- 2000 CONVECTIVE FIELD STUDY B
CONVECTIVE STUDY 7B
Chase 1: Overshooting Top
Adam Stepanek (Driver)
Bart Wolf
Josh Bachman (Navigator)
Becky Ditchfield
Melissa Dwenger
Chase 2: Green Wall
Jerry Weidenfield (Driver)
Linda Kornowski (Team Leader)
Bob Lesh
Tammy Lyttek
Chase 3: Toilet Trash
Brian Balinski (Driver)
Jill Fraser (Team Leader)
Tara Hastings (Trip Logger)
Quentin Calder
Chase 4: Cyclic Development
Dave Nelson (Driver)
Karen Fischer (Team Leader)
Eric Muller
Dina Mangano
DAY 1
Monday, June 5, 2000
Car problems already. Jerry locked his keys in his truck VUPD came to the rescue. Josh was late because he left his lights on the night before and had a dead battery.
We had a discussion down in the weather center. SPC had a slight risk out on Day 2 for the Texas panhandle, Oklahoma, and Nebraska. A dry line will be forming a 15 percent chance of severe storms is progged. CAPE is estimated to be around 3000
J/Kg. Our target city is McCook NE.
This day will be strictly for driving. We want to get as far west as possible and get in a good position.
Conditions in Valpo before we left: rainy, sloppy, Temp: 54.5 F
Mileage start: 80465
Departed at 8:30 am Headed West on 30
Turned onto 65 North at 8:47am
Turned onto 8094 West at 8:55am
Entered IL at 9am
Entered IA at 11:30am, Temp: 56F
The first stop was at 12:46 for gas (price $1.59), bathroom and food in Williamsburg (central, Eastern IA)
Checked out the new Day 2. It was downgraded to 5 percent. High base supercells, are expected there could be good shear for supercells.
We were back on the road at 1:45pm continuing west on I-80.
2:37pm Temp 69F Dewpt: 49F
3:55pm Temp: 72F Dewpt: 42F
65 miles from NE border
GPS location: N 49 29.440
W 94 52.414
Entered Nebraska at 4:51pm Temp: 71F Dewpt: 45F
At 5pm we went 500 Miles.
We hit a traffic jam around 5:30pm on I-80. Tara asked the construction workers if they wanted some Teddy Grams. They said that they weren't hungry. But Chase 2 and 4 said they were so Chase 3 proceeded to throw Teddy grams at Chase 2 and 4. No one actually caught any but at least they hit the car or the pavement close to the cars.
6:05pm Temp: 71F Dewpt: 40F
GPS Location N 40 49.344
W 97 06.990
Stopped for gas, food at 6:30pm at Exit 353. The gas station was called Black Bart's they had lottery tickets that were weather related. So just about everyone bought one. You would think someone would have won something but no one did. Back on the
road at 7:30pm. Temp. 70F Dewpt: 38F
8:06pm passed signs for Hastings NE (which we later found out that Hastings is the birthplace of Kool-Aid) There is also a Hastings museum. 9 pm Turned South on 283.
Temp: 66F Dewpt: 38F
GPS location N 40 44.597
W 99 44.452
Elevation 1134 FT
9:37pm turned west on 6 & 34
10:19pm arrived in McCook NE at the Best Western.
Total mileage for today: 801 Miles (We think this might be a new record)
States visited today: Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska
DAY 2
Tuesday, June 6th, 2000
8am Discussion
There are no severe thunderstorms in this area. We are deciding whether or not to go North or South. We don't want to go North because it will not be easy to chase up there. Basically we are baking under the ridge. Temps will be in the 90's. We decided to wait until noon to get the updated models and discussions. We had nice big breakfast at the Kounty Kitchen at 8:30am. The new models came out and we decided that we don't want to go to far east because nothing will happen there. A tropical system is appearing in the long range forecast in the Gulf. If this pans out it might steal our moisture. So we decide to go south toward the Texas panhandle. We departed from the hotel at noon.
Temp: 83F Dewpt: 43F
We head west on 34 toward Wray, Colorado to 385 South.
Passed into the Mountain Time Zone at 12:35pm Central
11:35am Mountain
Stopped for gas at 12:46pm (all times will be in central) in Benkelman
Got an update from Joe in the weather center he gave us new outlooks and told us about small cells popping up on radar. The plan is still to go south.
Entered Colorado 1:30pm
Temp: 87F Dewpt: 52F
Picked up a weather radio station 1440 AM Yuma CO
At 1:38pm we turned South on 385
At 1:45pm we stopped on the side of the road to take pictures of a rainbow in the cirrus clouds we also looked at some cumulous forming along the dryline. They were towering but you could see the high base. We also saw cows mating. Bart says that is good luck for seeing a tornado.
