This is sorta a weather blog isn't it? It's about time I share a weather photo. For this week's photo of the week, my first tornado! This tornado was spotted near Groom, TX along Interstate 40 on a storm chase on April 22, 2010. This particular tornado was only on the ground for a few seconds, and was rated EF0 since it basically did not cause any damage.
Meteorology: A large cutoff low was noted on 500 mb analysis, with a surface dryline in place over the Texas Panhandle. The morning SPC convective outlook had a large Slight Risk area over much of the High Plains, including a 10% significant tornado probability over the Texas Panhandle. It should be noted that under today's SPC outlook conventions, this would have been an "Enhanced Risk". The outlook text noted that supercells capable of very large hail were likely to develop along the dryline, with the tornado risk increasing during the early evening hours as a low-level jet developed. At 2:35 p.m. CDT, SPC issued a Tornado Watch for the Texas Panhandle. At 3:00 p.m. CDT, SPC upgraded their outlook to a Moderate Risk with a 15% significant tornado probability. The first tornadoes (in Texas) were reported just after 5:00 p.m. CDT (including the one in the photo above). By the end of the day, there would be 12 preliminary tornado reports, with additional tornadoes reported in Colorado, Kansas, and Oklahoma.
500 mb analysis valid 1200 UTC (7:00 a.m. CDT) April 22, 2010
Preliminary storm reports for April 22, 2010
The Chase: At the time of this chase, I was in my sophomore year at the University of Oklahoma. The chase team included Stefan Rahimi (now a postdoctoral scholar at UCLA) and Curtis Riganti (now a climatologist at the National Drought Mitigation Center). We departed Norman around 1 p.m. (which was cutting it close!), and headed west on I-40. The initial target was Shamrock, TX. As we headed west, we monitored NOAA Weather Radio and what little we could get over cellular data networks. In 2010, cellular data networks was kinda just starting to be a thing, but it generally consisted of fairly slow 3G and AT&T "Edge" (ahh, those were the days!). We approached the first supercell right on I-40. A prominent wall cloud was noted, and multiple funnel clouds were spotted.
Wall cloud associated with the first supercell
Funnel cloud beneath the wall cloud
A few minutes later, the first tornado (photo at the top) occurred. By the end of the day, our team would see three tornadoes.
Tornado #2, partially wrapped in rain near McClellan Creek National Grassland
Tornado #3 north of I-40 near McLean, TX
It was quite awesome to see these first three tornadoes. Up until this point, I had only seen tornadoes in photos and videos. In fact, I had not even really seen a classic supercell in person. Growing up in South Louisiana, a true classic supercell was fairly rare. It was so cool to finally see what this looked like in person. Finally, below is a video taken by my friend Curtis, primarily of the first supercell and tornado.
For the next two nights of the trip, we would stay at Ridgway State Park , which has quickly become one of my all-time favorite places to camp. Not only is it just a great campground, but you have excellent access to the northern San Juan Mountains of southwest Colorado. On Day 4 of the trip, we would explore the town of Ouray and its immediate vicinity. We started off the day by driving up Owl Creek Pass. Owl Creek Pass is accessed by Ouray County Road 8 which intersects U.S. Highway 550 very near Ridgway State Park. The road is unpaved, but well-maintained (at least during the summer... I cannot speak to it in the winter), and we had no problem driving a Nissan Armada up the pass (in fact, we saw a few sedans). The views did not disappoint as the fall foliage in the San Juans was very near peak! Ascending Owl Creek Pass. The road offers numerous easy turnouts to take in the views. Ouray County Road 8 in Owl Creek Pass. The road gets narrow and steep at times (prepare to go slow and u...
Picking back up where we left off, it was very cold the morning we were in Crested Butte. The car thermometer said 24 F, and I would have to guess it was at least that cold. It certainly rivaled the 16 F morning I experienced camping at Devil's Den State Park in northwest Arkansas in 2018. The problem this time though was that in the Arkansas experience, we were anticipating the extreme cold, and everyone was well-prepared. This time, it was colder than expected, and it was for one night of the trip, making it difficult to justify packing for extreme cold for one night. I basically prepared by wearing as many layers as I could, but absent thermal layers, wool socks, and extra blankets, it was still quite cold. But after a quick breakfast, we warmed up the car, and headed out. The main attraction this day was Kebler Pass between Crested Butte and Paonia. Kebler Pass is an unimproved road that goes through the West Elk Mountains, peaking at an elevation of 10,007 ft (3,050 m). While ...
Introduction With all the California wildfires in the news, and questions over whether these fires can be attributed to climate change, human activity (e.g. arson), or forestry management, I decided to take a look at the trends in the number of Red Flag days over the past few decades. "Red Flag" conditions are weather conditions that when combined with critical fuels (e.g. dead trees, grass build-up, etc.) and an ignition source (e.g. lightning, an ill-placed cigarette butt, etc.), will foster rapid fire growth. In general, the two main things you need for rapid fire growth are low humidity and high winds. The criteria for the National Weather Service to issue a Red Flag Warning will vary depending where in the country you are, and the criteria may be eased (either direction) a bit depending on fuels. For example, a local weather forecast office (WFO) may issue a warning below criteria if fuels are really primed (such as during a severe, long-term drought). Conversely, a WFO ...
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