{"id":12551,"date":"2015-05-31T00:00:28","date_gmt":"2015-05-31T08:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/?p=12551"},"modified":"2015-11-19T18:55:11","modified_gmt":"2015-11-20T02:55:11","slug":"may-31-2015-kanorado-supercell-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/2015\/05\/31\/may-31-2015-kanorado-supercell-2\/","title":{"rendered":"May 31, 2015 Kanorado supercell"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"150531_1645_Kanorado\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Quick — is Kanorado in Kansas or Colorado? \u00a0That’s right, it’s in Kansas. \u00a0The supercell that we intercepted on this chase day was in Colorado, however. \u00a0It moved to the south, just west of the KS\/CO border. \u00a0It was close enough to Kansas along I-70 to drop half-dollar-sized hail on Kanorado.<\/p>\n

It took a good deal of the daylight hours, and daylight minutes, for that matter, to reach this storm. \u00a0This was the arrival day for the Tour 5 group, including Tempest guides Chuck Doswell, Tom Trott, and Woody Watson. \u00a0We did a quick-and-dirty orientation for the new guests at the hotel in Oklahoma City, and then hit the road. \u00a0I figured that I needed to be in extreme western Kansas by late afternoon. \u00a0I briefly considered I-40 west and the Northwest Passage to Woodward and Garden City, but stuck to the I-35 north\/I-70 west option.<\/p>\n

So, what was the setup like?<\/p>\n

SPC showed only a marginal risk of severe weather along the KS\/CO border, with a 2 percent tornado risk outlined. \u00a0The 1630Z Day One discussion was decidedly less than awesome:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

