After nearly a month on the road it is good to be back home. Dusty, tired and happy. Chase '05 is one for the books. And one I'll not soon forget.

It's been a tough year for all chasers. With many fine moments along the way. If it wasn't for June 9 I still would have considered it a blast. There were many good chases this year. But that particular day was a standout. I'm sure glad I pushed my flight back a few extra days. What a payoff!

I have lots of video and hundreds of stills to go through. Someday I'll get it organized and posted. But it will have to wait until after the move. An extended chase vacation left me with less than 2 weeks to pack my office/studio and all of our worldly possessions. Out of the chase rig and into the buzz saw. Forget sorting. I'm shoveling stuff into boxes as fast as I can. The movers arrive Friday morning. I'll sort it out on the other end. My next post will be made from beautiful Downtown Salem MA. Can't wait.

A huge thank you to my Chase partner Joel Ewing. A great friend and an awesome team mate. We rocked this year bud. And also to Warren and Lisa (Chase Angel) for hanging out and sharing some great times.

To the many friends old and new who I met along the road. And to my loved ones at home who kept cheering us on. A big thank you. We'll do it again on '06.

This blog will continue to be filled with useless trivia throughout the year. But for now I'm just too tired and busy.

Groove,

db

Posted by at 2:07 PM | Permalink

As we were pushing south and west to get into position for Friday conditions started to add up for a favorable day in west Kansas. Good thing I decided to extend my trip a few days.

We targeted Norton KS as a starting point and sat tight watching satellite and radar waiting for something good to go up. I knew we were in the right place when we again ran into Tim Samaras and his crew gassing up. Very nice guy.

Storms went up almost at once and we chose Hill City. Then blasted south. It was the start of a significant outbreak. Not much to say about it really. The images say it best (video clips when I get around to it.) We caught several tornadoes in Graham, Rooks and Trego counties. It went on for hours and left me speechless. It was an amazing day.

This was a serious event however. And I'm relieved to say that no one was killed. Though a truck driver was seriously injured when his rig was tossed on I-70. There was a significant amount of property damage as well. Especially around Stockton. We can all be grateful that these storms were well spotted, monitored and warned.

Posted by at 11:09 PM | Permalink

After yesterday's adventure in South Dakota we ended up back in Valentine NE. We got off to a late start. Trying to make the action in E. Kansas but it was out of reach. Just as well. We needed to power down. I'm feeling pretty road worn after 3 weeks. After a visit to the Pioneer Village Museum in Minden (amazing!) we landed in Grand Island NE for a good meal an some sleep.

I'm due to fly out tomorrow but tempted to change flights stay out a few more days. The Forecasts for the Panhandles on Friday looks way too tempting. Tomorrow looks god too. I'll sleep on it and make some calls in the morning.

Posted by at 10:44 PM | Permalink

We spent the better part of the day in Valentine NE on Tuesday. Lying in wait for the first storm to pop. It could be anywhere in So. Dakota or North West NE. Pretty remote part of the country. And quite beautiful too. We needed to choose our target carefully as it would likely be my last good chase day of '05.

Around 4:30 in the afternoon a storm finally broke the CAP about 100 miles to the west. Just north of Pine Ridge SD. So we were off.

We got there just in time. Tornados were brief and modest. And very high based. But we got em from a distance. Roads were sparse on the Sioux Reservation. But with a little help from the locals we managed to follow this storm all the way through the Badlands. It was breathtaking.

Then a big squall line spanked us all the way home to Valentine with rain, high winds and hail.

It would have been sad to go home without a day like this one. Definitely a highlight of my season.

Posted by at 8:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Before leaving North Platte we stopped in and visited the folks at the NWS for some pleasant conversation and Info. We decided to move north and position ourselves for Tuesday as data and forecasting unfolded throughout the day.

A beautiful trip up through the Sand Hills, we ended up in Valentine NE and soon found ourselves just outside of a Tornado Box to the south west. we took in a leisurely evening chase. Missing the brief tornados (road access in the Sand Hills is a real challenge) we watched some beautiful storms as the sun set. The dropped anchor in Valentine knowing that tomorrow would be a bigger day. Today's evening action was an unplanned bonus.

Conditions are coming together for tomorrow's show. But it's will probably be another "needle in a haystack" chase. They sure aren't coming easy this year.

Posted by at 6:11 PM | Permalink

Woke up in Emporia. Tired and worn. Being so close to Wichita I considered flying out early. Cutting my losses.

While sitting on the fence about my travel plans I met some friendly hard core chasers in the parking lot of the hotel. Including non-other than Tim Samaras and Al Pietrycha. I didn't feel so bad after hearing about their frustrating chases the day before. We compared notes and decisions. Apparently yesterday frustrated even the best of the best.

With one more chance at a big play this week (probably Tuesday) somewhere up in the Dakotas, I changed my plans to fly out of Omaha at the end of the week. I've come this far. I might as well play one more good game if there is one to be played.

We migrated to North Platte NE. Stopping along the way in a beautiful little town called Council Grove KS. We passed through the night before and were curious to see it in the daylight. I'm glad we did. It was like driving through a postcard. A great way to recoup after a hard bust.

Yesterday I was cursing eastern KS as though it were purgatory. Today it could be heaven on earth.

Posted by at 8:57 PM | Permalink

So much for "High Risk Saturday."