At 2:20pm VUSIT makes a wrong turn and got on 36. We corrected immediately and got back on 385.
2:20 pm Temp: 90F Dewpt: 48F
During our track through Colorado we see our first anvil top to the west. But it doesn't look that impressive.
Radio Stations: 1140 AM, 104 FM out of Burrlington CO
At 3pm we stopped for a quick lunch in Burrlington, CO
Temp was 94 Dewpt was 42
We had to stop along the road around 4pm to get a cord out of the trunk to get TOILET up and running.
Turned onto 40 West
Bart got some S.T.E.P.S. (Storm Electrification and Precipitation Study) information from the weather radio from Goodland KS. They are calling for Isolated Severe Thunderstorms possibly in Eastern CO. They had a 3 1/2 rating for LP thunderstorms and a 7 for Thursday. The S.T.E.P.S research study looks at model data assigns it points if it is probable for thunderstorms. Points are also assigned for forecasters intuition. The higher the number the better the chance of thunderstorms.
So we decided to go west instead of further south.
4:15pm Temp: 94F Dewpt: 41F
4:20pm We reached 1000 miles on our trip
We decided to stop at the side of the road so we can still get weather radio to hear the latest information. We caught some rays and some people played catch. Some guys came and told us not to sit on the railroad tracks. We obeyed and soon after that we got back on the road at 5:40pm heading west on 40.
At 6pm we got a call from Jason Reese and got the latest info from SPC and other info. Two storms appear one to our South and one to the North. The North looked like it had a flanking line. We turned west onto 94 at 6:25pm
Temp: 96F Dewpt: 31F Elevation: 5100FT
We decide that the southern storm looks more impressive than the north storm so we go into chase mode. However we were a little concerned about our gas situation. We just about all the cars have around half a tank and the nearest service area is 60 miles away. TOILET wasn't picking up any lightning from either storm.
6:44pm 5200 FT Toilet trash hits and kills a bird. We turn onto 71 South. Because of gas and the storm now doesn't look that impressive we decide to turn around and continue on 71 North.
Radio Stations: 1120 AM 1370 AM around Punkin Station
7:30 pm Temp: 83F Dewpt: 36F
Arrived in our hotel in Limon CO at 7:48pm. Elevation 5366FT
Total mileage for today: 337
Trip Total: 1138
States Visited: Nebraska, Colorado
DAY 3
Wednesday, June 7, 2000
Morning Discussion
Things are looking good up north. A front is forming which might produce severe thunderstorms later tonight and through the next few days. Looking at moisture plots we can see some sneaking up toward the Dakota area along with convergence. We might something tonight probably a lot of lightning. The lifted indices are progged around -6 around North Dakota.
We left the hotel at 11am gassed up at $1.67. Got onto 71 North.
Temp: 87F Dewpt: 35F
We were thinking about stopping at carhenge however we realize that we have a long drive ahead of us so we decided to go to our target city of Williston North Dakota and not make a detour to carhenge.
At 11:15 am our elevation was 5795FT (a new record for VUSIT) We also went over the Plamer divide.
12:12 pm Temp: 93F Dewpt: 35F
GPS location: N 40 15.1422
W 103 36.711
Elevation: 4274 FT
12:45 pm Temp: 96F Dewpt: 20F Relative Humidity 6.3 %
1:07pm entered NE
1:31pm Temp: 91F Dewpt: 30F
GPS Location: N 41 23.782
W 103 39.817
Elevation 4460 FT
2:05pm stopped at Scott's Bluff for gas ($1.59). There was no where to eat so we have to wait until we get to another town. Got back on the road at 2:20pm heading northwest on 26.
2:30pm Temp: 94F Dewpt: 34F Turned onto 20 West
Entered Wyoming at 3:25pm. Temp: 87F Dewpt: 58F
Passed a town called Vantassel. Their population was 8.
4:10pm Temp: 87F Dewpt: 52F
Bart calls for Josh over the CB. But Josh is in Bart's car.
Around 5pm we stop in Newcastle and we finally get to eat. The problem was we couldn't find a large enough city that had fast food. We knew that we had a long drive and we didn't want to sit down and eat. We needed to keep driving. We ate at a Subway with only one girl making our sandwiches. She deserves a raise.
We get back on the road again at 5:50pm heading North on 85.
Temp: 89F Dewpt: 39F
6:08pm we break our old record for elevation 6785FT.
