Thoughts on last weeks chasing event... obviously I only chased Tuesday and Wednesday as I had obligations elsewhere on Thursday, but as it turns out, Thursday wasnt terribly eventful anywhere. The storm of the day was definitely Denton, and I know of few people who were on that, so you can see everyone did pretty much the same thing I wouldve and got 15%-hatched horny. Had I to do it again, I wouldve left my Monday alone and made the commute on Tuesday seeing as it was a clear sky bust. Even with the storm down south of Wichita Falls, I would not have gone the extra 100-plus miles for it. The sunset was nice, but not worth the 800-miles we put in. Wednesday turned out quite well for me as our crew got the rare treat of experiencing a significant hailstorm from a substantial shelter in a fairly busy area. My experience has proven to me over the years how difficult it is to not only get the best part of the core in a storm, but to do so in a sheltered area. We got both, and its truly one of the few times it has worked that way. Given my love for hail, that quickly puts the chase into a high category of happy. In terms of the journalistic side, not only did I get the experience of the storm, but I was right there to see the aftermath immediately after hearing window after window being shattered by the wind-driven ice. Insurance companies will be busy with that one for sure. Thursdays experience came from the serendipity of changing my flight from STL Wednesday night to STL Thursday morning to finally MCI (Kansas City) Thursday morning. Between wanting a redemption chase Wednesday and fearing concerns of delays due to weather moving through STL Wednesday night, I moved my flight to Thursday morning. Well as the chase went on, and logistics worked out (thanks to the crew for driving my car from KC to STL), I thought Id save myself the all-night drive and fly out of Kansas City. As it turns out, that was huge because STL had a tornado amidst a line of severe weather that ultimately hosed up the red-eye I was going to be on. I wouldve missed my Denver connection and not made it in til way later in the afternoon. So moving to Kansas City saved me, and I arrived without incident. As for the event itself, it became a bigger flooding issue for southern IL than anything else, even as tornado-warned storms (and 2 brief tornadoes) were reported. But the rain and flooding was the big story out of there. I wouldve likely played the Bootheel area as I had no desire to do central Missouris terrain, and it was painfully apparent early on that the warm front was going to be a non-issue. Ultimately I think I wouldve given up early and just went home and played in the water and taken my chances on the tornado-warned storms that moved through that area. It was a very complicated and messy forecast that ultimately lead to more than enough uncertainty where I wouldve likely suffered a tornado-less fate barring a dumb luck timing on the right storm. Inevitably, I wouldve just documented the flash flooding and taken my chances with whatever severe storms moved through my area. Overall, I think the entire three day event yielded a dozen or so confirmed tornadoes. Obviously the hail storm in Mulvane at the casino was my storm highlight for the trip, and really made it a success overall. I felt Wednesday offered the best tornado chances (I never felt confident in anything warranting a 15%-hatched for Thursday), but none of the days really lived up to the hype. Alas, its early season and people are trigger happy, so I think a lot of them went home disappointed and called this what it really was, a dress rehearsal or an excuse to get out and play. Focus shifts to the next system, which per a quick looks at the 0z GFS, looks to be this next weekend. Again, already free to head out for that as my only days of concern through the end of the semester are Mondays and Wednesdays, so its a matter of how much potential it has to be worthy of the money and effort. Otherwise, Ill try to avoid early season burn-out and wait for that 7 seven weeks Ill have to play when my semester ends in early May.
Posted on: Sun, 06 Apr 2014 05:26:06 +0000
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