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 Our target was Salina, Kansas. With a long drive ahead of us we discussed our plan to go to Salina as it would be the last chance for us to get data via a digital cell phone signal. But as we entered Kansas City around 9:30 a.m. we thought our chase territory would end up being to the NW of Salina.
Driving west on I-70 at about 11:45 a.m. we were stopped on the highway as they temporarily closed the road while a car fire was being put out. This set us back about a half our. Our goal was to be in Salina by 1 p.m., but it looked like we wouldn't get there quite that soon. While driving west we encountered some of the most intense winds in central Kansas. Sustained winds at nearby reporting stations were at around 30 mph with gusts into the 40s. Keeping the vehicle on the road was a challenge. Straw was flying everywhere. A small hay field was building up on the Suburban's antennas. Once we entered our base target of Salina at 1:35, we stopped to fill up on gas, got data and talked to Chris Gullikson on the phone. With all that we decided to head toward Stockton, KS where it was west of the sun/cloud line and east of the dryline. It seemed like a good central location to relocate.
On our way to Stockton at about 2:30 p.m., near the city of Lincoln, Chris gave us another call and informed us that a cumulus field had developed about 10 miles west of Hays, KS. So with that said, we dropped back down to I-70 and headed for Hays.
At 3:45 p.m. we arrived near the city of Victoria where we could see a cell going up. We exited at Victoria and went south in persuit. As we did Peggy noticed another cell further south-east of the initial developing cell. This one had a much more defined updraft tower and just looked to be the better option. Our goal was to head south and then east to get closer, and then follow the cell to the NE, which was it's mean motion. As we attempted to get closer, smaller storms had popped up all around us. Large rain drops and clouds started to obscure our visibility. Unfortunately we couldn't find a route east until we went as far as Loretta. This put the cell far ahead of us. Our first move was a bad one.
Heading back up to Victoria we could see a cell to our north that had a warning issued for it. Peggy didn't think we would ever catch these cells but didn't mention it until after the fact. After all, we drove all the way to Kansas, we were not about to give up so easily. We tailed the cell north to near the city of Emmeram, KS. The cluster of storms around us were not very defined, classic supercells. They were a bit mushy, and it was hard to find any wall clouds associated with anything. About this time Chris Gullikson gave us another call and told us that the cell was on the Ellis/Rooks county line, just south of Plainville, KS, moving NE at 40. Peggy and I planned a route to the NE to intercept the cell near the city of Covert in Osborne County. About 5 p.m. time we started to see more structure, lowerings and whatnot, perhaps even an obscured wall cloud. According to storm reports 1.75" hail was reported just to our north by about 5 miles near the city of Natoma. While this was happening we ran into a snag when we drove down a very poorly maintained road, which appeared to be some sort of access road to an oil field. It must have been recently graded. It was very flat but the combination of clay with a fresh coat or rain was no match for Peggy's 4 wheel drive Suburban. Most of the 1/2 mile to mile stretch of road we were driving at a 45 degree angle with 2 tires in the shallow ditch. We were able to make it out, but now fallen back behind the cell. We had to make up some time.
We finally made it to the Covert area. Here Chris gave us a call and told us that the National Weather Service had issued a tornado warning for this cell, and it had now slowed to about 20 MPH. Visually we could see the metamorphasis over from Classic Supercell to an LP cell. The skies around the cell seemed to clear out a bit as it begain to steal the energy from nearby cells. We were on the best show in the area. As it evolved from a classic stage into the LP stage it took on a horseshoe shape. It was at this point where Chris gave us a call again and informed us that it showed a real nice classic hook to the storm, around 60 DBZ on radar, and had been the cause for a tornado warning. He also mentioned he thought it was a "right mover".
The cell began to really take on some very defined features. Banding, a very large and beautiful beaver's tail, a perfect, erect updraft tower, mammatus bubbling below the anvil, etc. It was just gorgeous. The updraft tower at times had a nice helical twist or "Barber Pole" to it. The Beaver's tail was so long and pronounced that it looked to be the same length as the updraft was high. The whole storm was very tight and compact with little precipitation below. We could see some hail shafts but that was about it. As we stopped, we could see that the entire supercell was rotating. Occasional lowerings from poorly defined inflow areas or wall clouds peaked our interest from time to time but nothing that I would definatively say was a funnel.
The chase ended near the city of Esbon as the sun set about 7:30. As Peggy observed, the storm went through a constant state of change. It showed us just about everything but a tornado. This was my first LP storm, and well worth it.
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