thursday, july 15, 2004
verdel-verdigre ne supercell
southern supercell and page ne tornado
storm becomes outflow-dominated
chase log:
| my first northwest flow chase ever, with storms moving briskly southward, had me frequently cocking my head to one side to get my bearings. it was one of four northwest flow tornado events in a week-long period, though this day's happened to be the only one that did not produce a strong/violent tornado. i intercepted the first supercell just as it crossed the missouri river valley into far northeast nebraska. it had dropped its only tornado as a youngster in south dakota, and did not look overly impressive. poor road options/terrain made observing this storm difficult, and i had no immediate route southward to the new storm in holt county. i maneuvered back east and south and at 6:55pm was finally in position to view both supercells. a completely occluded updraft base and dissipating horizontal funnel from the northern storm held my attention. it wasn't until hearing the report from a local radio station that i noticed a white cone sprouting from the northern flank of the southern storm. this tornado was an incredible 19 miles away from me; still, it was quite a sight, with blinding sun spilling over the two updrafts while torrential rain fell in my location. i eventually moved south and west to get into better position relative to the southern updraft. by the time i did, the storm (while breathtaking) was gusting out. |