A Look Back At 2009

[Paul Sherman]

Noticed I did not do a Chase Summary of 2009 so for people that are booked on the 2010 Trips this should give you and Insight into what occured during the very tough 2009 Season and also for people that were out in 2009 a look back at what that Chase Season offered us, many good memories and more to come in 3 months time.

Tour 1 First and Parts 2 & 3 Coming later today or Tomorrow

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We flew out on Sunday 26th April and landing in a High Risk zone which was located about 150 Miles to our North West around Western Oklahoma and NW Texas around the Wichita Falls and Lawton area meaning the only action we could get from picking up the Hire Cars was some Evening Lightning, as luck would have it the DFW Area had an Overnight MCS Roll through for an early alarm call at 4am!

Chase Day 1

Monday 27th April was used as a Positioning day and we drove up towards the Texas Panhandle to be positioned in Childress for the 28th in New Mexico and the Texas Panhandle.

Chase Day 2

Tuesday 28th April had a Slight Risk over New Mexico and the Southern Texas Panhanle - Storms were junky and light Drizzle was encountered, it was late in the day that 2 Supercells fired in New Mexico, One near Roswell and the other down near Carlsbad. Neither of them were particulary Photogenic and we ended the day at Brownwood (Tx) in readiness for a bigger day on Wednesday 29th again in the Texas Panhandle.

Chase Day 3

Wednesday 29th April was a day none of the team will forget in a hurry, Initial target of Plainview for Lunch and a Supercell fired along the Dryline by Mid Afternoon, we went to take a look at a Supercell near Paducah first with the option of heading back West to the SE Moving Storm near Floydada, big problems then ensued as our only West road got cut off due to 3" Hail in a Storm that popped up between us and the Now Tornado Warned Storm further to the West. So a detour to the North and West was the only option, roads were extremeley bad and the only option was back to Paducah, we saw a few Funnel Clouds and as darkness was falling decided to Core Punch the Storm to get towards Childress (Our Overnight Location) this was a good move as it allowed us to be North West of the Storm for some great Lightning Shots well into the Night!

- Team 1 @ Brownwood (Texas)

- Lightning Display SE Of Childress

- Cg With Hail Shaft

Chase Day 4

After Overnighting in Childress the 30th April would take us to a risk area in NW Oklahoma. After waiting around for 6 hours for the Cap to break and thinking that maybe the Cap would win we finally got a few Towers to go up North of Clinton, we were pretty much the 1st Chase Team on this LP Supercell and watched a Funnel Cloud form about 25 Minutes into it's life cycle North of Arapaho. Again no full Tornado but this was the Only Storm in the whole of the Plains so not bad going

- Arapaho Supercell

Chase Day 5

Friday 1st May had us starting in Clinton and down to Vernon (Tx) for Lunch - Temps were 96f with 76f Dewpoint - 1st Storm fired off about 50 Miles to our South West near Knox City and we navigated our way down the East side of the Now HP Supercell to a farming community called Rule where we saw our first proper Tornado of the Tour - This Storm was breathtaking at times and had 4" Hailstones dropping out of it's NE Side. Many Wallclouds were witnessed as the SE Moving Storm tried to tighten up and produce again but no cigar and as the Supercell crossed the boundary it promptly died a death. More action would follow and we positioned about 25 Miles North of Abilene to watch the Dryline fire up and let us watch and Photograph Tornado Warned Cells in Shackleford County

- Full Report & Pics here

Chase Day 6

We started the day In Abilene (Tx) in 50f Temps and Drizzle and the Risk for Storms was NE Of the DFW Metroplex - Got as far as Decatur and decided that it was not going to be a Chase Day due to what we term a "ClusterF**k of Storms or a great big MCS So ended the Chase early to get some rest at the Hotel.

