June 1, 2007 Portales, NM Supercell

We targeted the extreme western Texas Panhandle, had lunch at the Big Texan in Amarillo, and moseyed down U.S. 60 to Bovina. A cell went up to our west-northwest, south of Tucumcari, and we intercepted it along the Quay/Roosevelt county line near Field, NM. (I was surprised to see the Cannon AFB Doppler radar near Field!) The cell strengthened rapidly and moved southeast towards Portales. We played tag with the hail beneath the updraft base for a while as the cell organized northwest of Portales.

Not too far northwest of Portales the updraft base had a very nasty and wrapped up look to it as the RFD cranked into it. We drove into Portales and found ourselves in strong winds associated with the RFD. To the north (pics 1, 2, 3, and 6 below) was a wicked, bruise-colored storm base, and to the south (pics 4 and 5) was a curving wall of updraft. Pic 3 below is the same as pic 2, but with the contrast and color saturation boosted way up just for fun.

Rain and small hail descended upon us soon after these photos were taken. The cell was unable to develop strong, sustained, and tight rotation at low levels apparently, though it seemed like it wanted to get serious about tornado-making for a few minutes on the approach to Portales. We departed Portales and attempted to get southeast of the updraft base again, but heavy precipitation slowed us down some. Brian’s minivan came up lame with a flat tire, so we waited out the core and were treated to a brilliant mammatus and rainbow display on the west side of the storm before sunset.