Yesterday's "Dirt-a-cane" and Round 4 Today
Today, I'm chasing again...4 days in a row on my home turf. It's about time! To me, the obvious play are storms coming out of NE NM and into the western half of the Panhandle where all parameters are much more favorable for the strongest storms. So, I'll escape the prison here at 5pm and likely blast west on I-40 towards whatever storm is looking best at that time. I'm running live streaming video again, so check out my live chase page (link on right).
Yesterday, aside from some beautiful, billowy updrafts on the storms I chased along the Hwy 70 corridor down to Matador, most of the chase was pretty much a yawner. That was until I got caught in a fierce downburst east of McAdoo...NW of Dickens. I stopped off on a plateau where a wind farm has sprouted up and lots of loose topsoil. Then...POW! Winds rapidly kicked up to 60mph and even up to 80mph...hurricane force. It was enough to cause me to turn the car into the wind.
The sky quickly turned into a thick soup of brownish-red dirt that totally blocked the setting sun. Visibility at times was total zero as anybody watching my live chase cam can attest too. :-) The wind was strong enough to pick up small pebbles and hurl them into the vehicle. This wasn't dust...but actual dirt. I'm surprised I've got paint left on the vehicle.
Now add to this a few brilliant blue lightning flashes in the thick, brownish-red air and it was like being on another planet!! Soon, sporadic large drops of rain would fall into the mix and upon landing on my vehicle would be muddy. This mixture started coating my vehicle and the windshield turning me into a big mudball. LOL!! The wind was still screaming with tons of dirt obscuring my view. I really thought it best to ride it out as often, I couldn't even see the road I was parked next to.
Then, my hero in shining amber lights showed up...David Drummond! LOL!! After feeling totally isolated on another planet, it was a good sight to see. So, I followed him as we carefully probed our way towards McAdoo where the conditions eased up enough to drive safely. This was THE most intense dirt-a-cane I've ever been in. It was awesome! ;-) David headed south and I headed back towards Amarillo.
Along the way, a little CG barrage in close proximity gave me a show with one bolt hitting about 200 feet into a field vaporizing something metal as blue sparks flew after the strike. I drove through another little core to help wash the mud off the vehicle. As I got closer to Floydada, I stopped and attempted some lightning photography, but just abit too far to really do it justice. I was tired and ready to get home.
Pics!!
I love these big, billowy updrafts exploding over the caprock. I guess I got tired of all the yellowish hazy skies in N TX for decades. ;-)
Another one. This would actually end up being the storm that tried to bury me in dirt.
The first storm I was on (from the first updraft above) that fizzled pretty quickly.
The "Honda Element Eater" before I got slammed.
The first outflow "jet" from the downburst.
A good-sized dusty gustnado.
In the action with the mudballs splattering my windows.
David ahead of me between assaults.
This was actually not some of the worst stuff we were in....but it is just up ahead.
A little lightning before trekking to Amarillo.
Yesterday, aside from some beautiful, billowy updrafts on the storms I chased along the Hwy 70 corridor down to Matador, most of the chase was pretty much a yawner. That was until I got caught in a fierce downburst east of McAdoo...NW of Dickens. I stopped off on a plateau where a wind farm has sprouted up and lots of loose topsoil. Then...POW! Winds rapidly kicked up to 60mph and even up to 80mph...hurricane force. It was enough to cause me to turn the car into the wind.
The sky quickly turned into a thick soup of brownish-red dirt that totally blocked the setting sun. Visibility at times was total zero as anybody watching my live chase cam can attest too. :-) The wind was strong enough to pick up small pebbles and hurl them into the vehicle. This wasn't dust...but actual dirt. I'm surprised I've got paint left on the vehicle.
Now add to this a few brilliant blue lightning flashes in the thick, brownish-red air and it was like being on another planet!! Soon, sporadic large drops of rain would fall into the mix and upon landing on my vehicle would be muddy. This mixture started coating my vehicle and the windshield turning me into a big mudball. LOL!! The wind was still screaming with tons of dirt obscuring my view. I really thought it best to ride it out as often, I couldn't even see the road I was parked next to.
Then, my hero in shining amber lights showed up...David Drummond! LOL!! After feeling totally isolated on another planet, it was a good sight to see. So, I followed him as we carefully probed our way towards McAdoo where the conditions eased up enough to drive safely. This was THE most intense dirt-a-cane I've ever been in. It was awesome! ;-) David headed south and I headed back towards Amarillo.
Along the way, a little CG barrage in close proximity gave me a show with one bolt hitting about 200 feet into a field vaporizing something metal as blue sparks flew after the strike. I drove through another little core to help wash the mud off the vehicle. As I got closer to Floydada, I stopped and attempted some lightning photography, but just abit too far to really do it justice. I was tired and ready to get home.
Pics!!
I love these big, billowy updrafts exploding over the caprock. I guess I got tired of all the yellowish hazy skies in N TX for decades. ;-)
Another one. This would actually end up being the storm that tried to bury me in dirt.
The first storm I was on (from the first updraft above) that fizzled pretty quickly.
The "Honda Element Eater" before I got slammed.
The first outflow "jet" from the downburst.
A good-sized dusty gustnado.
In the action with the mudballs splattering my windows.
David ahead of me between assaults.
This was actually not some of the worst stuff we were in....but it is just up ahead.
A little lightning before trekking to Amarillo.
posted by Steve Miller TX at 6/17/2008 03:09:00 PM
1 Comments:
That was pretty intense chase..zero visibility indeed on those dusty gust..plus the mudballs..That was a very nice chase story as i have read your posts really interesting..and the pictures as well are amazing i really love those rotating dark clouds formation..Thanks for sharing such incredible stories..:)
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