We enter South Dakota at 6:15pm and the Black Hills.
We also go through the town on Deadwood SD. This town has beautiful scenery. The forests, waterfalls and beautiful hills were great to see. Chase one said they saw a Bear showering in the waterfalls. We got stuck in some traffic on 85 exiting Deadwood. A house was being transported on this highway and was not letting anyone pass them. There were two trucks one carrying the house and the other one carrying the roof of the house. SLOW...SLOW...SLOW
We finally get past the "house" at 7:15pm and turn west on I-90
Temp: 84F Dewpt: 50F
At 7:20pm we head North on 85.
We make a gas stop at 8pm ($1.61). Temp: 85F Dewpt: 54F
9pm Temp: 77F Dewpt: 60F
9:20pm Temp: 76F Dewpt: 56F
Entered North Dakota
We see some Buffalo grazing at 9:45pm.
The sunset around 9:40pm but it was still light out till 11-ish.
We started to see an MCS (Meso Convective System). It was not big enough to be considered an MCC. We put TOILET together to see if we can pickup any strikes.
At 10pm we enter Amidon ND Temp: 72F Dewpt: 59F
TOILET is picking up 6 strikes per minute from the MCC we were watching develop toward the west. Lines of lightning are evident at about 200 miles out and another one which is more defined is out at about 250 miles out.
Entered back into the central time zone 11:30pm Temp: 73F Dewpt: 48
We arrived at the hotel (Super 8) at 12:30 am in Williston. It was a long day driving. But the drivers hung in there along with everyone else. We are in an excellent spot for tomorrow.
Total mileage for today: 745
Total Trip: 1883
States visited: Colorado, Nebraska, Wyoming, South Dakota, North Dakota
Broke the record for highest elevation: 6785FT
DAY 4
Thursday, June 8, 2000
VUSIT recommends no more nights spent at the Super 8. The breakfast was horrible and everyone was afraid to breath because they thought that breathing would be too loud. We had discussion at 9:30 am this morning. It looks like there is a warm
front developing in central Montana. SPC has a slight risk out for just about all of MT barely touching ND. Experimentals are progging 25% on the composite.
There is 180 degree sheer, there is a tongue of moisture creeping into the ND, MT area. There is also convergence right along the ND MT border. Definitely decided to go west. Target city right now is Glasgow MT which is in the north west corner
of the state. We plan to come back to Wiliston ND to spend the night so we can have the ability to move either south, east or west tomorrow. We decide to wait for the new convective outlooks. One group made a Wal-mart run to buy more fuses for the
TV monitor for TOILET. One suggestion would be if something is upgraded on one trip make sure that someone on the next trip knows that modification. This would make it easier to put things together and avoid a lot of confusion. Also how to program the
scanner, CB's and the connection to the CB's. What would also be helpful is if we could update the VUSIT website as we are chasing. That way people could keep up with us as we go. This might be hard on someone during the chase but it would be kind of neat.
After looking at the new convective outlooks we saw a slight risk in MT. We decided to go west. First we moved TOILET to chase 4 (cyclic development) in case it was the type of car that chase 3 had that was blowing the fuse. Chase 3 then decided to
change their name to Flying Debris because TOILET was not in their car anymore.
We left the hotel at noon and headed to Pizza Hut for their buffet. Bart has been teasing us about it and we finally get to eat all we can eat. After lunch we got gas, checked into a different hotel and looked at the new experimentals.
At 2:18pm we left the hotel heading west on 2.
Temp: 75F
Dewpt: 64F
We entered MT at 2:39pm a VUSIT first we had to go and buy a high-res map while at Wal-mart. This is probably the farthest west and north that any chase has been.
2:45pm Temp 74F
Dewpt: 64F
At 3:06pm Temp: 76F
Dewpt: 82F
At 3:20pm we pulled off to the side of the road while Bart made a phone call to Greg Gallina to get information on the new day one. We found that Glasgow is the right place to be.
Temp: 78F
Dewpt: 60F
3:40 pm we get back on the road.
4:00pm We entered a city called Wolf Point.
