Chasing the Wind

A slight risk of severe weather was issued by the SPC today for the southern plains from north Texas to northeastern Kansas. The SPC issued 5% tornado probs for NC OK/SC KS for the possibility of a couple of tornadoes. ETA/RUC models progged CAPE as high as 2000 j/kg in N OK and 0-3 km SRH values of > 300 m2/s2. So, essentially, given convective initiation, supercell development was likely.

Based on this information, Justin Walker and I targeted SC KS (specifically, Wellington) because it appeared that this area would have the extra advantage of lower LCL heights. We left Norman around 11:30 and made it to the Wellington area shortly after 2 pm. On the way up, we noticed that the cirrus deck that had been in place during the morning over NW OK into SC KS was beginning to erode somewhat. The sun peeked through a little bit around the Perry area, but it was becoming obvious (based on ThreatNet satellite) that the cloud deck would not erode quickly enough. We ended up spending a good 2 hours waiting around in Wellington before we decided to call it a day. On the way home, we spotted a few "blips" on ThreatNet that kept it interesting, but ultimately, a bust is a bust. We ended up seeing Mickey Ptak and Shane Adams in Blackwell, which made the day rather nice (I love talking to Shane about old storm days--he knows as much as I do about the classic chases).

All in all, I'll give this chase a 2 out of 10. Not absolutely pathetic, but almost. Here's hoping for tomorrow!