Another grueling bust. Conditions were in place from Texas to Iowa. We left Goodland KS moving east first thing in the morning. The challenge was to pick the most likely place for initiation. The "high risk" area later evolved to a PDS tornado watch covering half of Kansas. Finding the right spot, and having time to get there was a huge challenge. After studying many swipes at the Satellite image we positioned ourselves at a truck stop in Salina KS and waited. It felt like we were sitting on a powder keg. We needed to be on the first good storm ASAP as tornados would drop quickly and the storms likely to rain out fast.

We chased the first likely candidate. A powerful storm went up to our south that soon went tornadic. We were on it. Then jammed by a washed out road. Forced to back track we were out of the first hunt. The rest of the day we were two steps behind. Chasing lined-out, high precipitation mush. We worked every last bit out of that complex landing in Emporia KS at about 11:00 p.m. Very tired and hungry.

Bad forecasting, highway construction, traffic, washed out roads, camera problems, this day sucked out loud.

That's chasing...

Posted by at 11:54 PM | Permalink

Looks like a big day today.

Posted by at 9:37 AM | Permalink

Friday was a tough call. Nothing is in sync. Lot's of dynamic elements moving around the alley. But everything is socked in. There was some potential down around Childress TX. But it was rain drenched. And if we played it we would be way out of pocket for day 2. When we'll probably need to be in South East NE or East KS. So we opted for the possibility of the Denver Cyclone and headed north, then west into eastern CO.

When it became obvious that the day would likely be another bust we said our goodbyes to Warren and Lisa in Lamar CO as they headed home to Tucson. The end of a long and frustrating season for them. I'm really glad I had a chance to hang out with them this year. It was a great time.

As Joel and I worked our way north towards Burlington we passed through some of the strangest, and most beautiful low-level clouds we had ever seen. Features were just downright strange. Cold saturated air. Surface boundaries. Very interesting. There were sporadic T - reports throughout the area. Brief Cold air funnels. Hard (impossible?) to chase. Thought we almost caught a cell poping over Cheyenne Wells. Mile after mile it felt like we were driving into the Twilight Zone.

After a long grind we landed in Goodland KS for food and rest. If there is going to be a show tomorrow we need to move east towards MO or IA.

Posted by at 6:25 PM | Permalink

Without doubt this had to have been one of the most bizarre events of my chasing career. Conditions were right (slightly suspect) for a major isolated storm. And it went up right in front of us.

We began our day by choosing Ulysses KS as our target after a visit to the Weather Service in Dodge City. We had two choices. Blast up to north east CO where some kind of initiation was guaranteed but dew points low. Or hang in south west KS where instability was high but capping strong. The bet was that if something went up and broke the cap near us, we could have an isolated monster. We placed our bets on the later.

Soon arriving at our target we spent the better part of the day at the local library in Ulysses. Enjoying broadband data access, air conditioning and immaculate bathrooms. We were confident that we were in the right place. The day might be capped off. But if something were to go it would be big. So we waited... Warren and Lisa showed up around 3:00. (We broke off from them near Lubbock a few days ago). We conferred and agreed. We were in the right place. We just need to wait. Any chaser will tell you, the waiting is the hardest part.

Sure enough around 4:30 pm we noticed a tower going up just south of us. We scrambled. Right before our eyes we watched this monster erupt. Big, back-building cell sprouting an anvil. It was isolated, tight and went up in no time. Best of all it was going up right in front of us. This could easily be the trophy storm of the season. We were thrilled.

We raced south intending to get behind it and stopped in Moscow KS waiting for the precipitation to cross the road. Given the size and rapid intensity of the storm we figured hail could be golf ball size and wanted to let it pass. But we couldn't see the base through the precip. So again we waited in frustration for this big brute to move.

NOAA issued a Tornado Warning on the storm so Joel and I decided to punch the core and get to the other side. Risky? Yes. But 3 weeks into this adventure we needed a score. And it was a rental after all.

Hail and rain were minimal as we made it to the other side and parked just north of Hugoton. The storm base was high but showed a decent lowering and some rotation. We soon noticed a defined Funnel just above us and thought we were in the catbird seat for the Wizard of OZ. No sooner had I grabbed my video camera then the entire thing disintegrated before our eyes. Within moments the storm just died. We stood in silent disbelief. Well, not exactly silent. We had a few choice words for the occasion. We were more amazed than anything. Our monster storm fizzled in an instant.

We met several other chasers up the road in Sublette KS and pondered our bust. Consensus was that the dry line wasn't moving. And the front was slow as well. There just wasn't enough forcing to keep this beast alive. We considered blasting north into CO. We still had a few hours of daylight. But tomorrow's action will probably be south and east of us. So we dropped anchor in Liberal KS and went out for Pizza and Beer. What a day.

I'll never forget how impressive this thing was, Just how fast it went up. And just how fast it fell. At least I was there to witness it. The Great Bust of Hugoton '05.

Posted by at 10:04 PM | Permalink

Today we took a leisurely drive up to Dodge City KS to put ourselves in position. Tomorrow (Thursday) looks to be pretty volatile. And that's just a warm up for Friday. I don't want to jinx it, but the next few days here could be wild. Make that "explosive." We have a dry-line setting up with south west flow. Very spring like. It seems that some serious weather could hit the central plains in the next few days.

Posted by at 10:32 PM | Permalink