While Elke and I still were eating lunch in Roswell, this storm formed on the open desert plains north of the Capitan Mountains to our NW, then became a supercell right before it scraped across the east side of El Capitan, evolving into a dark, menacing, heavy-precipitation (HP) brute. We first intercepted the storm there and stair-stepped ahead of it steadily as it churned southeastward past Roswell and Artesia, dropping giant hail that we managed to avoid. Six hours after we first noticed its anvil from that lunchtime window, we found this sweeping vantage near Carlsbad, looking back at a beautiful process: the forward flank at right, main drum-shaped core with embedded mesocyclone in the middle, and rear flank at left. Then the storm got closer, another one formed to its S and merged, and we made a retreat to the west side of it all for sunset photography.
14 NE Carlsbad, NM (8 Jun 14) Looking NW
32.5306, -104.0354Deep HP Churn
While Elke and I still were eating lunch in Roswell, this storm formed on the open desert plains north of the Capitan Mountains to our NW, then became a supercell right before it scraped across the east side of El Capitan, evolving into a dark, menacing, heavy-precipitation (HP) brute. We first intercepted the storm there and stair-stepped ahead of it steadily as it churned southeastward past Roswell and Artesia, dropping giant hail that we managed to avoid. Six hours after we first noticed its anvil from that lunchtime window, we found this sweeping vantage near Carlsbad, looking back at a beautiful process: the forward flank at right, main drum-shaped core with embedded mesocyclone in the middle, and rear flank at left. Then the storm got closer, another one formed to its S and merged, and we made a retreat to the west side of it all for sunset photography.
14 NE Carlsbad, NM (8 Jun 14) Looking NW
32.5306, -104.0354