July 15th Northeast New Mexico Supercell

July 15th had a lot going for it. Strong northwest flow aloft would generate good shear with surface southeast winds. High dewpoints in the 60s at high elevations, would also generate a lot of instability. The upslope flow helped develop a well structured supercell near Wagon Mound, New Mexico. This storm was well structured and also produced huge hail baseball sized. The low levels never could tighten up enough to produce a tornado, however the supercell spun southward toward I-40 near Cuervo. It was severe warned for over 4 hours as it moved towards the south. Eventually we let it go as numerous storms blew up around it and thus reduced its ability to continue to maintain its strength. Fun chase over the plains and canyons of northeast New Mexico and fortunately to road network allowed us to continue chasing it all afternoon and early evening.

July 8th LaJunta, Colorado Tornadic Supercell

July 8th was the arrival day for our final tour of the year, Tour #9 the Great North Tornado Hunt. Due to the weather forecast that day, we took the group out for a chase in southeast Colorado. A supercell formed east of Colorado Springs late afternoon and spun like crazy all the way to Kim, CO near the New Mexico border. With strong shear, good moisture and instability in place, the storm would become a long-lived supercell and produce hail 3.5 inches diameter, as well as a nice tornado north of Kim that was on the ground for a few minutes. The structure of this supercell was one of the best of 2023! By mid evening it dissipated, so we went back to Denver to get ready for our official start of the tour. A great way to spend arrival day chasing a stunning tornadic supercell! Enjoy the pics!!

July 6th Aurora/Watkins, CO Tornadoes

It’s always fun when severe weather keeps you in your own backyard! Such was the case on July 6th! A boundary stretched across the Aurora/Watkins areas and by mid afternoon, storms rapidly developed. Soon a tornado formed south of I-70 touching down for a few minutes. About 30 minutes later, a landspout tornado formed along the boundary just northeast of Watkins persisting for several minutes. We stayed with the storms to see if any other tornadoes would form along the boundary, but as if often the case, wind fields were disrupted by ongoing storms, thus lessoning the chance another tornado would occur. Great backyard chase!

June 30th Kim, Colorado Tornado Warned Supercell

An interesting on June 30th. There was a fair potential for supercells but not a lot of potential for tornadoes due to lack of low level shear. By early afternoon storms formed east of Trinadad, CO. As they moved east, one storm became a supercell. We arrived at the time it pushed east towards Kim. It became tornado warned within 30 minutes. At one point it had a rotating wall cloud, but never looked like it would produce. Structure was decent and the hail very large, tennisball sized. Numerous storms formed later and merged into a squall line, producing a haboob over western Kansas. It’s always fun encountering a haboob as a wall of blowing dirt pushes away from the storms in the shape of a wedge. Fun day and great way to end the evening! Enjoy the pics!

June 27th Broadwater, Nebraska Supercell

June 27th had 2 different targets. One by the Nebraska/South Dakota border, and a second along the Chugwater low at the Nebraska/Wyoming border. We hoped to chase the northern target, but nature had other plans. We went south and caught an intensifying supercell west of Bridgeport, NE. We had to punch through the core and encountered pingpong ball sized hail as we approached Broadwater, NE. Once on the east side of the storm, intense lightning was occurring. Structure became quite nice as the storm spun hard moving towards the east. After it passed Oshkosh, it started weakening as it encountered a capping inversion. We followed it through the sandhills and had a nice sunset with great color and lightning! Enjoy the pics!!!

June 23rd Chugwater, WY to Scottsbluff, NE Tornadofest

June 23rd had significant potential in southeast Wyoming as well as southeast Colorado. We chose to play the Wyoming target instead of Colorado. And both produced tornadoes!!! When you get upslope flow into the Laramie Range in southeast Wyoming with decent moisture and instability, you chase there, plain and simple. Good shear and lift into the mountains were also present and by midafternoon storms erupted west of Chugwater. It took a bit for storms to become organized, but one such supercell over the town of Chugwater became the primary supercell this day. It spun east all the way past Scottsbluff, NE and produced at least a half dozen tornadoes, a few of which we were close to and became pretty photogenic! A Tornado Emergency was issued for one large tornado near town and fortunately did not cause any serious injuries or fatalities. Storm structure was pretty as well and the supercell also produced softball sized hail at various locations in the lifetime. A great chase day and fortunately the results were good for the local residents. Enjoy the pics!

June 21st Sterling, CO Tornadic Supercell

June 21st took SLT co-owner Caryn Hill out to the northeast plains of Colorado. A remnant outflow boundary from overnight storms set the stage for multiple supercells to form during the afternoon. Caryn targeted an anchored storm near Sterling. West of town it wrapped up and likely had a large tornado behind wrapping rain curtains. As the mesocyclone occluded and a new one formed just south of her position, it dropped a long, snaky tornado with a debris cloud. Due to her driving on muddy roads, all the pics of the tornado were cell phone shots, so apologies for the quality. A great day for Caryn and a super result!!!

June 12th Brady, Texas Tornado Warned Supercell

July 12th featured extreme instability and great shear, however a very strong capping inversion would be the main issue to overcome. An outflow boundary from previous nights storms lay east/west near Brady, Texas. Towers kept trying to initiate along the boundary late afternoon with no success. Finally a cluster of updrafts formed along the surface triple point and a supercell was born. This storm spun hard, and had a great hook on radar. Visually you could see the rotation and the storm became incredibly electrified! West of Brady it became tornado warned. It never had a serious tornado threat due to weak low level rotation, but nonetheless it was quite pretty. It slowly drifted east and eventually weakened as a second storm formed and also became supercellular. As the sun set, the colors cast from the supercell updraft were absolutely gorgeous! Enjoy the pics!

June 7th Marathon, Texas Supercell

With a poor weather pattern forecast, we went to where the best combination of shear, moisture and instability were forecast, near the Davis Mountains of southwest Texas. Storms formed mid afternoon and intensified, with a supercell forming near Marathon, Texas and drifting southeast. It had good structure and was producing numerous cg strikes. As it moved towards Mexico, more storms formed west of town and also produced a lot of lightning. We encountered golfball sized hail and plenty of wind with the initial supercell!

June 6th White Sands, New Mexico Lightning

There wasn’t a lot of hope on June 6th, so we took the group to White Sands National Park in southern New Mexico for some general thunderstorm formation in hopes of catching some lightning over the dunes. Nature did not disappoint! We arrived to developing storms west of the park. A couple hours later, stormed were forming over the park as outflow from the western and southern storms moved into the area, lifting the air and generating storms, some severe! Nature is such an artist as several lightning strikes occurred over and near the park. A fun day and many of the guests had never been to White Sands. Needless to say, I bet they go back again! Enjoy the photos!

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