07/05/10 Chase...

The SPC severe weather outlook for 07/05/10. A "See Text" indicates a less than 5% probability of severe weather.

Yesterday was an excellent chase day. I targeted Wheeler, TX and drove through to Cheyenne, OK and back to Wheeler, TX again. I was expecting to be the only chaser out today. I met up with a fellow storm chaser, Steve Miller and we chased these cells through OK and the TX panhandle. This chase exceeded my expectations and I came back with a lot of great photographs.

Thanks.

-Ben

07/05/10:

A cold front set up from south west KS to the TX panhandle. The front stalled and fired off scattered thunderstorms. While, there were weak winds aloft (25kts of shear) it was still enough to get some embedded supercells in the line. I targeted Wheeler, TX and around 4:30 I arrived to the target just as thunderstorms were starting to develop.

Tornado Graphic

Severe wind graphic.

While driving up towards Wheeler the SPC issues a mescoscale discussion. "Severe weather watch unlikely".

Heading north on 83 out of Wellington I see a thunderstorm updraft explode to my north.

Storms are firing up along the stalled frontal boundary and I shift my target to the east. I am now heading for Cheyenne, OK.

Still on the way to Cheyenne, but the storm looks like it is trying to hook.

Get a few miles west of Cheyenne and pull over to capture this shelf cloud structure.

The storms are starting to merge into a line.

I was hoping at best we would see a squall line. That is how it appeared for a while.

Quick radar grab. Looks like the storm is trying to back build.

Very interesting scud bomb creeps under the shelf.

The cell on the sw side of the storm looks like it is trying to separate. Maybe it may turn into a "tail-end charlie"!

I decide to head for the storm developing on the south west. Its about this time when I meet up with Steve Miller and I start to chase with him.

Incredible rotation right in front of us.

New wall cloud forming to the NE.

This thing was rotating like crazy!

There was some great motion in this storm, but the cold outflow kept killing it.

The storm keeps back building and we keep moving west.

More insane rotation on this storm.

The wider shot shows some of the storms structure. Very nice inflow moving into this storm. The storm also latches on to an outflow boundary, which helps give it a little more spin.

We get in a good position--right where the hook is forming.

Rapid rotation now and a good rising motion in the wall cloud.

We have to stop because I need to refuel my car. While filling up, Steve notices some rotation in the sky above us.

Velocity scan doesn't really show much rotation.

Turn back to the west where the new updrafts keep forming, but this time we were in for a surprise.

Funnel cloud!

Here's a 100% crop to show the funnel/possible landspout.

Blasting north now. Ran into some beautiful structure, but can't stop to take some photos.

Awesome structure on this storm.

Steve wants to be on the nw side of the storm. This is the best place to observe any landspouts. The only way to get there is to punch through the core!

We punch through and end up on the nw side. We don't see any landspouts...

But how about a nice mesocyclone? Captured from a different angle.

Heading south now...

Radar scan: the storm is starting to isolate itself a little more.

We pull over at a rest area to see if any landspouts form.

The light on this storm was gorgeous. You can see the mesocyclone/updraft on the right side of the photo.

Standing under the rain free base. It looks like a lava lamp in the sky.

The sun sets and the storms start to die. That rain/hail core on the left of the photo is what I have to drive through to get back home.

Though this was a long drive and there were only moderate parameters, it was still well worth it. Captured some beautiful structure and even a funnel cloud. Special thanks to Steve Miller for letting me chase along with him.