May 26, 2010 DIA supercell, CO

Our day began in Goodland. My target area was the Cheyenne Ridge area around Cheyenne, but it was a shaky target! I posted the following on CFDG late morning:
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I’m still trying to figure today out. We are nearing Last Chance from the east, and the low-level moisture as indicated by the field of strato-cu out here in Washington County is excellent. My initial thoughts were to follow this tongue of moisture northwestward to the Cheyenne Ridge. Dews are now at 54F at Akron, Kimball, Torrington, and Greeley. I figure that something should go up near Laramie or Cheyenne and head east along I-80 by 5 p.m.

I also have my eye farther north, around Lusk and Harrison. I cheated and looked at forecast STP numbers on Earl Barker’s page. The 15Z RUC paints a slightly better tornado scenario up in that area, especially after 00Z.

So, think we’ll continue to Fort Morgan for lunch, and then keep going to Kimball for starters. Forecast upper flow looks a little better north of I-80 than along I-70. I suppose I am hedging farther north anyway since we may be playing MT tomorrow.
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Our lunch in Fort Morgan was brief, as a strong storm had developed near DIA (Denver AP) and already had produced a weak tornado! We quickly maneuvered in front of the updraft base via I-76, and were treated to decent storm structure, a high base, and occasionally rotating wall clouds. The storm moved very slowly through the Prospect Valley area towards Wiggins and Fort Morgan. It sported a strong RFD/clear slot at times, but seemed to be less and less threatening in terms of tornado threat as the afternoon progressed into early evening. On a couple of occasions we stuck around to allow the base to move directly overhead, and Brian was kind enough to let me use his fish-eye lens. By dinnertime we were back in Fort Morgan, with the supercell nearby! It looked to be weakening and had become somewhat tiresome. I posted this NOW post to CFDG:

We got on this NE CO storm right after lunch in Fort Morgan when it was near DIA, now it is just north of Fort Morgan and we are watching it while having dinner. I had time to get my haircut in Keenesburg, my wheels aligned in Prospect Valley, read “War and Peace” south of Wiggins, and have my teeth cleaned in Log Lane Village all while staying close to the supercell. It remains rather high-based and has lost its circular updraft look. We’ll let it drift to our northeast for some backside-at-sunset shots. Some chasers dropped south to the t-warned cell near Deer Trail and killed it quickly.

We stopped north of Fort Morgan and found some two-inch hailstones. And, on our way to Torrington for the night, we stopped near Hereford (on the WY/CO state line) to shoot some lightning.  More great photos from Marco Hoogers of this chase here.