Solo
Target:
McCook, NE
GPS Chase Map
Distance:
1,292.1 miles
Duration:
23.77 hours
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Partners: Solo Target: McCook, NE GPS Chase Map Distance: 1,292.1 miles Duration: 23.77 hours |
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Yep. You read the stats above correctly...just shy of 1,300 miles and 24 hours. I know, I am insane!!! But I digress. Dylan was at my parents house for a reunion, so I decided to go on probably my last storm chase for 2011. An unseasonably strong trough was digging thru the western US, and I decided to target the CO-KS-NE border area, which was in the left exit region of the jet stream. The jet dynamics coincided with great low level shear, and a northward moving warm front. The original plan was for Kellie to accompany me on the trip, however, she decided to stay home to spend some time with her dad. I almost decided to stay home too, since I was flying solo. Am I ever glad I went!
I set off for an initial target of McCook, NE. I stopped several times along the way in Kansas (Salina, Ellis, Newton) to check data. I became increasingly concerned about the strength of the cap in my target area, and began to focus on NE Colorado. Storms fired along the front range and Palmer divide, which initially suckered me in. Dewpoints were still low (around 50F) near these cells, and they did not sustain themselves. They were also moving NNE, which kept them at least 90 minutes away from me. A couple of supercells were also evident on radar along the northern CO border. I passed on these because they were still 90 miles away. I continued to monitor the warm front to the east, both on radar and visually, where convection began to break the cap, but did not sustain itself either. At this point I became very frustrated and thought that I had pulled the trigger on a very expensive and time consuming bust. With the amount of lift associated with the trough, I could not figure out why storms kept dying off. It was 4pm MDT, and I decided to head east along US Hwy. 34 toward home.
Dejected, the plan was to make my way home along the warm front, just in case. Almost immediately after heading east, I noticed what seemed to be two separate areas of enhanced cumulus exploding vertically. Radar confirmed it, and pinpointed 3 cells going up just north of Hwy. 34 in extreme SW NE. The storms turned right quickly, traveled ENE at a manageable 25mph, and were about 60 miles apart, end to end. The decision was made to play the middle cell, so adjustments could be made if needed. I chose wisely!
I drove to Max, NE and headed north to get a better view. I noticed a developing wall cloud, well back to the west, so I backtracked to Hwy. 61 and turned north. The wall cloud was just west of the highway, very low to the ground, and was rapidly rotating. I went 9 miles north of Benkelman on Hwy. 61, and 2 miles east on a dirt road. I noticed two distinct rotations, and a funnel began to descend about a mile or two directly north of my location. It did not take long for a beautiful cone shaped tornado to form, which was accompanied by increased CG's from the mesocyclone. The tornado dissipated after about 3 minutes, and I tried to follow it ENE. After almost getting stuck in mud, I turned around and went south back to Hwy. 34 to reposition.
I caught back up with the mesocyclone NW of McCook. The inflow increased dramatically, and the wall cloud rotation tightened up again. Amazingly, the storm continued to turn right and was now headed ESE. This put me in a compromising position, with the wall cloud headed right at me. I was 6 miles NNW of McCook, and 2 miles west of US Hwy. 83. A couple of very short lived tornados spun up just to my north. Neither were on the ground for more than 20 or 30 seconds, and I was unable to get the video camera on them as I was faced the other way (I was taking my out route at that point). I did hang my camera out of the window and got some blurry still pics. I emerged onto Hwy. 83 to chaser convergence (I was wondering where they were most of the day). I headed ESE on more county roads, but the meso became rain wrapped, and the road network did not cooperate. After brief indecisiveness about calling the chase, I decided to continue east on Hwy. 34. The delay caused me to get behind the storm though. I tried to core punch the RFD, but decided against it as I got blasted by the now SE moving storm (visions of May 22 were still too fresh in my head). I snaked my way through more county roads south and east of Indianola. I was so glad to reach Hwy. 89 and pavement! I called the chase at the crossroads of Hwy. 89 and US Hwy. 283, despite the fact that new tornado warnings were just issued on the cell. The rotation was less than 10 miles to my north at this point, but it was dark and I had an incredibly long drive ahead of me to make it to work the next afternoon.
What a reward! It turned out to be a great chase. I was at one of my all time chasing lows around 4pm MDT. Less than 2 hours later it turned out to be one of my greatest chasing triumphs. I drove to SW NE, and got up close and personal with a tornadic supercell. The tornado also did nothing more than kick up dirt. It was a great capper to a challenging, and somber chase season. Happy Father's Day to me indeed!
 A barn in NE CO just east of Robb, CO at the height of my dismay |
 Middle cell hits the EL and anvil formation begins |
 Impressive wall cloud from Hwy. 61 north of Benkelman, NE |
 Another shot of the wall cloud as it crosses the highway |
 Condensation funnel reaches the ground |
Debris cloud of dirt below the tornado |
 Video still of the tornado backlit by lightning |
.jpg) Another video still, CG descends from the tornadic mesocyclone |
 Another shot of the tornado |
.jpg) Another video still of CG backlit tornado |
.jpg) Video still of CG behind dissipating tornado |
 Tornado #2 descends from the wall cloud, 6N of McCook, NE |
 Debris cloud of dirt below the condensation funnel of tornado #2 |
 Tornado #3 spins up rotating dirt |