Pokin’ to Punkin Center
12 Jun 9
Punkin Center, CO
SHORT: Observed a couple hours of a high based, outflow-ish supercell in east CO. Heard later about weak nocturnal tornado that hit our property back in Norman.
LONG:
Too far from the central OK target area after our PUB-LAA chase the previous evening, we let others play that. Instead we decided to head toward my in-laws’ place outside DEN to position ourselves for weekend chase potential nearer to there. If we saw Palmer Divide storms along the way…great!
We stopped to photograph the abandoned 1899 Star School W of LAA (window shot), and spent a couple hours exploring and doing photography at Bent’s Fort (to be posted later). From there we cruised N out of Ordway toward the projected path of a small young supercell that had formed along the Palmer Ridge SE of DEN. When we let the storm pass to our N and then to our NE, at Punkin Center, it blasted us with a cold, wet RFD — one that surged well S and SE of the main updraft region. We played with that high based storm for a couple hours as it moved slowly ESE past US-287, observing intermittent wall clouds and a couple of cold outflow surges. Mostly the storm was rather high based and featureless while we were on it, and was surfing above its own outflow.
My chase desires gave way to my wish to be a good husband, so we broke off and headed to nearby DEN to see Elke’s mom. Along the way we got a fine rainbow 8 SE of LIC (17 mm wide-angle, and on the other extreme, 600 mm zoom), a CG barrage along I-70 from elevated storms near Bennett (no photos), and some non-critical but needed automotive maintenance slated for the following day.
It was shortly after we arrived that I found out about the supercell that has sprung up over Norman and quickly produced a tornado…which passed over my house. I’ve written about that entertaining saga in a Weather or Not BLOG entry!
Arkansas Valley Supercells of Colorado
11 Jun 9
Olney Springs to Lamar, CO
SHORT: Four supercells and one possible/weak “cheezenado” photographed in and near Colorado’s Arkansas River valley between PUB-LAA. Jaw-dropping storm structure at times.
LONG:
Elke and I again formed a caravan with the Two Fogels/Two Dogs chase team. We targeted a compromise area of eastern CO near the Palmer Divide, in order to remain within reach of almost any possible initiation area.
V.O.R.T.EX.-2 and the Bovine Butt Spew
Off toward LIC we went, but not before seeing a practically ceaseless stream of V.O.R.T.EX.-2 vehicles cruising with apparently focused determination SE past LBL. I asked Elke (and also DF over the radio):”Where the hell are they going, and why?” At first we were quite puzzled, but ignored what we saw and just kept on with our northwestern bearing. I later guessed (correctly, for once) that they were targeting a very conditional tornado potential in the eastern Texas Panhandle.
One lesser-known hazard to dodge while chasing: bovine diarrhea. In Scott City, some moo-cow on the second deck of a cattle truck blasted a brown liquid cascade out of one of the ventilation holes, staright down toward us. The side of the truck was covered with similarly colored fans of dried residue emanating from the same general area. We were quite thankful that later rain washed off any related residue from my vehicle.
As we headed W on I-70 toward LIC, we noted that early-initiation over the Front Range already was getting messy and turning into a conglomeration of storms. You know what that means on the high plains of Colorado: outflowus barfus windbaggus. One really nicely spiraled bow echo, evident in reflectivity imagery NW of LIC, told us all we needed to know about the potential N of the Palmer Ridge: zilch, nyet, nein, nada, (and for Joisey boys like DF) fuhgeddaboutit.
Southward we plunged toward Ordway and the remaining area of relatively high CAPE and backed sfc winds in the Arkansas River Valley. As we did so, we passed through some outflow from Palmer Ridge storms, and…BRR! Get the polar bear parkas out — 47 degrees F…no thanks! As did the cow before, now did the atmosphere there.
A Tale of Two Supercells
Shortly N of Ordway, a solitary, compact, well organized storm became apparent visually and on radar to the distant SW, over Hodo’s hometown and well removed from that wretched outflow pile to our N. We could see a broad updraft base in the distance, and even a ragged wall cloud attempt or two as it was exiting the PUB area.
We set up 2 NNE Olney Springs to let the storm (Storm 1) come toward us, occasionally photographing the broad but rather featureless updraft base, while DF’s big dogs played in the roadside dirt and weeds. The storm seemed to be drawing in a blended boundary comprised of a cumuliform banded horizontal convective roll (one of several HCRs appearing in reflectivity imagery and evident with eyeballs) and a differential heating zone under the anvil. Might these have contributed to its eventual dominance and longevity somehow?
