Reports & Pictures Chase Day 2 - Arizona

[Paul Sherman]

Chase day 2 saw the team in action again and what an amazing day it turned out to be. All models showed similar areas to yesterday but we went with the NAM Model which showed the Central Desert Lighting up. We left Phoenix at 1pm and jauntered down towards Casa Grande on the Maricopa Road and then the first bit of fun began. Storms were already getting there act together to our South but we had about 45 minutes playing with incredible Dust Devils which were easily EF0 In strength and were like Mini Wedge Tornadoes. Temperatures at this point were 110f and the rotation was pretty violent, we have some insane Youtube Video to put up in a wee while. We then got down to the serious part of the day and headed South towards Casa Grande to a nice Thunderstorm over the Desert to our South, I took a SE Road and upon heading into Casa Grande an amazing Haboob was pushing out Northwards from the Parent Thunderstorm and heading towards Phoenix. We documented this and sent some video to Tucson News Channel 4 for their 6pm Bulletin.

We then let the Duststorm over-run us and sampled 40-50mph winds, after that we headed east into the Mountains and played with some hail and flash flooding (Safely on Tarmac) Daytime Lightning was hard today with all the dust, in fact on the drive back to Phoenix along I-10 We were in a Duststorm all the way. When we got back to the Hotel another Storm was literally sitting just North of our Hotel and some of the guys got some nice Purply Lightning Pictures to end the day.

Paul S

- Wedge Devil

- Haboob advancing Northwards from Casa Grande

Will put up the Youtube clip when we process it soon

[craig1uk]

Top, top day !!

Really hoped to see a haboob while over here, but to see one and experience being hit by it was awesome, the mental dust devils were just an added bonus. This place is insane !!!!!!!!!!

Craig

[the storm fisherman]

Here is my shots for today what a fest we had

paul h

The storm fisherman

[duckeyh]

All the above says it all, but here's some from me :

Convection US Style :

Dust Devils Mania :

Haboob Intercept :

Haboob Aftermath :

Funnel Cloud :

Arizona Haboob Sunset :

[SteveB]

Great stuff.

[Paul Sherman]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-14586304

How lucky have we been on this trip - Only Day 2 as well

[Radiating Dendrite]

http://www.bbc.co.uk...canada-14586304

How lucky have we been on this trip - Only Day 2 as well

Think you may want to head down the Casino later!

[UkStormChaser]

Here is some video i shot during the dust devil apocalypse. And a nice time-lapse of the haboob that hit phoenix.

[davelp]

Great pictures. Wish I was there. Does the Haboob cause as much mayhem as I think it does. The sand must get everywhere

[UkStormChaser]

Great pictures. Wish I was there. Does the Haboob cause as much mayhem as I think it does. The sand must get everywhere

Yeah causes all hell to break loose. Car wrecks, sand in machines, grounds flights, you name it. Its a nightmare.

[John Hanrahan]

Great pics and Video. Wish I was there!

[Supercell]

Amazing pics and video footage. A step up on the dust devils seen near Amarillo on tour one !

Would love to see the haboob in real life. Such an ominous sight !

[Arron]

Right that's it, we're moving to the States Nice video there James and awesome pics Craig, Paul x2 and Claire!

[chionomaniac]

Looks like you had a great day.

Can't wait until I can get back out there.

[lewisosd]

Right that's it, we're moving to the States Nice video there James and awesome pics Craig, Paul x2 and Claire!

Can I come with?

[user700]

Fantastic stuff! Great to have an extra storm chase this year

[Nick F]

Fantastic photos everyone, would've been interesting to drive through the dust devil, I see it was crossing the road at one point.

[Norfolk Sheep]

Enoying this chase very much, different scenery, different weather but still impressive

FWIW I was driving home the other day past local stubble fields and up popped a little wully wully which breezed through and rocked the car as it headed across the road

[Paul]

Claire has uploaded some cracking video clips - here's one of the dust devils:

You can view the other videos from the tour (all from Claire so far), here:

http://www.netweather.tv/index.cgi?action=news;storyid=773;sess=

[duckeyh]

Fantastic photos everyone, would've been interesting to drive through the dust devil, I see it was crossing the road at one point.

Watch this space.........mwahahahaha

[craig1uk]

Short vid capture of one of our dust devils

wish I'd got more tho

Craig

[ZONE 51]

excellent photos everyone, enjoying them! and just going to view the next ones, wont be posting each time though, but as you know i always enjoy your storm chase photos and there always excellent!

[davelp]

Some really great footage. Keep it coming. Love the dust storm, I really have to get out there to experience this.

[Roger J Smith]

Meanwhile, Smiths spending the day in Las Vegas NV where it was sunny and 42 C mid-day.

The Las Vegas "strip" is a massive layout of mega-hotels and casinos, many with exotic international themes, laid out to the southwest of downtown Las Vegas (which is a city of about two million people having endured an economic slump but locals told us 2011 is much better).

The various hotels and casinos have many different themes and aim for different clientele, so touring them on a day can be quite overwhelming even without the heat. However, there are air-conditioned monorail and tram services that link many of the complexes and you can generally stay inside about 70% of the time while touring the strip on foot. The casinos are massive, each one of them looked to be about a quarter mile long. There are also many shopping areas (not a big interest of ours) and lots of pubs and restaurants. Prices are generally near the U.S. average but a few places are very pricey and seem to cater to the southern Cal rich crowd that descends on the city each weekend. Otherwise, it's quite variable as to crowds depending on whether a big convention is in town. We noticed a difference from this visit (day 2) and the next visit (day 7) as a huge convention was underway on day seven (magicians -- but Las Vegas itself has a magic act, they make cash disappear).

Well enough about that, here's one picture for the record. Yes there are pretend Statue of Liberty and Eiffel Tower in this one. In other places you can find a pyramid and a mock-up of the Seattle Space Needle. All of these "imitations" are actually half the size of the real things, so they are by no means miniatures.

If you ever go to Vegas and want to stay in a good but inexpensive hotel, would recommend the Rio which is off the strip slightly (so you get good views of it all). The most expensive hotel looks to be the Bellagio, also Bally's and MGM Grand looked upscale. Anyone familiar with the poker scene would recognize all the hotel names.

[craig1uk]

Short vid of a dust devil