Temp: 79F
Dewpt: 62F
4:15pm Temp. 81F
Dewpt: 60F
4:35pm Temp: 80F
Dewpt: 59F
We got into Glasgow at 4:45pm and saw a radar dome. So we turned around and stopped at the National Weather Service office in Glasgow. We were able to see some radar to verify what TOILET was picking up. A nice woman in charge showed us around talked about the MCS that went through last night. We also got information about where exactly the boundary was currently located. When we got there they had just launched a balloon (a special launching because of the current weather) so we got to see the sounding and the hodograph when it was just a few minutes old. We saw really good vertical wind shear. They were clockwise and then turned westerly aloft. There was a dry slot at 700mb. We went outside and saw a weather balloon and got some pictures. She explained how they are launched then when it was time to launch we got to see it. Just about everyone had their cameras out. It was spectacular. After the balloon launch we got back on the road at 6:15pm but we decided to stop to eat and fill up the tanks. After we ate we had the fastest pit stop ever. Gas was $1.63.
Temp: 78F Dewpt: 58F
We turned South on 24 at 7:06pm heading toward Jordan.
7:10pm Temp: 75F
Dewpt: 59F
TONE
At 7:30pm we here our first tone. A severe thunderstorm warning was issued for Garfield county. The thunderstorm was moving at 20 mph with 70 mph wind gusts. It was issued at 7:11pm goes till 8:15pm. Another tone. A severe thunderstorm warning was
issued for McCone county MT heading toward Circle moving north at 20 mph. That's the city we are trying to get to.
At 8pm we stop along the road to take pictures of the storm over a lake in MT. We stop again along the side of the road to take a look at a mesocyclone that looks like it might have a wall cloud. We can see the hail that it is producing off in the distance. There are no other roads that we can take to get around it so we have to drive under it. We were just to the east of the updraft core in between the updraft core and the outflow rain and hail. As we continue to drive we barely see a corkscrew forming to the left but it was barely visible b/c it was covered by other clouds.
8:30pm Temp: 72F
Dewpt: 68F
We head east on 200 heading toward Circle MT. Another Temp 79F Dewpt: 75F was taken after we turned. Another supercell to the SE is forming. We can see the inflow striations in front of us. Dawson and Praire counties have a severe thunderstorm warning.
TONE 8:41pm Garfield county severe thunderstorm warning (this is the county we are in) heading toward Jordan.
Temp: 74F
Dewpt: 71F
We turned west onto 200 heading toward Jordan to try and intercept the cell. We are right of the boundary.
Temp: 77F
Dewpt: 73F
We make another GREAT choice by heading toward Jordan we can see inflow and an anvil.
Temp: 76F
Dewpt: 65F
It looks like a multicell could be forming right behind us. At 9:30pm we pulled over to see the supercell heading toward Jordan. We got some great video and still pictures. It then turned into what looked like the mothership from the movie Independence Day. We got back on the road at 10pm heading east on 200. We are heading toward circle so that we can get a lightning show on the way home. The sun didn't set until 10:04pm. We think that we set a record with the latest sunset.
Bart said "Let's boogie ahead."
TONE 10:44pm A severe thunderstorm was issued for Circle exactly where we are headed.
11:42pm Temp: 66F
Dewpt: 60F
We entered back into ND at 1:15am. Stopped for gas ($1.61).
1:30 we turned onto 85 north heading back to Williston for the night. We finally got back to Wiliston at 1:50am We think that this is the latest VUSIT has come in from a night of chasing.
Mileage for today: 482
Trip total: 2365
States visited: North Dakota, Montana (a first for VUSIT)
DAY 5
Friday, June 9, 2000
The morning discussion was at 10am today. SPC convective outlook had all of ND in a slight risk. The surface low is on the "triple point" where MT, SD and ND border each other. A warm front goes through the middle of ND. Moisture is present in ND and there is also convergence in ND. We looked at a sounding from Bismark, ND 12hr forecast valid at 0Z. CAPE is progged around 1700J/Kg , and there is almost a 90% shear. The LFC is high it is around 700mb which is not good if we want to see tornadoes. The experiments have a 25% risk hail and a 2% in ND. We are thinking about staying in Fargo ND overnight. Our target city is Carrington ND which is about four hours east of where we are.
We left at 11am heading north on 85
Temp: 64F
Dewpt: 50F
12:11 pm turned on 2 going east. Temp: 69F Dewpt:50F
12:33 pm Temp: 60F Dewpt: 50F
12:45pm Temp: 62F Dewpt: 51F
12:55pm Turned on the 83 south arriving in the town of Minot to get a quick bite to eat as well as some gas ($1.69).
1:45 pm we are back on the road heading south on 85 Temp: 60F Dewpt: 51F
1:56pm Temp: 63F
Dewpt: 54F
2:01pm Temp: 68F
Dewpt: 60F
2:08pm Temp: 70F
Dewpt: 60F
At 2:40pm we turn onto 222 heading east.