As Storm 1 chugged along toward us, another supercell (Storm 2) quickly developed nearer to us, and to the SW. Within half an hour, it went from mere towers to a banded and visibly rotating storm with a nice precip cascade from the forward-flank, anvil/vault region. We thought Storm 2 would screw up Storm 1 (wide angles looking SW and looking NW respectively, from near Manzanola), but for the next 1.5-2 hours, they marched along the valley in tandem, often merged at 40-50 dBZ on radar but visually distinct, both sporting occasional rotating wall clouds of verying sizes (wide angles looking SW and looking NW respectively, from W of Rocky Ford) and nicely banded/vaulted structures.
We cruised down US-50 a step ahead of this rotating tandem of tempestuous tumult, stopping for photos of both these storms in several locales. Their structure got more amazing each time, and I often found myself turning N-NW for Storm 1, then WSW for Storm 2, then back and forth again. Double the flavor and double the refreshment! I was longing for two sticks of Doublemint. 
Spectacular Storms Multiply and Merge
Another supercell formed SW of Storm 2 (we’ll call it Storm 3), also exhibiting a vaulted and somewhat banded appearance for a short time. Storm 3 (here seen “below” — actually beyond — storm 2) would get undercut by the RFD outflow trailing behind Storm 2. Storm 4 formed as a short-lived supercell with obvious cyclonic shear in SRM imagery, almost under the anvil precip from Storm 1. Storm 4 lasted just long enough to produce a very low hanging wall cloud well NNE of Hadley, which I also shot from a great vantage of all the storms 2 WSW Hadley.
Hot diggity dawg…supercells galore, and we were seeing them all! Party time in the Arkansas Valley — that is, unless one was a corn grower.
From that same spot, we let Storm 2 approach and the almost completely connected Storm 1 move to our N, each of which also was closing in on the other. The whole interaction, visually, reminded me of football where the safety “angles toward” the flanker running down the sideline, except in this case, the two would merge into one uber-player, instead of one knocking the other out of bounds.
Storm 4 soon got overwhelmed by forward-flank precip from Storm 1, which still was spinning along nicely despite its Siamese twin relationship with Storm 2. At times a thick cloud band connected them, as if they were born partners in serving up a multi-course meal on the smorgasbord of spectacular skies (and atmospheric violence in the form of gorilla hail, for those unfortunate enough to endure their cores).
Probably a Weak, Cheesy Tornado
As the two supercells began merging near Hadley, the easily identifiable remains of Storm 2 just to our W and the more dominant Storm 1 to our N, a peculiar event happened that you may have noticed in the bottom-middle of the last shot (super enhanced crop-zoom thereof).
That feature was rotating, and very obviously — a tapered, helically spinning and rapidly rising column of occasionally smooth, sometimes ragged and always rapidly evolving cloud material right under the Storm 1 wall cloud (another super-enhanced crop). Time was 0038Z, distance was about 4-5 N of Highway 50 and NW of Hadley. We didn’t see debris, but for a very brief time, had ragged condensational connectivity with both ground and wall cloud. If it was a tornado, as also suspected by a couple of other trustworthy observers I know who were located to its SE and E, it was a cheesy and inconsequential one; and nothing to get too excited about. Still, I’m about 80% confident this was a weak tornado.
The Storminator
Contrary to my earlier hypothesis, Storm 1 (the old PUB supercell) took over and gradually absorbed Storm 2, turning in an absolutely jaw-dropping, prolonged display of structural delights, beginning near Las Animas soon after the merger. The combined storm, which mostly was the original Storm 1, liberally festooned itself with bands, striations, differential light effects, and occasional strongly rotating wall clouds wrapping up on its N side. These wall clouds quickly would get enshrouded in precip-filled occlusions downdraft cuts that coiled completely around their front (E and NE) sides, as viewed from the ENE on Highway 50 between Ft. Lyon and Hasty.
All the while, we blasted through one memory card after another shooting the amazing visual show at wide angles, sometimes zooming into another short-lived but rotating wall cloud. For a short time, the N side of what now was the only remaining storm (Storm 1) lit golden and orange in the setting sun W of LAA, while a very low-hanging and rotating wall cloud dangled beneath the N side of the spiralling pinwheel of supercellular glory.
Finishing up in Lamar: No Rats or Roaches
We let the storm go at LAA due to darkness, grabbed a $44 (incl. tax) room that (unlike the field project’s nearby accommodations) did not have spiders, roaches and mice. We then had a nice dinner at a restaurant in LAA. The place was about to close as we walked in…but stayed open at my request to feed a large number of arriving chasers after hours — including people pulling up from Bill Reid’s and Charles Edwards’ tour groups, a V.O.R.T.EX.-2 stereo-videography subgroup led by Jim LaDue, and us. It was good to see Dave Lewison and Rocky again, along with photographer extraordinaire Brian Morganti.
We also saw Mikes Foster and Coniglio there. They, as well as Mr. LaDue, let me know that the project had gone down to Canadian before doubling back, confirming my earlier suspicions. Boy, did V2 ever put in a long day. Several of them saw us turning N out of LBL as they headed SE, and perhaps wondered what the hell we were thinking. 
