may 18, 2003
nowcasting in norman


Today prospects of the trip continuing looked very unclear. The computer forecast models were becoming increasingly consistent in bringing an unseasonably strong surge of polar air into the Plains, which would shut down storm activity for a while after the 19th. With this in mind, Shawn and Ed had contemplated heading back east after today. Stacey ended up making an early exit as well, as she was low on funds and needed to head home for the summer. Jay was still unsure he would even make an entrance, especially with a recovering pet to care for. I then considered the reality that I might not have anything to chase or anyone to hang out with in my remaining eight days off work, so I began thinking about making other plans. In the meantime, Shawn, Ed, and Mike "Swaggerty" were still out chasing storms, so I offered them my nowcasting services. They ended up chasing some cells from the southern Nebraska panhandle to northeastern Colorado, so I gave them radar information, and in exchange Shawn let me know what he was seeing visually. Unfortunately they were not in an area of great cell phone coverage, so I was not able to communicate with them for long. During the brief time I was able to talk to Shawn, the storms over northeastern Colorado and the southern Nebraska panhandle appeared to be a cluster of pulse type storms, which agreed with the visual observations Shawn relayed to me. Although a severe thunderstorm watch was issued in this area, few warnings were issued before the sun went down. The storms ended up merging into an MCS which tracked across eastern Colorado, northern Kansas, and southern Nebraska. The group ended up staying at Mike "Swaggerty"'s house in Grand Island that night.


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