We are trying to find the boundary to stay north of it that why we are taking so many Temp and Dewpt readings. We hear on weather radio that Minot (which is in the northern part of ND) has a temp of 61 while Bismark (which is south of Minot) has a temperature of 86. There is definitely a boundary and we want to stay north of it if we want to see any of it.
2:42pm Temp: 78F
Dewpt: 63F
2:48pm Temp: 80F
Dewpt: 61F
2:50pm Temp: 84F
Dewpt: 66F
3:22pm Temp: 83F
Dewpt: 67F
We decide to turn north on 33 at 3:30pm because we are now on the warm front. We notice this because we have no winds. The warm front decided to go further north than progged. We continue to take temp dewpt readings. It is really neat to go through the warm front seeing how the winds and temps are changing.
3:34pm Temp: 86F Dewpt: 65F
Turned west on 52 at 3:50pm
4:05pm Temp: 78F Dewpt: 61F
Turned east on 19
4:35pm Temp: 79F Dewpt: 63F
We hear from weather radio that a Grand Forks issued a moderate risk for severe thunderstorms. But SPC did NOT issue a moderate risk for that area. We pulled over at 5:20pm to get gas in Devil's Lake and also a bite to eat.
We headed east on 2 at 5:55pm Temp: 80F Dewpt: 60F
6:15pm we turned south onto 1
We pulled over and sat along a gravel road and had a little picnic. We can see the warm front because there are clouds forming along it. While we were sitting there we were getting slammed by winds. We pulled out the anemometer. We measured winds at 30 mph gusting up to 41 mph. If any thing would fire it would be north of this boundary but area is still capped so if will probably fire up after dark.
We decide to head south on 1. As we go underneath the warm front Bart pulls out the ion counter. Before we reached the warm front we had a reading of 330 (this is measured in Number of ions per cubic cm)
1100 Temp: 73F Dewpt: 62F
1160 Temp: 74F Dewpt: 63F
1230 we are just going under the warm front right under the cloud deck from the south.
1250
1440 Temp: 74F Dewpt: 64F under moisture convergence max right now
1290
1313 Temp: 75F Dewpt: 65F we are now under the warm front.
We pulled over because we didn't want to go to far south. We began to see the sun starting to set so we got a few pictures of that. We got back on the road at 9:41pm to go to the hotel in Fargo. The warm front has moved further south.
We take 200 East
At 10pm we get on 32 South Temp: 68F Dewpt: 62F
We find a cubs/sox game on AM radio all the guys get excited and start talking about it over the CB.
10:10pm 38 South/SE
10:35pm Temp: 79F Dewpt: 71F
10:43 we head east into Fargo on 94 Temp: 82F Dewpt: 64F
We pass the tallest structure in North America it is a 2063 FT TV Tower. We can see it in the distance.
We get on business 94 and to the hotel.
We get to hotel at 11:15pm
Today's mileage: 512
Trip total: 2877
States visited: just North Dakota
DAY 6
Saturday, June 10, 2000
Discussion was at 9:30am today. SPC has a slight risk on the day 1 for MN. This is bad chase country. The Day 2 looks promising with a slight over IA, NE but SPC isn't sure what is going to happen. The reason is they don't know where exactly the shortwave is going to come into. The boundary will sag a little bit from where it was last night and it will stall out. This means that the hot, capped air will move in the Chicago area and the short wave will soon be reaching us. Stuff could happen in IA today maybe an MCC so we are going to move south and position ourselves for tomorrow.
We leave the hotel around 10:15am. Our target city right now is somewhere in western IA. We don't want to go to far east in IA because of the stuff that will fire the next day in KS and NE. We took business 94 to 29 South. Who knew we would ever been in Fargo ND.
Leaving Fargo Temp: 69F Dewpt: 59F
11:15 am we enter South Dakota Temp: 72F Dewpt: 58F
11:52 am We make a really quick stop to get gas($1.74) for two cars just to be safe until we get to the next town.
11:58am back on road Temp: 67F Dewpt: 57F
12:20 pm we stop again this time in a little bigger city and get gas for all the cars ($1.63) and grab a bite to eat.
At1:05pm we are back on the road again on 29 South
1:25 pm Temp: 74F Dewpt: 60F
2:20pm Temp: 81F Dewpt: 58F
2:36 pm Temp: 83F Dewpt: 64F
2:50 pm Temp: 84F Dewpt: 64F
Bart gets new information from Greg Gallina about the new SPC outlooks and what we should do. We decide that any convection that would fire up would be to far to the east to chase. Greg was very helpful and said that we can call him any time.