   ...HIGH PLAINS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...\r\n\r\n   AS MENTIONED IN THE SYNOPSIS...MID-LEVEL HEIGHTS WILL RISE TODAY\r\n   WITH PERHAPS A WEAK PERTURBATION OR TWO CRESTING THE BUILDING RIDGE\r\n   AXIS OVER THE NRN INTER-MOUNTAIN REGION INTO NRN HIGH PLAINS. \r\n   MOREOVER...12Z RAOBS INDICATED RELATIVELY DRY BOUNDARY-LAYER\r\n   CONDITIONS WHICH WILL LIMIT THE DEGREE OF AFTERNOON DESTABILIZATION.\r\n   WHILE THESE FACTORS WILL LIKELY PRECLUDE THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN\r\n   ORGANIZED SEVERE WEATHER EPISODE...ISOLATED OCCURRENCES OF WIND AND\r\n   HAIL MAY OCCUR WITH STRONGER STORMS FORMING ALONG THE HIGH TERRAIN\r\n   AND\/OR LEE TROUGH LATER THIS AFTERNOON INTO EVENING.\r\n\r\n\r\n<\/pre>\n
Naturally, I downplayed the chase prospects to the group, but noted that there was an outside chance of a decent, isolated storm. \u00a0We had a fast-food lunch at Park City, KS, and continued north to Salina and then west across Kansas in I-70. \u00a0As we blew through Hays and Oakley, deep moist convection initiated to our WNW, northwest of St. Francis, KS. \u00a0Perfect! \u00a0If this could hold together for a few hours, then we might have a fun chase. \u00a0SPC even chimed in with a mesoscale discussion just before 3 p.m. MDT:<\/p>\n
 <\/p>\n
   MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0852\r\n   NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK\r\n   0350 PM CDT SUN MAY 31 2015\r\n\r\n   AREAS AFFECTED...ERN CO...WRN KS...EXTREME SWRN NEB\r\n\r\n   CONCERNING...SEVERE POTENTIAL...WATCH UNLIKELY \r\n\r\n   VALID 312050Z - 312245Z\r\n\r\n   PROBABILITY OF WATCH ISSUANCE...20 PERCENT\r\n\r\n   SUMMARY...ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON\r\n   AND EVENING WITH A PRIMARY THREAT OF LARGE HAIL AND LOCALLY DAMAGING\r\n   WIND. DUE TO LIMITED COVERAGE OF SEVERE THREAT...WATCH ISSUANCE IS\r\n   CONSIDERED UNLIKELY.\r\n\r\n   DISCUSSION...MODERATE INSTABILITY HAS DEVELOPED ACROSS ERN CO INTO\r\n   WRN KS THIS AFTERNOON...AS SFC TEMPS WARM INTO THE 80S BENEATH STEEP\r\n   MIDLEVEL LAPSE RATES. MEANWHILE...MODERATE NWLY FLOW ALOFT IS\r\n   RESULTING IN EFFECTIVE SHEAR OF 30-40 KTS...SUFFICIENT FOR ORGANIZED\r\n   STORM STRUCTURES. THE PRIMARY LIMITING FACTORS ARE THE LACK OF\r\n   LARGE-SCALE ASCENT OVER THE REGION AND A RATHER UNFAVORABLE SFC\r\n   PATTERN...WITH LIMITED UPSLOPE FLOW AND ONLY WEAK CONVERGENCE AT\r\n   LOW-LEVELS. \r\n\r\n   DESPITE THESE LIMITING FACTORS...AT LEAST SOME SEVERE THREAT IS\r\n   LIKELY TO MATERIALIZE LATER THIS AFTERNOON INTO THIS EVENING. A WEAK\r\n   SFC LOW ACROSS YUMA COUNTY CO AND A TRAILING WIND SHIFT\/CONFLUENCE\r\n   ZONE MAY PROVIDE A FOCUS FOR ISOLATED STORM INITIATION. IN\r\n   ADDITION...ONGOING STORMS EMERGING OUT OF THE HIGH TERRAIN MAY\r\n   BECOME BETTER ORGANIZED AS THEY MOVE SEWD INTO A MORE UNSTABLE\r\n   ENVIRONMENT. A COUPLE OF SUPERCELLS AND\/OR BOWING SEGMENTS ARE\r\n   POSSIBLE WITH AN ATTENDANT THREAT OF LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS.\r\n   WITH COVERAGE EXPECTED TO REMAIN ISOLATED...WW ISSUANCE IS\r\n   CONSIDERED UNLIKELY AT THIS TIME.\r\n\r\n   ..DEAN\/MEAD.. 05\/31\/2015\r\n<\/pre>\n
For your viewing pleasure, click the link below for the SPC graphic.<\/p>\n
SPC Mesoscale Discussion 852<\/a><\/p>\n
 <\/p>\n
The 500 mb flow was from the NW to NNW at 45 knots or so. \u00a0Rotating storms should move to the south today. \u00a0The Saint Francis cell came into view as we motored past Colby, and it was a pretty, high-based LP supercell. \u00a0As we neared Goodland, though, it was shriveling up. \u00a0Fortunately, another storm had quickly gone up on the western side of the state line. \u00a0We quickly came up to it at Kanorado. \u00a0It was no more than five miles to our northwest and moving south, right over I-70. \u00a0This supercell sported a lowering with rotation already. \u00a0We were in Fat City! \u00a0The lowering was somewhat high-based, and as it passed over our vans along the I-70 frontage road (old U.S. 24), a bit of a whirl whizzed by us from north to south. \u00a0Stuff was happening beneath this one!<\/p>\n
 <\/p>\n
\"150531_1619_Kanorado\"<\/a> \"150531_1620_Kanorado\"<\/a> \"150531_1622_Kanorado\"<\/a><\/p>\n
 <\/p>\n
This was very cool, and the timing was rather remarkable. \u00a0We had driven for more than six hours from Oklahoma City and managed to drive right up to a Colorado supercell — both storm and chase tour group arriving at the same point at the same time.<\/p>\n
The paved road network out here is poor, and if we were to stay with this storm as it moved south of I-70, we would have to use an unpaved section road in extreme eastern Kit Carson County. \u00a0County Road 59 southbound came in very handy, as it followed the southward-moving updraft perfectly. \u00a0The storm core was just to the east of the road as was the updraft and rotating wall cloud.<\/p>\n
 <\/p>\n
\"150531_1628_Kanorado\"<\/a> \"150531_1632_Kanorado\"<\/a><\/p>\n
 <\/p>\n
There was a brief window when the storm had a great look with perhaps an inclination to try to “tornado,” but it was content to just be a big hailer. \u00a0A large swath of precipitation came around the back (north and northwest) side of the base, and started to moisten Road 59 in front of us to a somewhat uncomfortable degree. \u00a0The storm was now diving south at about 35 to 40 mph and was difficult to stay with. \u00a0After about 12 miles on Road 59, we went west a couple of miles, stopped, and watched the hailstorm move off to the south.<\/p>\n
 <\/p>\n
 <\/p>\n
 <\/p>\n
\"150531_1649_Kanorado\"<\/a> \"150531_1643_Kanorado\"<\/a> \"150531_1637_Kanorado\"<\/a> \"150531_1665_Kanorado\"<\/a><\/p>\n
Not bad for a “marginal” chase day! \u00a0Our home for the night was Holyoke.<\/p>\n
 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
  Quick — is Kanorado in Kansas or Colorado? \u00a0That’s right, it’s in Kansas. \u00a0The supercell that we intercepted on this chase day was in… [Read More]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[62,15,11],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-12551","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-62","7":"category-sunsets-and-storms","8":"category-supercells","9":"entry","10":"has-post-thumbnail"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12551"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12551\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13224,"href":"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12551\/revisions\/13224"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}