Chasing the Weather – MSU storm class days 8-11 update

COLUMBUS, Mississippi (WCBI) – After seeing an EF-U tornado Wednesday 5/24, we saw another brief tornado Friday, 5/26.

FRIDAY 5/26 – We began the day in Amarillo, TX, before heading west back into New Mexico. The weather pattern once again pointed to more active weather in parts of eastern New Mexico later in the day. Storms began developing by mid-afternoon and slowly moved eastward toward the NM/TX state line.

We chased a storm near a small town of Pleasant Hill, NM later in the afternoon. Like previous days, low-level wind shear was lacking; however, deep layer shear was just sufficient enough to allow for storm organization & structure.

Later in its life cycle, it began producing multiple wall clouds to our northwest. We observed rotation in each of these, but at this point in the storm’s cycle, a tornado had not been produced.

In the above-pictured stage, one might be fooled into thinking a tornado was in progress. Observing the storm constantly, there was actually minimal rotation at this point, and the apparent “tornado” is actually scud, or condensation clouds moving upward in the updraft.

Minutes before sunset, a brief tornado actually occurred. The above image shows a clear wall cloud with a debris cloud on the ground, indicating a tornado…even without a full condensation funnel present. This only lasted around 15-20 seconds before lifting. Thankfully, this also occurred in an open field!

SATURDAY 5/27 – We departed from Dalhart, TX heading toward either northeastern Colorado or southeastern Wyoming for potential storms later in the day. We initially targeted Cheyenne, Wyoming, but later indications suggested we should target Fort Morgan, CO. Storms developed on schedule and produced pronounced mammatus clouds and even a brief wall cloud.

We followed the storms into southwestern Nebraska Saturday evening, observing a significant shelf cloud…pictured below.

SUNDAY, 5/27 – There was seemingly random severe weather potential across the Plains States, so instead of “gambling” on a storm target, we chose to ease into South Dakota. There, we toured the Badlands and Mt. Rushmore – incredible scenery and history!