23rd May - High and Dry in Colorado

When the wind sweeps from the east in the plains and is loaded with moisture the high plains of Colorado begin to look an interesting prospect. The models on this day suggested a good chance for supercell thunderstorms and possible tornadoes in Colorado. However, when the moisture doesn't quite live up to expectations you can end up with some interestingly structured storms but no chance of a tornado. With dewpoints pushing into the mid 40Fs and low 50Fs on model forecasts and a 5% tornado risk things looked worthwhile for the long drive from Aberdeen, South Dakota where we spent the night. Target was along I70 west of Burlington, and sure enough storms got going with a low pressure system forming in southeast Colorado providing nice shear profiles.



The 2nd storm of the day is winding up with inflow dominating the sky above us.  Photo - Brad.



'Not Always Black & White', the second storm to form looked nice on approach but never lived up to model forecasts, similar to the moisture. Photo: John.

Near vertical updrafts and a timely road sign near Kit Carson, Colorado.  Photo - Brad.

Unfortunately, the moisture didn't happen as anticipated and instead of booming thunderstorms, we were left to some nicely structured elevated storms.

The storm structured up with a strong inflow tail and striations. Photo - Brad.

With the marginal ////////////.........................................wwdddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd
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Oops...fell asleep on the keyboard and Brad just elbowed me...needless to say the last few days have been hectic and its only get getting busier with an active pattern in progress so stay tuned. At least the storms did give us some nice photographic opportunities, despite the disappointment with a day that looked to hold promise.

'On the line', with the dewpoints marginal the storms structured as the shear profiles were highly favourable to supercells, but the poor moisture kept the storms ultimately elevated. Photo: John

Day four saw us targetting Southeastern Kansas (while many chasers head for Wisconsin and Iowa) hoping that the frontal influence combined with strong instability and modest shear would produce a tail-end structured storm in Kansas. It certainly did and the results were nothing short of spectacular, so 'like us', share to facebook and spread the word.