Chase Day 7

Was a Travel day from Decatur to Amarillo

Chase Day 8

Again not much going on so Jaunted down to Childress in Readiness for the Moderate Risk on Monday 4th May around the N Central Texas area

Chase day 9

Started the Day In Childress and got on the Best Supercell of the Day at Breckenridge - Stayed to the SW & South Side of the SE Moving Storm and witnessed a Funnel Coud and wrapping rain curtains with this Storm, got pushed down tiny country lanes with about 1,000 other Chaser to just North of I-20 Near Gordon - Ended the day at Weatherford (Tx)

- Breckenridge Storm

Chase Day 10

Started In Weatherford and used the Day as a Positioning day to end up in El Reno (Ok) Stopped off at Dave Ewolds Pad and had a few beers at Eischens which everyone enjoyed as it has the Best Fried Chicken in the USA!

Chase Day 11 - BUSTOLA CRAPOLA

Final day for Tour 1 and we ended up playing the draping Dryline in S Central Kansas further South from the Warm Front Intersection that was placed In NE Kansas as we had to keep one eye on getting the Guests back to DFW For Thursday 7th May. Quite simply the CAP Won this day and we waited around for hours in the Searing 95f Heat with nothing happening. Ended the Day in Perry to see if we could get the Squall Line overnight to hit our Hotel, but even the end of that missed us by about 10 Miles and Trashed places in Kansas with 100mph Straight Line Winds!

Drove from Perry to DFW On Friday 8th May to do the ChangeOver of Guests and welcome the new Guests to witness the Great Plains - It is always a sad time for departing guests as you bond so much over those 10 days and everyone feels part of the Team.

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Stats For Tour 1

Miles = 3,400

Tornadoes = 2

Funnel Clds = 4

Hail = Baseball

Supercells = 5

Chase Days = 6

Travel Days = 3

Busts = 1

Texas Chases = 4

New Mexico = 1

Oklahoma = 1

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Tour 2 Coming Later Today!

Paul S

[Nick F]

Nice one Paul, hopefully you'll do more than a few sentences and pics for tour 3 last year

[dogs32]

Nice one Paul, hopefully you'll do more than a few sentences and pics for tour 3 last year

yes nice one Paul.

nice info in detail and some excellent memories

[Paul Sherman]

Tour 2 Highlights

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Chase Day 1

Tour 2 arrived and got straight into Chase Mode immediately. After leaving DFW Airport at around 430pm we headed West on I-20 To a Supercell that had formed near Graham/Breckenridge and was drifting South Eastwards - The Guests could not believe it as barely 2 Hours after stepping off their Flights a Funnel Cloud was dangling halfway to the ground from a LP Supercell! (Not a bad start for Tour 2) We stopped briefly to watch the Cell before targteting an absolute Beast of a HP Supercell in Brown County near Brownwood (Tx) This Storm was 72,000ft in Height and had one of the most Incredible Wall Clouds I have ever seen, as we headed West from Comanche a Tornado Warning was issued for Lake Brownwood which was about 2 Miles in Front of us under the Wall Cloud area. How this Storm never dropped a Tornado is beyond me as it had that Perfect Look to it! Brownwood Itself got trashed by 100mph Winds and Extreme 4" Hail.

- Our Position

- Mothership HP Supercell

Chase Day 2

After overnighting in Weatherford (Tx) we decided not to chase way Eastwards in NE Texas and positioned ourselves in readiness for the next Chase Day in Childress (Tx)

Chase Day 3

A Short Travel journey up Highway 287 to stay at the Big Texan in Amarillo, Once again there were No Storms so the SPC Issued a High Risk of Outflow Winds near I-40 East of Amarillo and Boy did they Nail that forecast as the 72oz King Mr Cameron Certainly Did not let them down

- Undisputed UK StormChase Champion!

Chase Day 4

A Fantastic Chase Day for Tour 2 with the Team drifting South to Plainview for Lunch, After negotiating a Nasty Dust-Storm on I-29 From a Dryline Supercell we followed this Storm towards Turkey (Tx) and through the Caprock Escarpment. We finally found our Way Just North West of Childress Tracking a nice Supercell and then got Boxed in on the Highway by about 40 Vortex 2 Vehicles. As Darkness was approaching we booked into the Days Inn @ Childress (Just for a change ) and let the Storm Unleash over us as we got Lightning Shots under the Hotel Covered Area. Some great Cg's and Anvil Crawlers with Mammatus were shot along with a Bolt which landed about 100ft away! We also got a Bonus Tornado from the approaching Storm looking South just before 9pm CDT!

