Supercell Over New Mexico

Here's what little video I have of the Tatum, New Mexico supercell when it was 30 miles southeast of Carlsbad, New Mexico, followed by some scenes of its aftermath approaching Tatum, New Mexico along NM 203.

Active Sunset Sky

Different layers of cloud arrange themselves for bedtime over the upper Rio Grande valley.

Chase Two: Mistakes Were Made

Yesterday I said that the magnificent supercell I had captured had gone linear. It didn't. It simply reformed a bit to the north and rolled right over Eddy and Lea counties and Tatum, New Mexico, with 2-inch hailstones and a tornado. Several other tornadoes were spotted, none of them by me. I mentally kicked myself for the entire 280-mile drive home last night, out of a total of 668 miles covered on this chase.

Here is the complete photo series of the Tatum supercell, the big one that got away:












This is a close to 2-inch hailstone dropped by this storm on NM Highway 203 between Tatum and Portales, NM.


The result of severe weather. This truck slid off the hail-covered road. The passengers were ok.

The One That Got Away

Here's a picture showing the rotation of the cell I observed SE of Carlsbad. It continued NE and is still cooking NW of Lovington. I'm stationed a bit north of Hobbs right now waiting on another cell that is presently 35 miles SE of Carlsbad, in just about the same place I encountered the first cell. I'm going to head NNW toward Lovington for the intercept.


Here's a screen capture of Google Earth showing my position and that of the first cell when I took the photograph above.

First SC Spotted

I'm looking at a FAT rainfree base ESE of Carlsbad. This bad girl is beginning to show signs of rotation in the base. It's still very subtle, but there is structure to this storm. At the very least, it's trying to be a supercell.

Update: She pooped out on me. She was beginning to wind up, and then she began to reform to the NE. As she stands now, she's gone linear.

It Is SO On

I'm in south-mid Eddy County just outside Carlsbad, where there is a severe thunderstorm warning and a tornado watch. Unfortunately, it's a bit hazy and there are lots of clouds, making it difficult to discern supercell signatures. I'm going to head toward Hobbs on 62/180 to wait at the southeastern corner of Eddy County and hope something passes between my position and Carlsbad.

Chase One: The Epilouge

I left Shamrock yesterday with no supercells spotted, but I did gain a bit of experience, like learning that not all chasers are as happy to see other chasers as I am. On the other hand, the equipment turned out to work quite well. It's a blast to be able to sit on the side of the road in your vehicle and be online.

Regardless of the fact this chase was mostly a bust, I love the long distance driving, made all the more so by the fact I live one state to the west of most of the action. I just wish gas was cheaper right now. The total distance driven on this chase was 862 miles.



Here's a bit of weather I did see yesterday. These cells were east and southeast of Amarillo, Texas.

So now on to tomorrow's chase, which will start in Roswell, New Mexico and points probably south and east. At least it begins in the same state I live in. I'll try to update the blog from the road again. Hopefully with the low passing overhead, a bit more robust activity is on the menu.

Greetings from Shamrock, TX

This may be a dead armadillo, but I'm feeling pretty skunked right now. Outside a very few cirrus clouds very south of here, there's nothing happening in the sky except the hot Texas sun. All the action is up north, making today's chase pretty much a bust. The guy at the Shell station in Canadian, TX, recommended waiting until dusk. He was feeling a storm coming in his bones. I'm going to wait here until late afternoon, but the way it looks now, I came out to chase a few days too early.

Update: Convection is starting to fire (barely) along the dry line north of Shamrock. I've pulled off U.S. 62 to watch and make a time lapse study after I was rudely rejected by a couple of chasers waiting in the parking lot at MacDonald's. I guess I'll never get to be one of the cool kids.

The dynamics are looking quite meager at the moment. This may be a bust, but at least there are clouds in the sky now.

Breakfast in Beaver, OK

After spending the night in Guymon, OK, I made it to Beaver this morning. Unfortunately, all the action is a long ways north at this time, too far out of range for this excursion. I see nothing firing around here, so I'm going to head south to Childress, TX, where one of the Stormtrack guys has set up.

This trip may be a bust, but Ativata is singing on the roads and all the telemetry gear is working perfectly. Oklahoma has awesome Sprint PCS coverage. I've been in the middle of nowhere with 3-4 bars of signal strength.

Introducing Ativata

Here she is, my chase vehicle for 2007. I've rechristened my truck Ativata (ahh-tee-vAA-ta), which is Sanskrit for "storm wind." I'm on my way to Beaver, OK. It's a bit south of where the Stormtrack guys think the action may arise tomorrow, but it's much more within range of New Mexico.

Hopefully we'll catch an earth-scraper with a tornado or two while avoiding any baseball-sized hail. Stay tuned tomorrow.

First Chase This Tuesday

The Storm Prediction Center is calling for severe thunderstorms well within range this Tuesday and Wednesday. I'm going to leave Monday night to position myself somewhere in TX or OK, depending on where the forecast resolves to.

I'll have my 12" Apple Powerbook G4 with net access by tethered Samsung M610 cell phone. I'm using Google Earth Plus with a Garmin Etrex Legend C GPS and importing .kmz files from the NWS. It's a pretty slick set up for a $20.00 piece of software.

Hopefully I'll get lucky and see a ground-scraping monster like this.

The Sun's Secret Rainbow

03/13/2007 @ dusk
Today the sun revealed the secret rainbow it carries around with it. Hopefully a harbinger of good things to come. Looking toward the Jemez mountains and Los Alamos, NM, out over the upper Rio Grande valley.

Late Winter High Desert Sunset

03/07/2007 @ dusk
The sun appears to be crawling up the Jemez Mountains toward Los Alamos, New Mexico with every subsequent sunset.

Branding This Year's Chase

I'm gearing up for this year's storm chasing season. I'll be liveblogging from Tornado Alley where it intersects New Mexico, Texas, Colorado, Oklahoma and Kansas. This logo is going on the side of my chase rig.