May 25, 2014 Eddy and Lea counties supercell, NM

Uncertainty reigned for a time on this chase day, as we waited for much of the afternoon in and around Pecos, TX, near an area of low-level convergence and occasional perky cumulus clouds.   SPC had a better tornado risk and a hatched hail area primarily south of I-10 in western TX, but I was not convinced that that was the better area to target (and the road network down that way is lousy).  So, we waited and waited…and the cumulus clouds were unable to break the cap in west TX during the mid-late afternoon.  Eventually it appeared that better odds of initiation were a little farther north, near the NM/TX line.  We went up to Orla and then south of Eunice, and watched a strong updraft look good for 15 minutes and then die.  Then, after a pit stop in Eunice, a strong updraft was noted well to our west-northwest.  We went after that, and were treated to a nicely-sculpted rotating updraft between Carlsbad and Hobbs, near the Lea/Eddy county line.  Again, our home for the night was Hobbs.