2015--Day 8
A hot vehicle loading in Oakley, KS, with a road briefing to follow. We need to fetch the pods we deployed last night (that is, if we can find them and they weren't stolen by one of the other 58,341 chasers out yesterday). The general line of thought is to head west toward Denver, as rotating storms are once again possible in northeastern Colorado.
While traveling to retrieve the pods, we're listening to a radio station out of Colby (I think). The DJ has a few annoying habits:
1. Not starting the song at the beginning
2. Starting a new song in the middle of the first song
3. Restarting the first song from the beginning
4. Talking over the end of a song well before it ends
5. Sounding like a cross between Ray Romano and Tickle Me Elmo
DJ ADHD just started four songs in one minute.
On a sad note, it appears that pod #2 (which had a supercell pass over it) didn't start collecting data until 2 am local, which was well after the fun happened.
Passing through Atwood, KS, we saw a sign for the It'll DO motel that states, "It's not a Hilton, but it'll do." Love that Kansas sense of humor.
Snippet of conversation between Kadir and me:
me: I come from the Land of Steady Habits.
Kadir: Variety is the spice of life.
me: Try explaining that to your wife.
As of about 1 pm local, a supercell southeast of the Denver metro has a tornado warning. For perspective, we're currently about 150 miles east of it.
We're on I70 in eastern Colorado, and the radio just went through the entire FM band without locking onto a station.
Around 2:40 pm local we engaged a storm some distance east of Denver. Thought we might have seen a tornado, but the haze and low clouds made it difficult to confirm.
Around 3:50 we saw evidence of a funnel cloud (with a debris ball on radar) near Byers, but it was not very clear. Intercepted several storms that looked quite good but never really produced.
After driving in some seriously heavy rain, we made it to Colby, KS. Our original plan was to eat in Colby, we noted a significant thunderstorm on the south end of a cluster of storms. We engaged the storm, and around 9:15 pm local were rewarded with at least two tornadoes (I think three), including a large, rain-wrapped tornado ('particularly dangerous situation') that moved very slowly toward Oakley (where we stayed last night and hopefully this evening too). At one point we did have to make a rather quick turnaround to avoid our own particularly dangerous situation (it's never a good sign when the chase leader says 'uh oh'). In the process of observing/running for our lives, we deployed three pods. I hope the pictures (and the data) come out. One thing I've learned on this trip: just how amazingly electric supercells can be.
So Oakley turned out to be OK, and we made it in around 11 pm. Another late dinner, but the steak will have to wait for another day. Final tally: two states, 631 miles, and three tornadoes. That’s plenty for one day, I’d say.
While traveling to retrieve the pods, we're listening to a radio station out of Colby (I think). The DJ has a few annoying habits:
1. Not starting the song at the beginning
2. Starting a new song in the middle of the first song
3. Restarting the first song from the beginning
4. Talking over the end of a song well before it ends
5. Sounding like a cross between Ray Romano and Tickle Me Elmo
DJ ADHD just started four songs in one minute.
On a sad note, it appears that pod #2 (which had a supercell pass over it) didn't start collecting data until 2 am local, which was well after the fun happened.
Passing through Atwood, KS, we saw a sign for the It'll DO motel that states, "It's not a Hilton, but it'll do." Love that Kansas sense of humor.
Snippet of conversation between Kadir and me:
me: I come from the Land of Steady Habits.
Kadir: Variety is the spice of life.
me: Try explaining that to your wife.
As of about 1 pm local, a supercell southeast of the Denver metro has a tornado warning. For perspective, we're currently about 150 miles east of it.
We're on I70 in eastern Colorado, and the radio just went through the entire FM band without locking onto a station.
Around 2:40 pm local we engaged a storm some distance east of Denver. Thought we might have seen a tornado, but the haze and low clouds made it difficult to confirm.
Around 3:50 we saw evidence of a funnel cloud (with a debris ball on radar) near Byers, but it was not very clear. Intercepted several storms that looked quite good but never really produced.
After driving in some seriously heavy rain, we made it to Colby, KS. Our original plan was to eat in Colby, we noted a significant thunderstorm on the south end of a cluster of storms. We engaged the storm, and around 9:15 pm local were rewarded with at least two tornadoes (I think three), including a large, rain-wrapped tornado ('particularly dangerous situation') that moved very slowly toward Oakley (where we stayed last night and hopefully this evening too). At one point we did have to make a rather quick turnaround to avoid our own particularly dangerous situation (it's never a good sign when the chase leader says 'uh oh'). In the process of observing/running for our lives, we deployed three pods. I hope the pictures (and the data) come out. One thing I've learned on this trip: just how amazingly electric supercells can be.
So Oakley turned out to be OK, and we made it in around 11 pm. Another late dinner, but the steak will have to wait for another day. Final tally: two states, 631 miles, and three tornadoes. That’s plenty for one day, I’d say.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home