6000 Miles Later. Final Reflections.

First, I would like to say how lucky and how grateful that I am to my wonderful cousin, David. He made this trip possible for me, both financially and through his amazing storm forecasting and chasing ability.

This year we drove 6000 miles (including our trip out west), I got pulled over twice for speeding, got one ticket, saw two great storms and one incredible tornado.



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So now that it is over I have some stuff I would like to put into words, so bear with me.

I am not a religious person. Spiritual, yes. Connected to Judaism, absolutely. But not religious. However, I can honestly say that I have never felt closer to god than I felt watching that tornado. I was awed and overwhelmed by its power and beauty. Upon seeing a couple of my photographs, people have jokingly remarked that the tornado looked like the "hand of god pointing his finger." It truly felt that way.  I felt absolutely powerless and small next to such a gloriously beautiful and destructive force.

Additionally, the beauty of the countryside was beyond compare in its extremes. The flat land of the Texas Panhandle and the beautiful rolling hills of northern Kansas and Nebraska were spectacular. I know that something greater and more powerful than me created these things.

Now, a reflection on relationships. In February of 2007 my grandfather died at the age of 96. Up until that time I had very little relationship with my cousins, David and Steven, beyond seeing each other at family gatherings. After my grandpa died and my grandmother moved north, and I moved back to New Jersey, we all saw each other a lot more frequently and began building a relationship. When Dave got  Porthos, Matt and I started going to the dog park every weekend for puppy play time. Then last year he asked me to go chasing, and although I thought I might be crazy, I went.  I was pleasantly surprised that Dave and I did not drive each other crazy. When he asked me again this year I was thrilled and flattered.  It's been both surprising and wonderful to realize that in addition to being cousins, we are friends. And this would make my grandfather so happy and so proud.

Chasing has opened up my eyes to a number of things, not the least of which is do not speed in Nebraska (even 5 miles over!) or through the small towns of Kansas. Lesson learned. I have been able to place my fear of these storms into words, and yet again I have been awed by the beauty that exists in this country and in nature. And the most important lesson of all: I have learned that family trumps all.

Day 7. And on the seventh day, we rested.

Upon waking up we discovered that the only stoms of any concern in the country were in Northern Illinois, much too far to get to and back from in time to get me to the airport.  So we decided to just relax. We met Ross (who was to be Dave's chase partner for the remainder of the trip) and Elke at the Cracker Barrel for breakfast and then headed over to Roger and Elke's house in Norman.

Since it was Elke's birthday we decided to cook a feast of Texas Mesquite grilled steak (grilled by a Texan!), grilled chicken, grilled veggies, macaroni salad, potatoes and chocolate cake. YUM.

Then we sat down and watched the video footage of monday's storm. It was still incredible.

Day 6. Sitting and Waiting.

Well, Day 6 was rather uneventful. Early on it looked as though we could get some strong storms in southeastern Nebraska so we set off south and stopped in Kearney, Nebraska. It was HOT. So hot, in fact, that no storms could initiate. At all. We sat in the car and watched the radar and the sky for several hours and finally called it at about 7 pm.

We set off for Norman, Oklahoma, knowing it would be a very long drive. We wanted to get there in time to chase with Dave's friend Ross the next day. So we drove and drove and finally pulled into our Super 8 at about 4am.

Day 5. The Sand Hills and a Storm in South Dakota

On day five we woke up at 5:45 am knowing we had a hell of a drive ahead of us if we wanted to be anywhere there might be a storm. We were heading to Winner, South Dakota. We got on the road at about seven and began heading northeast from Liberal. Dave took the first leg of driving up until Lexington, NE and I took the rest so he could forecast and navigate us through any potential storm and tough driving. 

After leaving Lexington we headed north from I-80 on Route 183 North through the easternmost part of the Nebraska Sand Hills. It was truly some of the most beautiful topography I've ever seen. There were farms on the hillsides. The grass blowing in the wind was magical. The layer of green on the hills looked soft to the touch. I was awed. And humbled. And I've looked and looked and can't find a decent picture online. Unfortunately we were in  get there mode so I didn't have time to stop and shoot any photos either.  Sigh. 

We crossed into South Dakota (my first time to the state!) and headed north toward Winner, South Dakota where we stopped for gas and caffeine at the 'Lil Feller gas station, market, and casino. Truly bizarre. And people have very odd accents here. 

Storms began bubbling up to the west of us and we wanted to get southeast in time for initiation.  So we started driving southeast on these 2 lane highways through the middle of nowhere in South Dakota. 

A cell popped up and looked promising, but it split and eventually died off. We crossed the Missouri River and found a place up on a hill to watch the storms come in. A second cell popped up right behind the first and did the same thing. But this time, one of the splits gained some momentum and turned into a large, high precipitation, supercell. Now, all supercells have some precipitation, but when it's a high precipitation supercell it's so much rain and hail that you can't see what's actually happening in the storm. 

Through the amazing navigation and forecasting skills of my cousin, he got us into the "notch" of the storm, an area close to the potentially tornadic area with little rain. It's the only place that you can see what's going on. We sat there for awhile while the storm headed toward us. It was raining pretty solidly and I was unable to get to my camera gear. The only photos I have of the cell were taken with my iPhone through the rainy and bug splattered windshield.

After leaving the notch we headed southeast through the hills of South Dakota with the storm to our west. We got caught in some of the outflow winds as we were driving away and the car was being tossed all over the road. There's something especially scary about driving on a skinny two lane bridge across the widest part of the Missouri River with 50 + mph winds hitting you broadside. I got the hell out of there FAST.  We circled the storm and decided to spend the night in Yankton, South Dakota. The storm we were chasing turned into a hell of an MCS with an incredible lightning show.