0.5 Sec Exp with F22 @ ISO 100

Chase Day 5

Tuesday 12th May was a Solid Moderate Risk day in Missouri and parts of Kansas, owing to Chasing the more marginal Set Up the day before we set our sights on the Tail End Charlie and had a Chase Target of Enid (Ok) Which was a pretty good choice as the last Cell from the 500 Mile Line initiated about 5 Miles from Enid. We tracked this storm for hours on end and once again it was South Moving, After it crossed I-40 West of Oklahoma City we set up for some Lightning shots near El Reno, as this Storm headed towards South Central Oklahoma it dropped a large Tornado near Anardarko in the Darkness around 2 Hours later.

- More Pictures

Chase Day 6

Was a positioning day for another Moderate Risk day on Thursday 14th May in Kansas, so we drove from El Reno to Witchita (KS) & Stayed on the East side of Town

Chase Day 7

This was a Moderate Risk day in South Central Kansas, but the weather gods had other things on their minds as this turned into barely more than a Slight Risk of Large Hail and a Monster Squall Line from Hell. At it's peak this Line of Storms stretched from Amarillo to Iowa and you had to keep trying to peek into the Line before getting Chased back out, lots of nice Gust Front features (If you are into that sort of thing) But all of these Embedded Storms were Outflow Dominant and we retreated to Coffeyville and let the whole Line go over our Hotel

- Outflow Dominant Storm Never Going to Produce a Tor!

- As Close as it Came near El Dorado (KS)

- More Pictures

Chase Days 8-10

We drifted down from SE Kansas to Norman (Ok) as the weather Pattern had finally dried up and the Outlook for Tour 2 was endless Blue Skies, BBQ's Bowling and Nightclubbing!

Got the Guests back to DFW For Tuesday 19th May and Picked up the Guests for Tour 3 Hoping the Pattern would get better in the Ridge of Death!

Stats for Tour 2

Miles = 3,000

Tornadoes = 1

Funnel Clds = 1

Supercells = 4

Hail = Golfball

Chase Days = 4

Travel Days = 3

Down Days = 3

Texas Chases = 2

Oklahoma Chases = 1

Kansas Chases = 1

[Tom Lynch]

Nice memories Paul.

Do you know I forgot about setting off from Abilene in the drizzle on the way to DFW. That was the day the Dalls Cowboys training facilities were blown away. And the day that we invaded that nice lakeside $10 million property. oh it is all coming back to me now.

good one Paul

Tom

Edited January 23, 2010 by Tom Lynch

[Paul Sherman]

Tour 3 Highlights

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After picking up the guests for Tour 3 at DFW We had a 7 hour drive to get to Wichita (KS) Overnight in readiness for Chase Day 1 in the Nebraska Panhandle and whilst on route SPC Had Upgraded that area from Text Risk to Slight for Wednesday 20th May! So with the last 10 days of May looking horrendous on the Models this was nice to see, although Tour 3 would turn out in the end to surprise some for the amount of Chase Days we actually saw in the Supposed Ridge of Death - Certainly the other end of the Spectrum from the last 10 days of 2008 when the Netweather Team witnessed 15 Tornadoes in 8 days

Chase Day 1

Left Wichita under cloudy skies and blasted North and West into Clear skies and 90f Heat - Chase Target was North Platte and on route a Storm had initiated in Wyoming and was crossing the Prairie into the Nebraska Sand Hills, we went North to Thedford but the Storms were clearly struggling, at about 8pm one Storm turned into a Great Supercell as it hit some sort of residual boundary, we ended the day in North Platte with a Sand Storm Warning LOL - Great 1st day for the newbies and 3 out of 3 for the Netweather Teams to see a Supercell on their very first Chase Day

- Storm Initiation Struggling against the Cap

- Getting there but boy is it Struggling

- In 10mins a Junky looking T-Storm turned into this!

- Time to get out of the way!

- Starting to Gust out!

