This was likely the last day of chasing for my season. Things were hopeful as we left this morning. A long grind from Valentine south to North Platte. Then east to Grand Island. We go a good start so we had time to gas up, feed up and rest up while watching and waiting. It was a tough day to target a location where the cap would likely break but we thought we made the right choice when we saw the Cloud Nine folks drive up. We enjoyed killing time with the group and had another pleasant conversation with Charles Edwards. Once the 3pm update came out we all broke west going our separate ways.

We ended up going all the way back to North Platte and dropped into the NWS. The front stalled. Storms turned into another line of crap. Huge disappointment. Season's done for me I'm afraid.

We landed in Kearney NE. Tomorrow we'll take our time heading back to Omaha. Tough year...

Posted by at 10:47 PM | Permalink

Nothing worth getting excited about today. Typically Joel and I will meet first thing in the morning to review the SPC forecast and regional forecast discussions. We know right away if we're going to have a game day or not. Today we took one look at the data, then a look at each other and decided to go back to our rooms for a nap. We've been driving long and hard day after day. We're both pretty wiped out. Should have slept in today.

We met around 2:00 and decided to do some local sightseeing. It sure looked like fun, but neither one of us had the energy to go rafting. Instead we decided to go for a leisure drive west to Merriman. (about an hour's drive west) to check out the Bowring Sandhills Ranch.

Posted by at 9:46 PM | Permalink

This morning we got off to a great start and our target held steady. Central and North Central Nebraska. Unfortunately the setup wasn't quite right. The Curse of '06 strikes again.

Landed in Valentine,.. again (there aren't many places to crash in Cherry County NE). And the good folks at the Holiday Inn Express give us a decent rate for a decent room. We managed our disappointment with another great steak at the Pepermill.

Day 2 has us sitting right here. If anything is going to happen we don't need to go far. Managing my expectations I refuse to get excited.

Posted by at 8:55 PM | Permalink

Seeing as we needed to get north we decided to take the scenic rout today up through Colorado. Target for day 2 is Valentine NE so we decided to stick to the foothills and not go up into the mountains (tough call).

Mt. Capulin — an ancient volcano — came highly recommended so we made that our first stop. As promised the view was impressive. With clear air all around — under a modest cover of high based convection — we could see for miles in every direction. A brief stop at the visitor center filled us in on the history of lava flows and made the view that much more impressive. Once on top we decided to make the mile long hike around the rim (the most exercise I've had in weeks). We made it about 1/2 way around when a modest storm came across the mountain and had us reconsidering our decision to hike. Getting wet was one thing. But the evidence of a lightning strike on a mountaintop bench gave a clear message. This is not a place to sit and watch a storm. It only took one clap of thunder to move us along in a hurry.

We struck on up into SE Colorado and decided to drive up through the Comanche Grasslands. I had driven south through that area last year and convinced Joel it was worth seeing again. We paused a few times along the way to watch and photograph a high based storm. Eventually making the decision to move as far north as possible. We drove on into the evening and landed in Fort Morgan CO.

Tomorrow the SPC has a "slight risk" somewhere around South Dakota and central Nebraska. It's hard to get hopes up, so I wont. But we came to play so we'll make the best of it. Target: Valentine NE.

Posted by at 10:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Slight risk in our area today so we decided to stay put and book another night at the hotel. We hung out in town. Got a nice tour of the old town hall, did some laundry and and had pleasant send off lunch for Warren's client Dan.

As bad as this trip has been for storms, the people you meet along the way can sometimes make up for the disappointing weather. Of course there were the colorful locals we met last night, a pleasant woman at the laundry mat who filed us in on local scuttlebutt, and during our visit to the old town hall I had a really interesting conversation with Charles Edwards from Cloud Nine Tours. Turns out that he works for FEMA when he's not driving chase tours. He had some amazing things to say about working the front lines of Katrina. He and his tour were stuck in town with a broken axle so Joel offered to drive him down to Amarillo to pick up a rental. More conversation on the ride down and a pleasant meal in Amarillo. It was a good deed done well. Very interesting guy. Look forward to meeting him again down the road.

Posted by at 11:16 PM | Permalink

Forecast held up this morning so we marched up into South Eastern Colorado. I always enjoy chasing there. Even though I've had little success at catching tornadoes (It's been 5 years since I've scored one up there). But the upslope winds always fire some beautiful storms in the foot hills and beyond.

We typically end up racing out of Amarillo, through Boise City (never forgetting to stop at No Man's Land for some fine Beef jerky) then racing north through Springfield, Lamar or further. Inevitably we'll backtrack, deciding late in the afternoon to go after the southern storms in north east New Mexico. Seems like we do this every time and today was no exception. There were several promising storms all over the region but nothing to get very excited about. We ended up back through Boise City and into New Mexico. Finishing our chase with a very strange Gust Front. Yet another bust for '06.

