The first Tempest Tours tour of 2021 was from April 22 to April 29, with Matt Phelps and Bob Conzemius. We enjoyed a couple of very high-end chase days in Texas (Lockett and Del Rio-Uvalde), and the other days were duds. This entry showcases my images taken on the tour’s down days.
April 22/Start OKC/lunch Main Street Cafe in Hinton/end Clinton/135 miles
These images were taken somewhere between Hinton and Hydro. Maybe. There were zero severe storm reports in the United States on this date! My task was to make sure that we were in good position for the next day. SPC showed a 5 percent tornado risk on the Day Two outlook from about Sayre to Wichita Falls.
April 24/Start Wichita Falls/lunch Dennys in Wichita Falls/end Shamrock/313 miles
A few down days followed the big day near the Red River on April 23. The severe risk for April 24 was in the Deep South, east of Mississippi. Our group headed west and stopped at a few abandoned places in the vicinity of Turkey, TX.
April 25/start Shamrock/end Turkey/98 miles
April 26/start Turkey/lunch Big Texan in Amarillo/end Amarillo/190 miles
During the 3-day slow period we stayed at the renovated Turkey Hotel and found a nice meal at the Big Texan. The images below were from the 26th, near the edge of the Caprock west and northwest of Turkey. I found some nice weather instrumentation and an abandoned weather office at Vigo Park.
April 27/start Amarillo/lunch Lamesa Subway and Taco Villa/end Del Rio/476 miles
Today was a big BUST chase day for our group. There were two areas to consider. The more-reliable choice was the northern one, generally around Turkey, Texas. I favored the area south of I-10, northwest of Del Rio. But, that southern target was a bit risky due to a strong cap. Meteorologically, I felt that the chance of a big-time tornado was much higher comparably for the southern target, if a good storm could develop, of course. (We were playing with house money on this tour, having had a big day on April 23, so I felt it was worth the try to go for the high risk/high reward play.) We passed developing storms near Tahoka after lunch in Lamesa, and these eventually became severe to the east, towards Benjamin and Electra. Near Benjamin was a rain-wrapped tornado and near Electra was a fabulously sculpted supercell. That Electra supercell would have made me very happy. On our way down towards Comstock and the Rio Grande, we cheered on some updrafts, but they sputtered. All we had as sunset neared was a view of a bridge over the Pecos River, near Comstock.
April 28/start Del Rio/lunch El Hacienda in Del Rio/end Uvalde/226 miles/Del Rio to Uvalde supercell
April 29/start Uvalde/lunch The Local Fix in Uvalde/dinner Rafter J BBQ in Iowa Park/end OKC/429 miles
A low-end (marginal) risk of severe weather was forecast for the jungles of southeastern Texas on the 29th. We eschewed the risk for an easy drive back to the north from Uvalde, as the group had to be back in OKC by the 30th. Nothing much materialized on the Great Plains from April 29 to May 1. It was perfect weather for the tour-turnaround.
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