The Great Hugoton Bust of '05
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.