Saturday 19 May 2012

Decision time!

Morning! I woke up this morning with that familiar feeling in the pit of my stomach: no, not last evening's McD's, but the excitement and slight nervousness of a chase day. Excitement as we may see some storms; nervousness because we might not, or we might choose the wrong target, etc etc.

Two cups of coffee and it hasn't gone away! There are several factors to consider, but one of the main ones is that tomorrow there will be an annular eclipse of the sun visible from west Texas, and I don't want to be miles and miles away by the end of today. Also, further north, despite an overall higher tornado potential, as storms will probably be more numerous, I'm concerned that they may transition into a line along the cold front quite quickly. Down in western Oklahoma, they may form in a more isolated fashion along the dryline, or advancing cold front, and perhaps remain discrete for longer.

Thus, whilst the decision is yet to be finalised, I think we may well hang around Woodward, or even drift a bit further south towards I-40 today. This evening and tonight, a small cluster should form as the cold front lifts moisture streaming north on the low-level jet. Some nocturnal lightning would be very nice!

1 comment:

  1. I guessed you'd stay further south with the more potentially photogenic stuff...I see Timmer and crew will get up in there near the fronts in SE Nebraska...I'd rather your play - esp considering you have seen some nice naders in your day already.

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