We stopped at a rest area to talk about where we want to go for the night so that we are positioned in the right place for tomorrow. We decide to go to Norfolk NE and spend the night.
Flying Debris kept having problems with their CB. There was a problem with their antenna. The wire that plugs into the back of the CB was broken. The extra antenna was also shot so we had to go without a CB for awhile. We moved into the second position just to be on the safe side. We found a radio shack and purchased a snazzy antenna and finally we were able to talk and hear conversations.
We continued on 81 South after going to radio shack. As we were entering into Nebraska (5:23pm) we went over a really cool bridge. Jill was freaking out. But you could feel the temperature difference from the water.
5:45pm Temp: 82F Dewpt: 59F
6:20pm we entered Norfolk and started looking for a motel. We found a Holiday Inn Express that gave us a discount. These rooms are nice, frig, microwave, cordless phone. We are in luxury compared to some of the stuff we have stayed in. We went to
dinner at the USA Steak Buffet. It was great to just sit down and eat a nice meal with fruit and vegetables instead of fast food. Everyone was getting up to go for seconds, thirds and even fourths.
Some of us went out and took pictures of a supercell developing off in the distance.
We have a big forecast decision to make tomorrow. The models are not progging the short waves correctly. So we are going to have to depend on our own forecasts and intuitions. Tonight will be a late night for the room who will be leading the discussion tomorrow.
Today's mileage: 409
Trip total: 3286
States visited: North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska
DAY 7
Sunday, June 11, 2000
Discussion was at 9:30am SPC put out a slight risk out for North & South Dakota, Nebraska, and Iowa. We were faced with a hard forecast this morning because the models aren't progging very well with the short waves coming from the west. Discussions suggest that there could be severe weather along the triple point of NE, KS, and CO. There is also a chance up north near Bismark ND. However we really don't want to go north and chase stuff along the ridge. We don't want to leave the boundary and the trough that has established out west. The cap is just about right for convection in either place. CAPE is estimated between 1500-3000 J/Kg in the west. Another reason that we don't want to go north is the fact that if things start to fire in the west that will steal the moisture that the north would need. We finally decide after looking at a lot of data to go west. Our target area is western NE.
We check out of the luxurious Holiday INN Express at 11:20am and head to go get gas ($1.68). We headed South on 81.
Temp: 83F Dewpt: 61F
12:15pm we headed southwest on 30 Temp: 87F Dewpt: 64F
Bart called Gallina for the new day 1. We found out that the slight risk was moved more north and that the boundary was weakening so all the convection will happen in the north. So we made a quick change of plans and went north.
We saw some reindeer. We also see an inferior mirage. This is when the pavement ahead looks like it is wet.
At 1:16pm we turn north on 281. Temp: 87F Dewpt: 69F
A correction that needs to be made in the chase bible the 780 AM radio station is out of Norfolk NE. Another radio station in this area is 840 AM. Anisworth NE radio station 101.5FM
2:10pm Temp: 85F Dewpt: 60F
2:32pm Temp: 89F Dewpt: 56F
The dewpt is dropping so we are getting further away from the boundary.
2:40pm Temp: 88F Dewpt: 57F
2:43pm Temp: 87F Dewpt: 57F
2:45pm Temp: 90F Dewpt: 56F
2:55pm Temp: 90F Dewpt: 54F
2:57pm turned west on 20
3:00pm Temp: 88F Dewpt: 47F
3:19pm Temp: 88F Dewpt: 50F
Bart has been calling Greg to get updated on the storm that we are beginning to see in the distance.
A suggestion for future chases. Bring along blank maps for plotting fronts and warnings. Maps of the entire country and individual states will be very helpful.
There is a severe thunderstorm watch at 3:52pm was issued from I-90 north to Minot ND. 4pm TOILET reaches 200 strikes a minute. We stop for gas and are quickly back on the road heading back on 20 West. TOILET is now reaching 300 strikes per min.
We get the Anisworth ASOS on the weather radio and find out that their temp is 87F and Dewpt 55.5F
4:28pm we entered Cherry county NE there is a servere thunderstorm warning out for this county. We were in the inflow temp dropped to 75F. We see a gustnando in the distance. We are turning around to get to the correct side of the storm. We head north to get into South Dakota North 183.
Bart got updates from Greg and Joe in the weather center. We found out that the cell we were looking at had a DBZ of 70. It didn't look like it was rotating on radar but it was really large.
We turn south on 7 to watch the rain and hail. We see extremely small hail. Brian looks out the back window and sees dust blowing up. We realize that it is a microburst. We turn our cars around quickly and the dust/dirt went right across the road. It was amazing to go right through this. One car gets on the other side of it. The wind was blowing dirt and dust all over us. It was the most amazing sight.
