Dr. Doswell speaking to Mariana, the report from Brazil who followed us for the
majority of the tour.
Tour 2 began with a major omega block pattern across the plains. There was a certain sense helplessness amongst the tour guides as it appeared Tour 2 would yield little in the way of severe weather. We spent many days sightseeing in the Rocky Mountains, until the final 2 days of the tour, which finally produced severe weather.
May 15 was orientation day for Tour 2. We hired Chuck Doswell to speak to the guests as a little extra treat given the expected poor weather pattern
Dr. Doswell speaking to Mariana, the report from Brazil who followed us for the
majority of the tour.
May 16 we visited the Twister Museum in Wakita, OK, then headed to Trinidad, CO for the night.
May 17 we traveled through the mountains on a narrow mountain pass, and also visited the Great Sand Dunes National Park in Alamosa.
On May 18 we visited the Royal Gorge, then spent the evening in Lakewood, CO.
On May 19 we traveled from Lakewood, CO to Imperial, NE. Witnessed some weak storms moving off the mountains, nothing significant. Some of the foriegners enjoyed ice cold beverages.
On May 20 and 21 we witnessed sub-severe storms near Lusk, WY. We had some semi-photogenic opportunities. We also visited Scotts Bluff National Monument.
On May 22 we had fairly high hopes for significant severe weather, but were treated to perhaps marginally severe storms, and some decent lightning after dark (no images).
May 23 would finally bring us the severe weather we had been waiting for. We witnessed 2 weak forward flank tornadoes near Meadow Grove, NE. It was difficult to discern whether these were bona fide tornadoes, or strong gustnadoes. Both circulations were under forward flank updraft regions and were clearly being stretched by the above updraft. The surface circulation of the first tornado was quickly pushed out as the gust front caught up with it. If you weren't there the moment it developed, you may have had little reason to believe it was a tornado. See my video capture of this tornado here http://www.tornadofx.com/temp/052306_tor_cont.jpg Later that evening we encountered a fairly decent lightning show near Blair, NE where I captured this image:
May 24 would yield severe storms in Southern Wisconsin. We ended up chasing through my hometown of Janesville, and were at one point within 5 miles of my home. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever expect to be within 5 miles of home serving as a guide for Tempest. WOW!
May 25 would prove to be an explosive day in far S. IN. The scheduled departure date for the guests was May 26, but we took a van full who weren't leaving until the 27th to the SW corner of Indiana. We witnessed at least 3 supercells training across the same area all within 2 hours of each other. 2 of the 3 supercells were tornado-warned as they passed over the town of Santa Claus, and all 3 dropped golf ball or larger hail. What an evening it was for that little town - I would imagine there were numerous insurance claims for hail damage from that area as we found 2"+ hail lying on the ground from 2 different storms. The convection was explosive, the hail was big, and the mammatus was some of the best I've ever seen! Though we didn't witness any tornadoes, it was a fantastic "bonus" chase for the guests who could stay a day longer!
The Tour 2 group (notice that in all the pictures, Drew (back row on the right) is far too occupied with his Kestrel to even notice his pictures is being taken). Sorry Drew, had to give you a hard time! It was a fantastic group, I'll miss chasing with you guys!!
