The storm remains the same...

or does it?

Since I last left you...(when was that?!)

I think in Ogallala (Nebraska geography check)...

We headed to Kansas, then to Colorado, then to Kansas, then to Colorado.

5/25/10
We left I-80 and headed south to I-70 and west into CO.
Initial target town: Sheridan Lake, CO (couldn't see a lake...)
We did our parking lot thing (napping, eating, napping) and I quickly was getting convinced I would not be turning on the radar that day (that would be a first!). Obviously, just by thinking such a thought (I think I uttered it out loud, as well), this Vortex2 "milestone" was not reached. A storm became interesting in western KS (Tribune, in fact). The interesting storm became interesting stormS. These storms produced numerous landspouts (5, I believe). Landspouts are nice, but not super nice (is there a synonym for nicest?). They are weak, short-lived rotations that last for ~ 1 minute. Storms moved north and west and then did not move...which makes targeting "projected" storm paths tricky. Overall, though, we collected some good data documenting storm interaction (this seems like a Miss America answer...but with non-nonsensical storms, it feels appropriate).

The CSWR crew returned to our Boulder home base (the DOWs needed some love) and the rest of the Vortex2 armada stayed about ~1 hour north in Loveland, CO in anticipation of a trip to Canada...(Montana, actually).

5/26/10--The gentleman's chase (almost)
The DOWs received their tender loving care starting at 600 AM. As tea time rolled around, the weather perked up just west and north of Boulder/Loveland. Our tea and biscuits were abandoned and the chase was on. We targeted a storm near Hudson, CO. We targeted it very well (A+ for Vortex2). Additionally, we were in a region where the UAV (unmanned aerial vehicles) could fly around the storm, getting thermodynamic and wind data above ground level. The storm did not produce a tornado (C for the atmosphere--presentation was good, but failed to produce).

27 May was looking good for NE Montana...but we decided it was not looking good enough...(and passports were still in safety deposit boxes).