We turned onto 183 North trying to get to Pierre to spend the night.
We entered SD at 7:15pm
Turned west on 18/183 at 7:32pm
7:42pm We made a stop in Winner SD for potty/snack break at the Lil' Feller gas station.left gas station at 7:52pm gas station 183 North
Saw a cell had a rain free base and looked like it had a lowering. So we decided to take a look. 8:05pm turned on 44 west. Stopped on a gravel road to watch stuff at 8:12pm
8:34pm on the way to Pierre east on 44 east
I-90 going west at 9:16pm
We decide to go to Murdo SD looking for a hotel and food . We arrive in Murdo at 9:55pm and checked into a Super 8.
Today's Mileage: 547
Total Trip: 3833
States visited: Nebraska, South Dakota
DAY 8
Monday, 12, 2000
Discussion well we really couldn't have a discussion because the hotel had problems dialing out. So Bart called his wife and she gave us the convective outlooks and experimentals. There is a moderate risk in the eastern dakotas into MN. With a 15%
chance of tornadoes over Northeast SD. We have not looked at any data. I guess we will see how we do today. Our plan is to get into the moderate risk. We are going to Aberdeen SD.
We leave the hotel at 9:30am get gas ($1.73). We head east on 90 at 9:40am.
Temp: 73F Dewpt: 58F
US 83 going North at 9:55am
10:30am temp: 80F Dewpt: 58F
10:45am Temp: 78F Dewpt: 59F
We turn on 12 east at 11:45am.
We got some updated info from Greg we turned around at noon because SPC downgraded the moderate risk they originally had to a slight. The models weren't correct with the winds aloft. There is good moisture but not good enough. So we decide to go to Mobridge for gas and food.
12:15pm Temp: 82F Dewpt: 59F
12:40pm we entered Mobridge and ate at a Pizza Hut and got some gas. We left Mobridge at 1:45pm.
The Day 2 outlook has a moderate risk for Southwest IA, SD, and KS. There is suppose to be major stuff happening tomorrow. So we don't want to go to far north and west and be in a bad position for tomorrow. We reserved a hotel in Souix City IA for the night. We already know that we won't get in until midnight at the earliest.
We head on 12 west at 2:10pm Temp: 82F Dewpt: 61F
We found a place to sit and we are going to wait to see if any thing pops up. Our Temp is 86F with a Dewpt: 60F Winds were 18 mph.
Tone
4:15pm A tornado watch has been issued for River Falls MN down to the southwest of Jamestown 75 miles east and west of that is the box. We head east on 12.
Temp: 86F
Dewpt: 60F
Ion Count: 600 ions per cubic cm.
We head south on 247 Temp: 83F Dewpt: 64F Ion Count: 2000
5:20pm we enter ND Temp: 83F Dewpt: 65F
We want to head towards Ashley ND. Turned on 11 east at 5:30pm. Radio Station that needs to be added to Chase Bible: 550AM (Bismark ND?)
There is a tornado warning in Billings County.
At 6:30pm Temp: 85F Dewpt: 63F
We enter SD at 7:10pm
We stopped for gas and food in Britton at 7:45pm
At 8pm we are back on the road heading east on 10.
We are on the interstate I 29 at 8:45pm.
We find out that it was TOILET's 10th birthday on June 11th. So Quentin and Tara sing happy birthday to TOILET over the CB's.
9:50pm Temp: 74F Dewpt: 65F
We fire up TOILET and it is not picking up too much.
Later on TOILET is picking up 100 strikes a min in a line about 50 to 100 miles out.
Stopped for gas at 11:10pm Temp: 73F Dewpt: 65F
We entered IA at 12:15Am and arrived at our hotel at 12:20am.
Today's mileage: 677
Total Trip mileage: 4510
States visited: North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa
DAY 9
Tuesday, June 13, 2000
Today we had a competition for forecasting. There were three groups, Bart, Veterans, and then Rookies. We all came up with a forecast and a city to go to without looking at SPC. We had a half hour with the computer to look at whatever data we wanted. After all of us came up with a forecast we looked at SPC and we were all in the moderate risk. The moderate risk extends from IA parts of NE and KS. The experimentals showed winds and hail were at 25 percent for that general area and it was also hatched. The tornado probibilty was at 5 percent. We waited for the new day 1 and found out that it was just about the same. We saw on the weather channel that a severe thunderstorm watch box was out for much of IA and MO. We decide to head east to get a hotel in Williams IA. It is only about an hour away so we can got there check in get some lunch and look at more
data.
