2012 Storm Chase 4 - April 26th - Rarely Severe

It's not often that I get to chase anything severe on the Western Slope.  Sure, there are a few events per year, but my schedule is often in conflict.  This day in late April 2012 was no exception.  I was working news that day and was trying to ignore the probability of severe weather.  The threat was minimal: probabilistic for damaging winds (SPC outlook).

Here's a look at the upper level pattern for the day:  A shortwave rode the base of the larger trough in the northwest...

Though there was some nice support aloft, at the surface... things were a different story.  By mid afternoon, the T/Td was 73º/33º.  Hardly worth getting too excited about.  Regardless, a line of storms formed along a wave in the mid-levels and rode north along the Uncompahgre Plateau.  As it reached the edge, near I-70, it appeared as if there would be a decent wind threat to the I-70 corridor from Mack to Fruita.

I was watching at work while finishing up whatever I was reporting on that day when the first high-wind report of 74 mph came in...

2230

74

5 NW MACK

MESA

CO

3927

10894

THUNDERSTORM OUTFLOW WIND GUST AND BRIEF HEAVY RAIN (GJT)

My news director understood my love of severe weather and quickly dispatched me, though the storm was moving fast and already moving through the irigated valley and into the desert.  My main goal was to shoot damage anyway.  The first report prompted a severe thunderstorm warning, the first on the Western Slope in 2012 if I'm not mistaken. 

I discovered some downed tree branches near Loma and took a little video so I could haul back to the station and have it on the 6PM newscast.
 

(mobile phone image)

And that was pretty much it.  The storm climbed the Book Cliffs and then eventually dissipated.  Still, it was nice to get to chase for work!

STATS
Mileage: 31
2012YTD Mileage: 152
States: Colorado
SPC Risk: Probabilistic
Max Hail: None
Tornadoes: None
Other Phenomena: Wind Damage
Chase Partner: None
Applicable Mesoscale Discussions: None
Applicable Weather Watches: None
Storm Reports for April 26th 

Detail Map:

Dann

2011 Storm Chase 12 - June 30th - Blue Boxed In The Desert

Of course, for the first severe weather day of the year, I'd be at work.  Couldn't it have happened on my day off?  It was a Thursday and I was due to report.  I had spent the previous day on a couple of convective investigations (report here) and the setup was even better as the dynamics reached the area.

The Storm Prediction Center had the Western Slope under a slight risk for the day.  By late morning, a mesoscale discussion (#1446) had been issued.  A severe thunderstorm watch (#576) soon followed.  If I recall correctly, I had a quick report to take care of in the morning and then had convinced my news director to let me chase. 

As storms began to erupt over eastern Utah, Drew Wilkins accompanied me west in the news car.  A particularly severe storm was already to our northwest, so we drove north on highway 139 to get closer.  It was moving pretty quickly and I knew we wouldn't be able to get ahead of it, but I also knew that it was dumping hail.  As soon as we started to get close to Douglas Pass, the roadside was covered in hail. 

We drove all the way to the top of the pass where the hail had dropped the air temperature into the low 40s.  (It was in the 80s in the valley).  Snow plows were out on the road, clearing the hail and the small debris flows which had managed to make it across the highway. Here's a shot of the storm on radar (click for a larger view)

I would have liked to follow the storm farther, but we were limited by time, so we began to head back.  Once we got back out into the desert and had mobile reception, I got the first radar scan in about an hour and a half.  A nice cell was developing right over the city and there we were out in the desert.  We made haste to it and it had a nice, strong base; probably the most robust storm base I have seen on the Western Slope.  

 Mobile phone image:

It was moving rapidly and dumped some hail and heavy rain over the city before moving up onto the Book Cliffs.  We gave up the chase and headed back to the station as I had to be back and have everything put together for the 5PM news.  All in all, I felt very lucky that I could go do the thing I love most in the world during a normal work day.  Not many are so lucky!  Granted, the weather out here is tame compared to the plains, but this was a big deal for us. 

Here's the quick report that we put together (it contains some of the video we took): 
http://www.kjct8.com/news/28425446/detail.html

As an aside, it was awesome to take Drew storm chasing.  He got to experience the "hailshred" for the first time, which I was also excited about. 

Map:

STATS
Mileage: 115
2011YTD Mileage: 1602
States: Colorado
SPC Risk: SLIGHT
Max Hail: 0.75"
Tornadoes: None
Other Phenomena:  None
Applicable Mesoscale Discussions: #1447,  #1449, #1452, #1455, #1457
Applicable Weather Watches: Severe Thunderstorm Watch #576, Severe Thunderstorm Watch #577
Storm Reports for June 30th

Dann.

Denver Weather, Severe Probs, and Australian Tornado

Last night at 8PM (MDT), the temperature outside my apartment was 20ºF. Two hours later, it was 36ºF (10PM). While KAPA had been in the 30's all afternoon and into the evening, other stations such as KBKF and KDEN were still inverted. I had made pleas to the universe in general yesterday to have the southwesterlies break the inversion just for a spell. For a brief period last night, they did just that. It was down in the 20's again this morning when I awoke.

We had a brief burst of snow here near Centennial Airport today. I did see some cumulus this afternoon which made apparent the instability today. It made me think of much warmer times ...

Speaking of warmer times, I'm keeping my eyes on the trough portrayed by the models that should plow its way through the south this coming weekend. The models aren't quite lined up yet and vary a little run to run, so I'm not going to call anything yet. Indications are that the Gulf of Mexico will open up, though.

Here's a look at the CAPE on the WRF 84hr. (Friday evening)



Current tropical activity:





Looks like Billy might make a name for himself. After an initial landfall in Australia, he's emerging out into favorable strengthening conditions. We'll have to keep an eye on him.

Satellite imagery used with permission; courtesy of IPS Meteostar Inc. Click for larger images.

And finally, a nice tornadic storm is caught on camera in Australia:
Link to large picture.
Discussion on The Australian Severe Weather forum.
Canberra Times article.

Dann.