incredible chase! I always enjoy watching a storm like this go through an entire life cycle from just a Joe B. Average storm to a wild and crazy tornadic supercell...all while lumbering along in a slow fashion. I got to do more observing and drooling than frantic driving and navigating. The structure on this thing alone was worth every penny I spent on gas and munchies. If it's June in the TX PH.....you chase!! :-)
What I'm interested in knowing is what in the heck happened today to produce such a significant tornadic supercell event? I think subtle residual outflow boundaries oriented perfectly with the NWish flow and instability/moisture axis combined with a weak mid level impulse are the main players. The storm motions nearly due south also had alot to do with it too creating both ideal storm relative winds and increased storm-relative helicites. But, the way these cells looked on radar, there had to be something else at play here. They were all corkscrewing screaming eagle cells with sharp hooks on them. If we would have had some stronger low level flow, there would have been more large and more violent tornadoes without a doubt.
For today, I'll sit it out unless something fires close to Amarillo (which I doubt). SW TX is way too far for a work night. The models are going absolutely nuts for the next 10 days and beyond with a pattern more associated with May. June is going to roack and roll big time for sure. I need to save my gas money for the upcoming better setups for the next couple of weeks. :-)
Okay...okay....some pics:
http://texastailchaser.com/chases/2007/june2/pictures/
A few teasers:
A tasty, invigorating juice beverage to help locally enhance storm-relative helicities. This might be my new good-luck charm since it was the first time I've tried it. The results are scientifically
proven ;-)
Rotating wall cloud immediately after first tornado.
Can you make out the funnel in the merry-go-round wrapping rain curtains?
Storm woodie alert.
posted by Steve Miller TX at 6/03/2007 10:36:00 AM
8 Comments:
I REALLY want to move to AMA now.
So I noticed SPC has taken Amarillo out of their bullseye for three days in a row after tomorrow. That's got to suck after what, 30 days in a row! That's going to be wierd for you to not be able to back out of your driveway and see a monster supercell for 3 days in a row! I hope you get a bad case of SDS!
Hey Stev!. Just a note for ya. This afternoon after Dew left to fly out there, there was a really nice one just south of her home. 70 DBZ, meso indicated and 3.25 inch hail....Keep her out there as long as you can!! ;-)
Already working to ban me, Rick? I can't believe the day I left... y'all will never let me back in GA. I really hope I don't kill that set up. I don't want the entire storm chasing community after me.
Steve/Charles: Just quit your jobs, sell everything you have, and move to Amarillo. We can start a Chaser Hippie commune. ;-)
It looks like the action won't simmer down for long around here Thursday/ We got chase chances today and tomorrow...and Friday and beyond. :-)
Rick/Dew, That is indeed quite amazing that the atmosphere senses the presence of the Dewvoid. Maybe she is a witch! Burn her! Burn her! [in my Monty Python voice] LOL!! I guess you are off the hook now, Rick. ;-)
But wait a minute, I'm a good witch! You'll see, if it ever rains on me, I'll melt. lol
Cool. Mount the camera to your broom while you get those nice low level inflow shots from 500 ft off the deck. ;-)..LOLOL!!! Have fun and bee safe. Wear that seatbelt while flying!! ;-)
ROFL!!! To heck with the camera...let's strap a radiosonde unit to the broom and let her do some soundings! :-)
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