We landed in "historic" Clayton New Mexico and decided to cap off our bust with dinner and beers at the Eklund hotel and saloon. An excellent choice as the evening turned out to be a highlight of an otherwise frustrating chase season. The place was filled with cowboys (real ones) and storm chasers from all over the globe. Not to mention the colorful locals. One in particular, who could use a few piano lessons... guess you had to be there.

After last call, as we were making our way out the door, we stopped to check out some old pictures hanging in the bar. A series of gruesome photos of a public execution from the turn of the century. The locals seemed to take a certain amount of pride in telling us the legend of Black Jack Ketchum.
One fellow even offered to take us on a midnight tour of the "hanging place" and a trip to Black Jack's grave site as well. How could we resist?

Posted by at 8:23 PM | Permalink

We landed at the Holiday Inn in Dodge City yesterday, after a "murder burger" at Sonic. As is so often the case, there are few food options when you roll into town after 10pm. This particular Sonic drive in was clearly the hub of the social scene for anyone under 21 in Dodge City. It was entertaining.

I was rocked out of bed by a loud clap of thunder around 4:00 this morning. Then a steady downpour that lasted until well after we checked out around 11 am. Storms were firing all over Kansas and the OK/TX Panhandles sent boundaries everywhere. There was energy, but pinpointing a quality target was daunting. We migrated south into Texas where we met up with Warren and a client of his down around Canadian TX. We marched on a few high based storms near the TX/OK border and did see an impressive funnel from a distance. But it was short lived and far away. So we broke off and made our way to Amarillo for the night. Stopping along the way to admire a Gust Front.

Joel bought us all dinner and drinks at the local Outback Steakhouse. It's scary that I can walk in there and be recognized by the wait staff. But we do seem to land there every year. I'm sure we'll be aback again next year.

It was fun to finally catch up with Warren. We'll all chase up into Colorado tomorrow if the forecast holds together. I don't have much hope. This season sucks.

Posted by at 11:06 PM | Permalink

Dodge City KS. 4:30 a.m.
A loud clap of thunder woke me from a sound sleep. Then the sound of pouring rain that lasted all morning. A stationary storm hung over us and kept building and dumping on top of us until we left Dodge at around noon. Heading south to the Texas Panhandle. It was an unlikely day, but we played the cards we were dealt. Plenty of energy but not enough cap. Outflow boundaries kicking all over the place.

We met up with Warren (and client) down in Canadian TX. Then proceeded to chase the only game in town. A fairly solid storm on the TX/OK Boarder. High based rainmaker. We caught a glimpse of a nice sized funnel for a moment or two. But it was short lived.

Early evening charged through a gust front on the way into Amarillo. Joel bough us all a steak (thanks mon!). Things are looking pretty bleak in the coming days. maybe Colorado tomorrow.

Posted by at 11:53 PM | Permalink

This system is finally passing off to the east. We thought we could still get into it, but really the frustration with this system has taken it's toll. We pretty much gave up on it and used this as a transition day. We needed to get closer to the OK/TX panhandles so we drove down through the sandhills (always a scenic favorite), then made our way to Dodge City, zigging and zagging a bit to keep an eye on the front and observe the line of convection. Any play we might get would be gravy. Nearly 11 hours on the road. In fact we've done about 3,000 miles in just under a week. Tough season. The next couple of days hold some promise. After that it looks like a ridge is setting up. Might be coming home early.

Posted by at 9:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Rolled out of bed and started south today. Similar set up to yesterday's. With stationary front extending NNE from WY through the Dakotas up into Canada. We liked the idea of SW SD and NE so we moved south. Beautiful country, we didn't really stop to enjoy it much.

After a brief stop in Pier we moved down to Valentine NE to try to book a room. After chalking it up to a transition day we realized storms were gathering after all. A quick look at satellite had us blasting West towards Merriman. It started to glob out so we broke off and went back to Valentine.

Wouldn't you know it. About an hour after we broke off, getting near dark, the storms we were after went tornadic and rocketed north through the Dakotas. We did get a modest, late night light show out of it. Tomorrow looks to be east. Tired and frustrated we'll probably use it as a transition day to get down towards the panhandles.

Posted by at 9:36 PM | Permalink

We left Fargo heading westward to Jamestown and took a room for the afternoon to watch the weather data unfold. It was a good call, renting a cheap room. We had Hi Speed internet. Beds for napping, and all of the comforts of, well, a cheap motel. The afternoon/ evening had us chasing some enticing convection west near Bismarck. The front was nearly stationary and the cap was strong. When they finally did fire they never really got going. We did see a brief spin up with a solid tube near Sterling. But it was so short lived I didn't even have time to reach for my camera. Back to Jamestown for the night. Tomorrow looks to be a similar set up further south. Maybe even into Nebraska.

Posted by at 9:35 PM | Permalink

Morning updates showed slight promise in South West Nebraska and North West Kansas. Pretty far out of reach and a long way from North Dakota / Canadian border where we'll need to be tomorrow. Decision made we headed off to Dell Rapids SD — Just a few miles to the north — the place where the first Berges settled from Norway back in the 1800's.

