Gearing up for departure!

Hello.

In just under 24 hours, all being well, we'll be on our way to Denver for this year's storm chasing trip. The packing has started!

The last few days have brought severe weather to the Plains, and a major severe weather event may take place tomorrow, especially across parts of Oklahoma and Texas.

When we land, it looks cold and wet in Denver, with snow on the mountains, with these conditions persisting into Tuesday as the upper low moves across the area. The moisture and instability will be well to the east and south, but on Wednesday it should start to surge northwards across the southern Plains. This may bring a chance for storms, perhaps severe. Thursday looks like a better chance of severe storms over the Plains, with the SW USA trough looking like persisting into the weekend.

This pattern is something we've not seen ahead of our trips for the last few years, with much more modest looking upper patterns. Overall, this should bring a better chance of severe storms - on the other hand, it's best to not get too worked up about it as nothing is certain in severe storms forecasting! At this point last year, the following weekend looked like bringing a ridge - and then we saw over 10 tornadoes on the 27th and 28th!

Of course, the excitement is always going up by this stage, with the promise of the open road, vast skies, severe storms, and catching up with storm chasing friends too.