We started our chase day in the Best Western, Irving to discuss our strategy for the day.
Anya suggested out first chase target as the Car Rental Car Park at DFW. We jumped on the shuttle from the hotel and made our way to the top floor.
Armed with the car rental radar screen and mobile phone compasses we decided our best view point would be from the south west corner.
We repositioned ourselves and waited patiently, checking the radar every 5 mins or so.
Soon things started to look good. The sky was getting darker and planes were making hard turns immediately after takeoff.
CGs began striking to our west.
As the squall line drew closer we saw the base encroaching upon us and what we believe to be a gust front.
Things got very bad, very quickly. We were soon being slammed with torrential rain, straight line winds, bullet thunder and lightening coming from all directions.
This went on for over an hour.
As soon as we realised a gap in the line was approaching we headed into car rentals to catch the coach to terminal D.
We had identified our next target as Gate 16 in terminal D.
We rushed through security and were soon repositioned. The storm was still taking a rest so we determined this was an excellent time for lunch.
Just as the storm ramped up again we finished lunch. Upon consulting the radar and SPC it was apparent storm direction has changed slightly so we repositioned one again to Gate D20. We stayed here for the rest of the afternoon being treated to a lightening show. The runways were actually close for some time in the afternoon.
The payoff for these storms was a delayed flight for most of us but this was definitely worth it.
A successful day’s chase in all.