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THU, MAR 9, 2006 -- First Chase Lands Tornado in Oklahoma
Yesterday started out as a good practice chase where we could hit the road, try out all the equipment, and hopefully see something interesting on a day that had potential but was turning out to be mostly marginal. Until late in the evening! I had already called it quits and was heading home when a fast-moving supercell ripped across the Red River into Love County, Oklahoma. Jeremy intercepted it near Marietta, and has an incredible story to tell of accidentally cutting it WAY too close for comfort. His chase account and video grabs (to be posted shortly) is proof that this storm did produce a brief tornado!
TUE, MAR 7, 2006 -- Enid Hammered, North Texas Next
We decided to call off our chase this morning when it became obvious there was too much cloud cover and too little upper support for thunderstorm initiation across the target area. This held true all afternoon and into the evening darkness, until convergence on an insanely sharp dry line broke through the cap after 7:00pm. The result, a nice isolated supercell with weak rotation dumping golfball size hail on the town of Enid, OK. Now all sights are set on tomorrow as the main trough and associated upper energy approaches north Texas. We’ll be chasing this one, so check out the Tornado Cam as data coverage should be more than adequate this close to home. Initiation looks to be late afternoon with rough weather in store from Dallas northeastward into the late evening hours. Initial target: Wichita Falls, Texas.
MON, MAR 6, 2006 -- Potential Outbreak Tomorrow
Well, this is it, the first potential chase of 2006! And talk about early, we were struggling to get setups like this in May of last year. I really like the impressive wind shear forecast to be in place, and moisture return is looking better, but the big question is going to be heating and initiation. Can the cap be broken, or will we end up with a nasty cloud deck? We’ll know more tomorrowing morning. Initial target: Enid, Oklahoma.
WED MAR 1, 2006 -- Getting Ready
Jerermy and I met up this evening to share some chaser talk and get the car ready for a new chase season. Unlike the chaos of last year, we’ve found a space for everything... cameras, maps, NOAA radio, power inverter. It should really pay off at the height of the chase, which is when things suddenly seem to get misplaced. Now all we need is a good chase setup!
TUE FEB 28, 2006 -- Live Cam Testing
Web cameras are really cool, except most of them are designed for low light and wash out completely under outdoor lighting conditions. I’ve found one that works exceptional, even better than last year in terms of picture clarity, though you’d never know it by the looks and cheap plastic construction that makes it feel more like a toy than anything else. I’m ready to try it out on a live chase ( see live cam page ) though data coverage in rural areas still leaves a lot to be desired. Nonetheless, I’ll have it on and streaming as long as we have coverage so sit back and enjoy a live chase when we’re out on the road!
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