What a fantastic and rewarding chase. It was the second day in a row of gorgeous, sculpted storms out of two days so far on the High Plains. This is why we love to be up there, west of 100W. If the season ended then, we would have been content, but in the end, we were very glad it didn’t!
Dinner, Drink and a Beautiful Storm, Please
10 Jun 9
Liberal KS
SHORT: Intercepted and photographed spectacular LBL area supercell/bow after dinner.
LONG:
The previous day’s chase to Osage County had left us (Elke and me, with David and Samara Fogel) out of position for any play in northeast CO or the NEb Panhandle. Still, vertical shear looked to be favorable for supercells over a broad area of the central and southern plains, from NEb to southwest MO to southwest TX. Problem was, so much would depend on prior convective processes, and it looked simply like a damn mess.
Morning found us in between several conditional target areas, somewhat closer to MO. We didn’t wish to jack around with trees and hills anymore, after two chase days of doing so. The next nearest target appeared to be the “bent back” frontal segment extending W near the KS/OK border toward SE CO. The eastern part of this swath (if not all) seemed utterly doomed when we left PNC after lunch. A huge shield of clouds and light to moderate rain covered most of west OK and northwest TX, the north part of which would cover and stabilize out earlier morning’s preferred zone from LBL-P28.
Ironically, just NW of PNC, we passed a few chase vehicles headed E, toward the 5% TOR outlook area. We plowed on through the grunge, not optimistic about seeing any storms at all this day, and simply aiming to get a room in LBL to position for the next day. If we would see a storm…bonus.
After emerging from the enormous precipitatus crappus area, we cruised up the Okie Panhandle toward our intended bunks, basking in bright sunshine of the post-MCS subsidence zone, and watching distant multicell towers form and grow across extreme SE CO and west KS. The boundary was obvious to our N through distant WNW, as a more cloudy area with low scud indicating richer lifted moisture, compared to the dry air in which we drove. Still, the uninspired mood, set by the atmospheric sludge through which we had driven, discolored our prognosis to the point of complacency.
From that framework, and because they simply looked like crap, we were unimpressed by the speckled, disorganized, multicellular appearance of the distant storms — both visually and via radar. We got rooms in LBL, relaxed a bit and prepared to go to dinner at the Applebee’s on the N side of town. Shortly before going inside to eat, I took note of a relatively intense short line of reflectivity about 50 miles to our WNW, but didn’t quite reckon that it would latch onto the boundary I knew existed in front of it. I knew the shear was good along the boundary, but our cool surface temps (low 70s) didn’t impress me much.
In short, I did put 2 and 2 together. Problem was, the solution was 6.
As we sat to sup, a supercell spun up. The short line segment to our NW had latched onto the aforementioned boundary and got very happy for a brief interval.
Meanwhile, obliviously imbibing on various cold beverages and chewing the fat in two different ways, the four of us basically had checked out of atmospheric reality for awhile. We were finishing our dinner and drinks (not near a NW facing window) when Keith Brown called DF to report that one of the storms in that previously junky area had coiled itself into a supercell, and best of all, was just a few miles NW of LBL. A quick run outside indeed confirmed the truth — a banded, striated mother-ship with a wall cloud beneath, and we were standing into its immediate proximity inflow. Holy rotation, Batman! We paid the tabs and scrambled into our vehicles so fast I didn’t shoot stills at this stage. We just had to get outta town…
Fortunately we were near the N edge of LBL and could drive into the open country fast. It was a good thing that I don’t drink, because it was time to chase, and for me to be a designated driver! By the time we got to where buildings, poles, lines and so forth weren’t directly crisscrossing the view, the wall cloud was gone, the nearest (southern) storm more outflow-dominant. Yet the storm graced the southwest Kansas sky with wonderful structure, compelling us to mark a route to stay ahead of it.
Meanwhile, the northern storm — here seen at 122Z from our first good vantage just N of LBL — would produce a brief, rain-wrapped tornado 22 miles N of LBL and 6 minutes after that photo (according to the national storm report logs).
Instead, we observed and photographed a beautifully structured and at times wildly banded southern storm’s evolution, classic to HP to bow in rapid succession, from several vantages N through E of LBL. In the last shot and in this later one when the storm was more linear, diffuse flashes of in-cloud lightning added an internal light and surreal character to the scene, while the longer twilight exposure accentuating some of the rich coloration available.
What a delicious dessert! By the time we got to Meade Wildlife Area, SW of Meade, darkness had set in, and we turned S to get out of the way and head back toward our lodging in LBL via Forgan OK. This wasn’t the first time Elke and I had grabbed a room and dinner before intercepting a daylight storm; we also did so for the amazing Carhenge Supercell last year. It’s not common to execute a chase this way! Elke summed up her perspective well, in that it was the first time she had been on a storm intercept “a little warmed” by wine.