We left the hotel at 12:10 pm going east 20.
12:25pm Temp: 80F Dewpt: 73F
12:48pm Temp: 79F Dewpt: 76F
1pm We get an update for Joe in the weather center and find out that Valpo is under a severe thunderstorm warning and a flash flood watch.
1:15pm Temp: 81F Dewpt: 73F
1:40pm We hear a tone it is a severe thunderstorm warning for Northern Hamiliton county and Right county.
1:50pm Temp: 75F Dewpt: 71F
2:00pm Temp: 75F Dewpt: 72F
We hear on weather radio that there is a tornado watch box issued for Calhoun and Webster counties until 8pm. There is also a severe thunderstorm watch box for this area as well. We stopped at the hotel in Williams to look at some more data at
3:05pm we get back on the road and head south because we hear that tornadoes might be on the ground there. We stop at the rest stop to find out that a bow echo covers the entire state of Iowa. There were tornado warnings in Southwest IA. We
head south on 169 to try and intercept the storm. There was no cap so the storms went up quick and a bow echo formed. If there were some sort of cap we would have been able to see stuff.
There was a tornado warning for Montgomery County so we try to get on the correct side of it so we can see if anything will happen. We head west on 92 at 5:24pm to get ahead of storm.
at 5:40pm Temp 79F Dewpt: 76F
We stopped on 35 south to take pictures of the gust front. We had winds of 35mph. We head back north on 35 at 7:45pm. We stop once again at a rest area to look at radar. We see the nice bow echo so we try to go south to see if we can see if any supercells develop along the southern end.
8pm Temp:68 Dewpt: 61F
We reach the MS border at 8pm.
We stop again in MS and let the storm "roll" over us. We get winds of 44mph and there was lots of rain and lots of lightning. We leave MS at 9pm and continue to get "rolled" as we head north on I-39. We get into 9:10pm in IA. We stay in the town of Williams IA.
Today's Mileage: 590
Total Trip: 5100
States visited: Iowa, Missouri (our 10th state)
DAY 10
Wednesday, June 14, 2000
There was really no discussion this morning because there is a slight risk over IN. Experimentals have a 15% hatched for central western IN. So we want to hurry up and get back near IN to chase this.
We leave the hotel at 9am. Temp: 67F Dewpt: 61F heading south on 35.
At 9:55am we stop for gas and are quickly back on the road again at 10:05am
We get onto I-80 heading east at 10:15am.
We take 280 to get around the city and then head south on 74 at 12:40pm
We entered IL at 12:19pm
12:40pm Temp: 71F Dewpt: 67F
1pm Temp: 70F Dewpt: 67F
TONE
There is a severe thunderstorm watch box out that covers the IN and IL border. We are also getting tones for severe thunderstorm warnings for eastern IL counties and northwestern IN counties. The problem is that the thunderstorms have turned
into a huge squall line (it seems like the same situation as yesterday) and they are moving very fast. There is no way that we would be able to get ahead of them and get on the correct side. There wasn't much of a cap at all and that's way the storms
fired up all at once and formed a squall line.
1:40pm Temp: 79F Dewpt: 69F
We stopped for a quick gas and food stop and were back on the road at 2:15pm heading on I-74. We decide that for sure these storms are moving to fast to intercept so we start to head north back to Valpo. We took 17 to 2 west. We entered IN at 5:05pm.We enter Valpo at 6:30pm before filling up at the Amaco. We were all shocked at the high gas prices. It was a $1.99... Ouch! We vote on quotes and get summer addresses and that was our trip.
Today's mileage: 540
Total Trip Mileage: 5640 (new record)
States visited: Iowa, Illinois, Indiana
City of the Year: Glasgow Montana
Records broken: Tied 10 states
We stayed at 5 different hotel chains
highest mileage 5640
highest elevation 6785 FT
western and northern most points
latest arrival at hotel 2am
latest sunset 10:04pm in MT
TOP TEN QUTOES:
10. Unreasonalby hot and dry.
9. The only way to break the cap is to go to Pike's Peak!
8. You dated Harre's daughter?!
7. PCA = Positive Cow Advection
6. You haven't played nickel slots until you've played the Brass A$$
5. A buffet for breakfast, a buffet for lunch and then a sensible dinner.
4. I'd like to thank SPC for making us run laps around SD and IA.
3. Holy SH...Cow
2. The storms are going to be spinning so fast that the FFD will be kissing the RFD.
1. We're gonna get rolled.