Great Plains Storm Chase 08

Day 2:

We departed from Ardmore, OK at 9:00. Then we headed the 7 hour journey to Dodge City, KS in hopes of intercepting some rotating storms. Since the temp was 10'C or below the cap is not an issue. As of right now (10:00) the helicity is not high enough to be favorable for a tornado. After writing a song, making up a dance, and doing two "find the words" it seems like the best time waster would be a nap. I am also reading Double Cross by James Patterson and it is very intense. Throughout the drive we have seen gas prices range from $3.29-$3.79. I also saw a windmill farm for the first time. The windmill far generates power, yet on a sad note many migratory birds are killed by their blades.

.....Wow, is the only word that can sum up this day. We crossed into Kansas (a state I have never been to). We could honestly see the storm 100 miles away because it is so flat. I'm sure If we stood on a tuna can we could see it 105 miles away. Once we got about 25 miles away from the storm you could see the amazing structure of the super cell. We started to see a wall cloud forming and was hoping for a funnel. Once we stopped to get some good photo shots, we were knocked down by chilly 60 mph winds. It was ridiculous! We could see the rain curtain wrapping around the rear flank downdraft and I learned that is the actual hook echo that you seen on the radar. Once Mike decided that we were getting too close we moved away. The storm grew and developed another hail core. We went through some baseball size hail and took some shots like a trooper. Thankfully everyone and everything was okay. Not sure about a few cows. I was able to get some great pictures and video that I will post later. Day 2= a very exciting day.

~Leah Dailey
(X-Ray)