On May 29th, I once again made a short trip to the Great Plains to chase another favorable setup for tornadoes along the dryline in southwest Kansas. I targeted Dodge City, KS on this day, but a weak cap really "muddied" up the atmosphere throughout most of the afternoon. A lead wave removed a weak cap in place igniting elevated thunderstorms across much of central Kansas. This would ruin any hopes of a tornado outbreak along the dryline during the evening. Most of the tornadoes (albeit weak) ended up actually along the warm front in Nebraska. Nevertheless, I headed west by mid-afternoon toward Garden City, KS to escape the crapvection off to the east. I drove north on U.S. 83 and sat outside Scott City, KS as convection would begin to develop along the dryline. This area featured roughly 2,000J/kg of CAPE, 0-6km shear at 30kts, and a moistening boundary-layer with dew points increasing to 60°F. I did intercept a tornado-warned portion of the line of severe storms that unzipped along the dryline west of Scott City, KS. This severe line was outflow dominate however, but it did provide a photogenic shelf cloud as it traversed across the western Kansas prairies. I rode out the storm at a Best Western in Scott City, KS during the late-evening before catching some Zzzz's for a long drive home the following day. Once again work got in the way as I had to be back in Illinois so I missed out on some tornadoes in Oklahoma on May 30th, and of course the nasty tornado day that we all would like to forget on May 31st. I've added just a couple photos on this day below as this was largely a frustrating chase day in Kansas. A couple photos I've posted below:
it a wall of rain and western Kansas dust...
for a time, but no rotation observed!
That will wrap up this quick post. I really wanted to chase the next two days, but looking back at the destruction and tragedy that happened especially on May 31st my opinion changed rather fast. Storm chasing is dangerous and no matter how much experience you have Mother Nature is violent and unpredictable. It was a terrible tragedy that shocked myself and the entire storm chasing community. The next week followed with many great tributes to some amazing storm chasers and researchers that everyone will miss! After about a week of down time I got back out on the road once again. I'll update with another post soon.
