A supercell sliding across the southeastern outskirts of Lubbock picked up a little extra moisture in its inflow region thanks to the power plant. Mind you, the amount contributed by the steam cloud was an incomprehensibly tiny, inconsequential fraction of that contained in the storm, but it still made for an interesting perspective on an otherwise wet, messy supercell. The plume made a convenient tracer for the direction, tilt and speed of the storm’s inflow. From a more-distant, slightly more-eastern perspective, the power plant might not be readily visible, and the steam plume could be mistaken for a tornado by an inexperienced or over-exuberant observer. Of course, the plume was not rotating, though the dark, low wall cloud to its west-northwest was…slowly. This was the only steam the storm gained from here on, literally or figuratively. The steam cloud soon turned toward me, signaling an outflow surge that undercut the mesocyclone, which never did produce a tornado.
3 SW Buffalo Springs TX (24 May 19) Looking NW
33.5094, -101.7281Mesocyclone Gaining Steam
A supercell sliding across the southeastern outskirts of Lubbock picked up a little extra moisture in its inflow region thanks to the power plant. Mind you, the amount contributed by the steam cloud was an incomprehensibly tiny, inconsequential fraction of that contained in the storm, but it still made for an interesting perspective on an otherwise wet, messy supercell. The plume made a convenient tracer for the direction, tilt and speed of the storm’s inflow. From a more-distant, slightly more-eastern perspective, the power plant might not be readily visible, and the steam plume could be mistaken for a tornado by an inexperienced or over-exuberant observer. Of course, the plume was not rotating, though the dark, low wall cloud to its west-northwest was…slowly. This was the only steam the storm gained from here on, literally or figuratively. The steam cloud soon turned toward me, signaling an outflow surge that undercut the mesocyclone, which never did produce a tornado.
3 SW Buffalo Springs TX (24 May 19) Looking NW
33.5094, -101.7281