April 29, 2013 Fredericksburg, TX colorful stormy sunset

(posted on May 6, 2013)

Today was the final chase day for the Tour 1 group.  Again, the pattern was not that favorable for severe weather, as upper flow was weak.  But, there was decent instability during the afternoon along I-10 from about Sonora to Junction and east of there into the trees.  We began in Sanderson, TX, killed a little time in Langtry and vicinity, and headed north from Comstock to Sonora.

I was hoping to chase the more open terrain west of Sonora, but hoping and chasing usually do not work at the same time.  Some stuff developed to our east, and we wound up on high-based cells near Junction.  There was occasional CG activity, but the storms were ho-hum.

Additional cells were going up to our east, and CAPE values were a bit higher that way, so we continued east to Fredericksburg.  A rather impressive updraft went up NNE of town, and we came right up to it.  The hail roar was pretty nice, a clear slot and lowering raised excitement levels some, and it chased us back south to Fredericksburg!

The storm moved south or even SSW a tad, with Fredericksburg in its sights.  We maneuvered to the southeast side of town and looked back to the northwest —- a dark shield of heavy rain and hail was swallowing Fredericksburg, and the setting sun was lighting the leading-edge clouds up with a fiery orange glow!  Lightning strikes crashed within a mile, but I HAD to get out of the van to a spot free of trees and poles and signs.  I ran to a field near a large parking lot and snapped off a bunch of stills.  This ho-hum chase had quickly turned intense!  The great colors only lasted a few minutes.  We went back into Fredericksburg to find one-inch hail and flooded roads.  The storm weakened quickly as it drifted out of town, and we were done.