{"id":23347,"date":"2019-07-04T20:15:44","date_gmt":"2019-07-05T04:15:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/?p=23347"},"modified":"2020-09-09T18:14:56","modified_gmt":"2020-09-10T02:14:56","slug":"july-4-2019-chugwater-wyoming-tornado","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/2019\/07\/04\/july-4-2019-chugwater-wyoming-tornado\/","title":{"rendered":"July 4, 2019 Chugwater, Wyoming Tornado"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Start: \u00a0Valentine, NE<\/p>\n

Lunch: \u00a0Scottsbluff, NE\/Taco Johns<\/p>\n

End: \u00a0Wheatfield, WY<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

SPC Day One 20Z<\/a><\/p>\n

SPC Mesoscale Discussion 1365<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0SPC Mesoscale Discussion 1366<\/a><\/p>\n

SPC Mesoscale Discussion 1367<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0SPC Mesoscale Discussion 1368<\/a><\/p>\n

SPC Mesoscale Discussion 1369<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0SPC Mesoscale Discussion 1375<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

20Z surface map above<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

01Z surface map above<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

My wide-angle\/15mm real time video (Part 1)\u00a0<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

My wide-angle\/15mm real-time video (Part 2)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

(look for Part 3\/rope-out stage in the comments section of the Part 2 video. \u00a0The above links will take you to a Facebook page.)<\/p>\n

Chris Gullikson’s “green bucket” time-lapse video (on youtube) of the tornadic Chugwater supercell.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This was the second-to-last chase day for Tour 8, and the second-to-last chase day of the tour season for me. \u00a0The setup was looking pretty good for supercells (and perhaps even tornadic supercells) in the “upslope” regime of eastern Wyoming. \u00a0Upper-level winds were excellent, and moisture and sunshine on the high terrain meant great instability. \u00a0With dew points pushing 60F in and around the Cheyenne Ridge, where elevations are near 6000 feet, a chaser gets a warm and fuzzy feeling inside. \u00a0We started westward out of Valentine and aimed towards Scottsbluff…and probably west or southwest a little from there. \u00a0The CAMs (convection allowing models) were relatively consistent on predicting a good-sized supercell tracking eastward through the Chugwater area by 00Z or so.<\/p>\n

After lunch in Scottsbluff, I was beginning to feel less certain about the prospects later on around there and in southeastern Wyoming. \u00a0The southern Nebraska Panhandle was still very cloudy and cool. \u00a0I need sunshine! \u00a0There would be no decent storm near here today, given this cool and stable air. \u00a0Ugh. \u00a0And, now the HRRR model seemed to be backing off some on its nice “Chugwater supercell” thinking. \u00a0The skies were still partly cloudy in southeastern Wyoming, so sunshine was not too big of an issue to our west. \u00a0But I figured that this cool low-level airmass that was moving westward into my target area would be detrimental. \u00a0 I looked at other areas — the Palmer Divide; the Sandhills back in western Cherry County, where we had been just two hours ago. \u00a0The Palmer Divide had good moisture but so-so shear. \u00a0The western Cherry County play looked halfway decent. \u00a0I looked again at southeastern Wyoming. \u00a0Dew points of 60F and afternoon sunshine around Cheyenne — you just don’t walk away from that! \u00a0I decided to stick with Plan A. \u00a0Chris Gullikson supported that thinking. \u00a0I am glad that he was not too keen on straying somewhere else! \u00a0Chris mentioned that the cool and cloudy conditions in the southern Panhandle, which persisted well into the afternoon, could be beneficial as the impressive low-level moisture was not mixing out. \u00a0SPC also noted this in an afternoon mesoscale discussion.<\/p>\n

We zigged and zagged to Chugwater, via Hawk Springs and Road 313. \u00a0 A good-sized storm was near the mountains almost due west of Chugwater. \u00a0That was what we wanted! \u00a0The road network around here is lousy, though, so we plopped ourselves onto a high point along the dirt road some 4 or 5 miles west of Chugwater and waited for the storm to near us and Interstate 25. \u00a0The updraft was maybe more than 30 miles distant, but we had some decent views. \u00a0Light anvil rain fell here, and soon the very low storm base came above the distant hills.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\t\t