“No time for breakfast, we leave now if we want to see
the storm!” Those were the words from our fearless leader, JD Whitt as we
prepared to leave the hotel this morning. The morning outlook was extremely
promising. Isolated super cells showed up all over the models, each with the
capability of producing some serious tornados. Storm chaser extraordinaire, Savannah
Stafford, took the reins in the hot seat, guiding Dr. Barrett and LCDR Woods to
our target area. Our pilgrimage across Oklahoma to the storms was highlighted
with rolling fields, cattle and the occasional hay bail. Jackie Chimiak led the
charge on the logistics end, navigating Oklahoma’s highway network with the
poise of a Russian ballet dancer. We stopped at Billy Sim’s barbecue for lunch,
much to the displeasure of the vegetarian in the goup, Kate. She nearly
devoured an entire rack of ribs before thinking the better of it, deciding to
get her chlorophyll fix at Walmart instead. Team moral was improved as Hank
#cashmoney Leslie provided jokes and entertainment, possibly still hyped up
from the 5 hour energies he took the previous day. After we gassed up, we were
off to catch some isolated super-cells that were developing in Southern
Oklahoma. DJ Savannah, assisted by DJ Bor-A-Go, provided beats for the van to
rock out to as we tracked down our storms. Dr. Barrett’s stormy sense was on
par as he sniffed out and successfully located our storm on the METAR;
operation tornado wrangler was now in full effect. We found a nice observation
point next to an old barn and watched a few wall clouds develop, but none
produced the twisters that SWIFT is all about. We then decided to pursue a
different storm that was indicating a tornado on radar! Adrenaline began to
rush as we thought that this could be “the big one.” On a more serious note, it was about this time
we found out about the tornado that tore through Moore Oklahoma, killing dozens
of people and leaving hundreds without their homes. It left a very somber feeling
in the van, as we were chasing storms similar this one. It took a minute for
everyone to take a step back and realize that our mission is to forecast and
observe severe weather, for the betterment of science. Our thoughts and prayers
are with all those affected by the Oklahoma City tornado. At the end of the
day, we didn't find any tornados. Some
nice wall clouds appeared, but they just didn't quite materialize. We are going
to head down to Southern Texas today, the air and conditions there are quite
favorable for tornadic storms. Thanks for reading!
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