in this separate post for May 24.<\/a><\/p>\n————<\/p>\n
On this chase day we began in Woodward and observed a tornado very close to Dodge City. \u00a0On the previous day, we began in Dodge City and observed a tornado that was very close to Woodward. \u00a0What does this mean?<\/p>\n
Chasers and SPC had a pretty good handle on this day’s potential, and where the best conditions were likely to be. \u00a0Ground zero (for KS) would be where a (roughly) east-west boundary intersected the dry line. \u00a0This locale was in extreme northwestern OK during the late morning, and it migrated to the north during the afternoon. \u00a0Moisture and instability were excellent east of the dry line, and the mid-level flow was great, too, from the WSW at 40 knots. \u00a0See the maps and discussions from SPC (provided above) for more details on the setup. \u00a0There was an additional very promising target area on this day, and that was northeastern Colorado. \u00a0If our group had started the day in Goodland, then I am not so sure that I would have been on the Dodge City storm later on! \u00a0As it turned out, both areas had tremendous and gorgeous supercells. \u00a0The Colorado storms had very impressive structure, but, compared to the Dodge City supercell, were much less prolific with the tornadoes.<\/p>\n
Unlike yesterday, I figured that we had plenty of time for a big sit-down Mexican lunch in Laverne. \u00a0Lunch was nice and quick, and I determined that we were still pretty much where we wanted to be afterwards. \u00a0Some cumulus clouds were getting awfully perky near Laverne during the early afternoon, which did not make me happy, of course. \u00a0It was far too early for strong convection, unless one was yearning for a big mess and a long, frustrating chase day. \u00a0Fortunately, these attempts at storms fell far short. \u00a0I led the group up to Gate, OK: \u00a0a very small community in the extreme eastern OK Panhandle. \u00a0Here we had a little shade, a place which sold sodas and goodies, and a good cell phone signal. \u00a0A few old and abandoned buildings attracted the photographers among us, and I watched the sky and the laptop. \u00a0We must have been in Gate for nearly two hours.<\/p>\n
From Gate we drifted north into Kansas, as we wanted to stay close to the old outflow boundary and the associated area of greatest surface moisture convergence. \u00a0Development would be most likely here, of course! \u00a0We didn’t go very far, stopping just west of Englewood, KS. \u00a0Again we found the few shade trees that were available along a lonely road, and we watched the sky for another hour or so. \u00a0It was after 4 p.m., and the sky was still looking rather benign.<\/p>\n
Finally, a clump of cumulus clouds was looking somewhat promising to our northwest. \u00a0We headed up to the 283\/160 intersection west of Ashland. \u00a0A gaggle of chasers gathered here, but we still had plenty of time to socialize or to stare at the cumulus clouds and laptop intermittently. \u00a0This seemed to be “the place to be” on paper, or on LCD. \u00a0Would things work out today? \u00a0We drifted west on 160, and viewed a vigorous tower that was to our west. \u00a0It must have been over Meade, KS. \u00a0This was it, folks! \u00a0We headed north to Fowler and we squeezed in one more pit stop before things got serious. \u00a0As the last guest got back to the vans, our tower had already organized into a fledgling supercell. \u00a0The base was just northwest and north of town, and I wanted to be east of it. \u00a0Our road here, U.S. 54, conveniently headed towards the ENE. \u00a0This would work out well, as the storm would be moving to the ENE. \u00a0Right?<\/p>\n
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![\"160524_2428_dodge\"](\"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/160524_2428_Dodge.jpg\")
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