Neither Joel nor I had ever been to Dell Rapids. Though family lore has it that there are many Berges remaining. Our shared grandfather Melvin was the youngest of 9 brothers. Many of whom remained in the region. The Berge name is a prominent one in this corner of the plains.

We started our adventure at the local library investigating town history. Historical records of the city were fascinating. But didn't shed much light on our family history.

Next stop "The Dells." A quiet and beautiful river overlook where our grandfather proposed to our grandmother sometime in the early 1920's. Off to find the cemetery, what happened next was surprising and quite moving. The kind of event that makes one ponder the reality of divine intervention.

We stopped at the neighborhood Funeral home to ask for directions to the old cemetery and perhaps some help in finding old family plots. Not only we're the proprietors happy to help, but they knew many members of our family as our grandfather and great uncle were both funeral directors themselves. In fact the director — Mark Kahler — said that it was "because of Bert Berge that we started this funeral home!" Mark gave us a map of the old cemetery and marked all of there areas where we could find Berges so off we went.

We found the cemetery – a beautiful and peaceful place just north and west of town. after 20 mins or so of locating and photographing headstones, a big old cadillac convertible pulled up to us and out stepped an older gentleman and a young man. The gentleman looked at us curiously as Joel said "someone must have told you we were up here." The gentleman said "no." Are you a "Berge?" asked Joel. "Yes." "We'll we are too!"

Turns out this gentleman was named Arlen Knutson. His grandfather was the brother of our grandfather. Arlen took us from headstone to headstone, telling us all about the family there. Lot's of stories. Fascinating. To visit the site was moving enough. To have him there as a guide was extraordinary. Coincidence or not we all agreed that something larger than ourselves brought us together this afternoon. The weather was postcard perfect. The events of the day were once in a lifetime.

On advice form Arlen we left Dell Rapids and drove about 10 miles west to Colton SD. Arlen told that is where all of the living Berges remain so we dropped into the "Berge's Store" down town and introduced ourselves to the proprietors. Surprised and a little bewildered to have two strange men arrive unannounced and introducing themselves as family, Jill, Jeff and Peg were as nice as can be. It was a real pleasure to meet them all.

All in all it was a very special day for Joel and I. One I'll never forget.

On to Fargo ND to position for tomorrow....

Posted by at 11:34 AM | Permalink

Shot back to Omaha to pick up Joel's Bag at the airport. Conditions looking favorable up the Dakotas over the next couple of days. Landed Souix Falls SD for the night. If we have another transition day we'll probably go up to Dell Rapids tomorrow to investigate some "Berge" history. We'll look at the SPC updates in the morning and make the call.

Posted by at 11:27 AM | Permalink

Went after the system today. Straight across Iowa. It was one of the most baffling days I've ever had out here. We found ourselves in a locally issued Watch Box (tornado) in the vicinity of Iowa City. But it just didn't add up. We could'nt figure out why it was issued. Wish we knew what they were seeing or thinking. Very strange. Farther north or east would have been more promising. But we were behind the advancing system and reluctant to press into Illinois.

We did chase a strange late storm that was backbuilding from the south. Very odd. Gave up and pulled into "The Worlds Largest Truckstop." Sorry, forgot my camera. I knew you'd be dissapointed.

Back to Iowa City for the night.

Tomorrow looks like a dangerous situation farther to the east. But we'll be heading back to Omaha to pick up a lost bag at the airport. Then we have some down time. Maybe go up to Rapid City to check out some family history.

We'll likely drop down to the southern plains for the weekend. Warren is making his way to TX as it looks like a South West Flow is trying to set up. We'll probably meet up down around Lubbock. But it's too early to tell.

Posted by at 10:13 PM | Permalink

Arrived in Omaha around 1:30. Rented the rig and immediately blasted out after a line of storms rolling in from the west. Too far out of pocket to score the tornadoes in SD I made my way out to Columbus NE. Found some WiFi, then held out for the southern end of the line to produce. It didn't. I stabbed down towards Grand Island to get what I could. Just a line of noisy junk so I decided to pack it in and make my way back to Omaha... It's good to be out here though.

Joel landed around midnight. It was a long drive back from York. Blinding rain the whole time. Wound up in Omaha tired and warn. We'll follow this stuff into Iowa tomorrow.

Posted by at 11:59 AM | Permalink

I'm scheduled to fly out to Omaha on 5/23. Is it going to happen?

When it rains it pours... literally. This past week we were clobbered here in the northeast. We're still pumping out the basement here in "Witch City." The same weather pattern that has been keeping us in galoshes has had the Alley in a dismal state of... we'll,.. sigh...

I was preparing to cancel my chase trip but now the weather is turning around. The models are looking a little more hopeful... But before I can get too excited I still may be stuck at home.

Too much work. Gotta serve the clients... when it rains it pours.

Will Chase '06 take off? Stay tuned...

Posted by at 4:49 PM | Permalink