Days 3 and 4. Nuffin.

Well, on days 3 and 4 we weren't very successful.

On Tuesday we drove from Dodge City to Hebron, Nebraska expecting to see some magic. All signs from the Storm Prediction Center and elsewhere pointed toward southeastern Nebraska and Northern Kansas. We got kind of a late start and headed north, quickly. We were trying to get there by the time the storms initiated, which looked to be around four o'clock. We got there and sat. And sat. And sat. And sat some more. Then we got ice cream. And then decided that nothing was happening so we headed down to Salina, Kansas where we stayed in the nicest Super 8 Motel EVER. Seriously, if you are ever in Salina, stay there.

After waking up early-ish in Salina Dave analyzed the data and decided that our best bet would be to head to the Texas Panhandle near Dalhart. So we drove and drove and drove. And nothing happened. So we drove back to Liberal, Kansas where we spent the night at the lovely Quality Inn with plans to wake up early on Thursday to drive to our target area, which was a million miles away in South Dakota.

Oh What A Perfect Day

What a day! We woke up around nine and decided to head west toward southeastern Colorado to try and get on a storm possibility out there. So after getting breakfast, packing up the car, and figuring out a route, we wound up getting on the road around 11am. 

We were trying to get to our target area of Campo, Colorado pretty quickly so I was hauling ass out west. We stopped in Ulysses, Kansas to gas up, use the restroom and get some food. After leaving the gas station I saw flashing lights behind me and realized that I was being pulled over for going 15 miles per hour over the speed limit. Fifty in a thirty-five. The best part of that was I wasn't even in a hurry to get to the storm. I had to pee and saw a McDonald's so I was rushing to get there!  Oops. 

After being detained by the cop for around 15 minutes, we finally were able to get to McDonald's for food and bathroom since we knew it might be awhile before we had another chance. 

We continued heading west on Highway 160 toward the Colorado border. As soon as I was out of Ulysses I started doing 90 in a 55. I knew we needed to get there and would be cutting it awfully close. The storm actually produced two short tornadoes while we were still en route, but there wasn't much we could do about that. 


We finally made it to the storm and found a good place to sit and wait. After sitting on a dirt farm road for awhile, a wall cloud appeared. And then, a funnel cloud. It kept trying and trying to produce a tornado, but it couldn't get it's act together (Though, there were reports that this funnel actually was a brief tornado. We're still waiting for confirmation on this). 

We stayed with it awhile longer and decided to leave to head east to set up for Tuesday since we had a long way to go. We began heading south on Route 287 when we noticed lots of chasers on the side of the road. So we decided to stop. And sure enough, there was a eye above us that was rotating. It was like a this rotating donut of clouds.  And then the glossy white funnel started snaking its way out of the clouds. It started off really skinny and curvy and just got fatter and started rotating faster and faster. 

It was at this point I realized that I was really close to this thing and my heart started pounding and I was shaking. The adrenaline rush was like nothing I've ever experienced. 

Then the tornado got really pointy on the ground and debris started fanning up around it.

It kept getting fatter and fatter, and for a brief while there were multiple vortexes within the main tornado.

And the storm then crossed the road behind us and narrowly missed a farmhouse and barn.

We kept having to move up as the storm got closer to us. Since we were only an eighth to a quarter mile away, we were feeling the heavy winds of the outer rotation. At certain points it was difficult to stand up and move. Tumbleweeds (they actually exist!!!) were flying around everywhere and the dust and dirt was stinging any exposed skin.

As the tornado moved away from us it became wrapped in rain and was very difficult to see for awhile. When it emerged from the rain it was alongside a double rainbow. It was stunning.

Once we thought the storm was finished we decided to head south to get out of its path and headed toward Boise City, Oklahoma. After passing through town I look over to my left and see something in the clouds and rain. I say to my Dave, "uh, is that...?" It was another tornado. This time we were about seven to eight miles away.  We waited for that one to dissipate and continued heading southeast to try and avoid getting hit by the core of the storm. We decided to stop and assess the situation and figure out the best way to avoid getting walloped by two storms. The storm we were on was still churning away with the sun setting behind it. It was truly breathtaking.  This is what a super cell looks like. 

After snapping a few (zillion) pictures we continued east until we realized that we were about to get hit with some serious rain, hail and winds. We managed to wind our way through country roads until we were out of danger. It was pretty stressful driving.


We stopped for dinner in Liberal, KS and then headed to Dodge City to spend the night.


What an incredible day. I can't even put into words the emotions and excitement I felt at seeing my first real tornado. It was truly remarkable. And this tornadophobe wasn't even scared. I was awed by the power and the beauty. Fear wasn't even part of the equation while standing so close to this unbelievable sight. The tornado was on the ground for almost 25 minutes.  


I'm truly blessed and grateful to have been given the opportunity to see such power. How lucky am I?

Year 2, Day 1

So, here I am again. Posting from the lovely Days Inn in Woodward, Oklahoma. After last year's trip I was ready to do it again. No question. But, then I got engaged and did not want to spend the money since I was also spending money on a wedding. Well, everything worked out and here I am. Money wound up not being an issue and I was able to go again. 

After driving for many, many hours across the country, we arrived in East Norman, Oklahoma at around midnight on Saturday night. After chatting with Roger and Elke for a little while bed starting calling my name so I got some much needed rest, albeit too little.

Our first official "chase day" was yesterday, and we did not get to do much chasing. The technology was not cooperating and neither was the weather. So we decided to head west to set up for day two. There was a thunderstorm to our northeast that was producing quite a bit of lightning so we had a nice show.