Chase Day 2

Left North Platte and the Outlook was not great just Ordinary Storms along an old Cold Front along the Rocky Mountains near Denver, so decided to go the Scenic route through the Mile High City and then went East towards some Storms and ended the day at La Junta (CO)

- Pictures

Chase Day 3

Another Colorado Chase Day with CZ (Convergence Zone) Type Pulse Storms the order of the day, these can sometimes supply plentiful Landspout type Tornadoes but are usually the strength of our Uk Thunderstorms, Some Lightning Pics were had and ended the day in Sterling (CO) with what seemed the rest of the Uk Storm Chasing Community! Tour 3 had now seen 5 US States in 3 Days!

Chase Day 4

Left Sterling with a Chase Target of the Kansas/Nebraska Border and the Storm of the Day caught everyone out, we caught sight of it as we neared North Platte and it got Tornado Warned straight away, it looked very HP in appearance and we certainly did not see the Tornado that was reported in a Country Park just East of North Platte. After chasing some more storms dropped south and ended the day in Hays (KS)

- Pictures

Chase Day 5

A travel day from Hays to Amarillo to sample the Big Texan and also take in the latest goings on in Greensburg (The Town was hit by an EF5 On 4th May 2007) Bonus along the way were some Severe Hail Storms in the Oklahoma Panhandle just South of Liberal, so not bad for a Death Ridge with the Team seeing Lightning on 5/5 Days in the Worst Set Up in over 10 years!

Chase Day 6

A risk of Storms along a Warm Front and Dryline in the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandle, we Targeted the Caprock but it did not give us any Caprock Magic on this day, ended up drifting North to end the day in Childress just for a change but after checking in went North by about 30 Miles to the Red River and photographed a dying Supercell in the distance.

- 6/6 For Storms

- Pictures

Chase Day 7

A pleasant surprise to see the SPC Had Upgraded this day to a Slight Risk over North Central Texas, our Initial Target was Wichita Falls but a Supercell fired near to Graham and started to drift towards the DFW Metroplex, we were in a good position to intercept but would have to negotiate the DFW Rush Hour We somehow got an Elevated position looking Westwards at the approaching Cell which looked High Based and full of Hail!

Ended up Core Punching it and taking on mainly Golfball Sized Hail and ended the day in Weatherford (Tx)

- Supercell approaching DFW

- Very High Based

- Mammatus

- Cg Lightning West of Dallas Fort Worth

7 out of 7 For StormChase Tour 3

Chase Day 8

Left Weatherford and had a Chase Target of Fredericksburg in the Texas Hill Country (Yes we really are down near the Equator at the end of May) DOH! Storms duly erupted and a few nice Supercells were observed, little to no chance of Tornadoes but some Serious Tree Shredding Hail with Grapefruit Sized Hail just South of us along I-10 - Witnessed some great Hail Fog and amazing Tower Lightning.

- Full Report and Pics

8 out of 8 Chase Days and Storms!

Chase Day 9

Started and Ended the Day in Fredericksburg and another day with Storms and Supercells, mostly lost of Lightning and Hail the main dangers but at least it kept it up to 9 from 9!

Arron then got a Birthday treat with a 5 Hour MCS Onslaught after we had eat Mexican and had a few beers for his Birthday!

- Pictures

Chase Day 10

No Storms so we used this as a Travel day back to Dallas Fort Worth

Chase Stats For Tour 3

Miles = 4,700

Tornadoes = 0

Funnel Clds = 0

Supercells = 5

Hail = Baseball

Chase Days = 9

Travel Days = 1

Down Days = 0

Texas Chases = 4

Colorado Chases = 2

Oklahoma Chases = 1

Nebraska Chases = 2

[dogs32]

Cant be bad when you think this was classed as a bad year for Storm's from a Chaser's point of view.

Fourteen Supercell's there and some fantastic electrical Storm's.

Just been reading Bruiser's Blog Paul and yes he was on every storm we were on.

Im sure he nicked some of our picture's ...!!

[Aunt Sally]

Many thanks for putting this together Paul, it has brought back so many happy memories of this years Tour 1 I had totally forgotten about the miilionaires garden but will never forget that lightening storm near Childress on Day 3 - mother nature gave us an amazing performance that night

Tammy