The Great Plains Chase of 08

Day 13:

After spending our second night in Canyon, TX we headed towards Colby, KS. The drive is estimated to be 6 hrs and it's sad when that doesn't seem that long anymore. I'm sure once I get back to Starvegas and travel the hour and fifteen back home to Fayette, AL it will fly by. An update from home stated that last Friday Tuscaloosa got a substantial 3.8 inches of rain. Along the border of Kansas and Oklahoma we stopped for some lunch and the bank sign read 99 degrees. If the temp continues to stay this high then we will have a strong cap in place on Wednesday and it will be harder for storms to pierce through. After arriving in Colby, KS Renny gave us a discussion on forecasting tips. These tips will help us on deciding which model to use and how to initialize them by realizing their trends and biases. The models are suggesting that the big day will be on Friday. The trough is tilted negatively which will enhance the severe storm potential. We learned about the omega block that is taking place which will allow the low to sit in the same spot for several days creating a long lasting severe weather threat for the Western portion of Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. We will just wait and see what changes with the models and hope to end the chase with a cherry on top of the sundae.

~Leah Dailey
X-Ray