This chase day began in Vernon, TX, following the very nice supercell chase in western Oklahoma the day prior. We got out of Vernon fairly early, as we knew that the best prospects this day would be way down south, probably near Interstate 10, somewhere between Ozona and Junction. We made it down to Sonora with plenty of time to spare, and watched the sky for quite a while just west of Sonora. A cell went up some 40 miles or so to our SSW, so I elected to go after it. It was headed to Rocksprings, but then turned right some and tracked between Rocksprings and Barksdale. We approached on Route 55 and battled some small hail. The cell moved further east into the very poor road network, so we waited for another storm that now looked just as good on radar. We found an open field a mile or two west of Barksdale as the thing slowly approached. This area has a lot of scrubby trees and even some respectable mountains…or highland areas. In other words, it is a lousy place to chase.
The second cell came upon us, and one-inch hailstones fell. It looked like a bit of a clear slot was cutting in to an updraft base just to our north, and a lowered area materialized quickly. The storm continued east into the rotten road network. The roads were in good shape, but the network was rotten. We made a brief attempt to stay with it, but it was getting dark and not worth it. On the way back to Rocksprings for the night, we came upon a section of Highway 55 with loads of hail, just a couple of mile north of Barksdale.
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