DESPERATE TIMES, DESPERATE MEASURES

Being that the TX panhandle has been so dry and void of storms this year, it has been a very frustrating chase season, without a doubt. It's past mid April, and until today, I've only been on 3 chases, and one was a huge bust. With a bit of energy coming over the Northern TX Panhandle, and Td's in the upper 30's and lower 40's, a few thunderstorms were forecast for this region. They weren't going to be severe, but at this point, I didn't care! I just wanted to get out of the house and see something! The 4km WRF put a decent cell near Stratford by mid-day, and that's what I was banking on. Stratford, TX, here I come!

I left about 2:30 or so, and made it up to Stratford a little after 4. I saw a few towers to the W/NW, so I parked just north of town and watched for about an hour. A cell west of Stratford got going, and actually became severe when it reached Spearman. It was moving too fast for me to catch, so I resumed watching the storms to my NW. After a few minutes the storms showed somewhat of a base. They were moving SE, so I scooted south of Stratford on hwy 287. As was talking on the phone to John Harris, I noticed a quick forming mid level funnel, and I got a quick shot of it with the iphone. The funnel lasted no more than 30-40 seconds. The base became a bit more defined, and I took a few more pictures and called it a day.

Couldn't expect more on a day with such low expectations. I still love low risk days! They seem to like me a lot! Now to the photos:

PHOTO #1 Storm near Stratford that eventually became T-storm warned near Spearman, TX
PHOTO #2 Mid-level funnel on left side of updraft near Stratford, TX (iphone photo)
PHOTO #3 Updraft near Stratford a few minutes after mid-level funnel
PHOTO #4 Decent structure of T-storm base near Stratford, TX
PHOTO #5 Base beginning to dissipate, but still pretty decent structure near Stratford, TX

3/24/11 CHASE NEAR LAMESA, TX

I had been eyeing this day for a couple of days and decided to pull the trigger to chase. It wasn't going to be a huge day, but it had potential. I left home about 12pm and targeted Lamesa, TX. I got a text and found out that my buddy David Drummond was just south of Lamesa at a rest stop. I finished lunch (Subway) and headed that direction. We met and shot the bull for about 30 minutes and saw towers going up near Midland. We decided to head that way, but after about 10 minutes on the road, the cells died out quickly. We decided to head back to the rest stop and continue to wait it out. After about 30 minutes or so, towers started forming to our south and southeast. We waited a few minutes and decided to go after them. We went east on 180 and made it into Snyder. We decided to get gas since towns are fairly sparse in the area. We looked at radar and the storm was severe warned. It didn't look too bad visually, but it had a fairly high base. We then decided to go north towards Rotan. We sat about 10 miles West of Rotan and watched the storm for quite a while. We saw plenty of CG's, and actually saw a fire started from the lightning. The storm looked ok but never really got it's act together. As light faded we decided to go into Rotan to see if the storm had dumped any hail in town. As we were looking at the storm to the SE, a farmer came over and started talking to us. He mentioned food and our faces lit up with enthusiasm. Right across the street from where we had parked was a nice little barbecue joint. We went in and were treated to some great sausage and brisket with some pinto beans and sweet tea. After that, we chatted a bit, and then I made the long trek back to Amarillo. All in all, it was a great chase, and I had fun chatting and chasing with David.

PHOTO #1: David Drummond's chase vehicle in foreground near Rotan, TX
PHOTO #2: An old abandoned storm shelter near Rotan, TX
PHOTO #3: Treated to an amazing sunset near Rotan, TX

3/19/11 CHASE NEAR PLAINVIEW, TX

Started off the day at the NWS convention at the Amarillo Civic Center. Had lots of fun with the guys from the station and my chaser buds. It looked to be a possible chase day with Td in the 50's and a warm front hanging around the area. I stayed at the Civic Center until about 2:30 or so and then went home to take a short nap. That was my mistake. I got back up and saw convection SE of Plainview and scrambled to get to that area. A tornado warning was issued for the cell that was SE of Plainview, but I was just too late in getting there. I made it south of Plainview and saw the storm that initially had the tornado warning on it. It still had a pretty well defined wall cloud with it, but the light was fading fast. I then went back to Plainview and found a nice spot to watch the rest of the convection move to the north. All in all, it was great to get out for the first time in 2011 and see some convection and CG's which really helped with the SDS that I had acquired over the long winter months!

PHOTO #1 and #2: Convection near Plainview, TX