Moving south-southeastward from the southeastern Great Plains to the “Palo Pinto Mountains” (a northern extension of the Hill Country, but with much older limestone more common to eastern Kansas and northwestern Missouri), this strengthening supercell provided multiple opportunities to witness its splendid structure behind quintessential Texas foregrounds. Here, a field of native prairie … [Read more...]
Tornadic Supercell Tower
Never does the grandeur and splendor of the High Plains sky manifest as fully as when firmly under command of a tornadic supercell, visible across the entire updraft and from the bottom of the tornado through anvil high overhead. For lifelong storm observers, this very view is the object of dreams, realized rarely, and when it finally appears, appreciated with indescribable depths of reverence. … [Read more...]
Twilight Sky Swirl
Processing the energy of a high-yield nuclear bomb, capable of protracted destruction in multiple ways (hail, lightning, floods, severe wind, tornadoes), a supercell like this commands attention as much for is deceptively graceful beauty as its manifest danger. Smoothly curving cloud streaks trace air movement as condensed water vapor flows along low streamlines, ice crystals sweeping on high, … [Read more...]
South-Side Spinner
Southward-sagging boundaries generally are the bane of storm observers, for the cool (north) side tends to undercut the supercell, keeping its tornado potential limited to none. Not here! In this case, the storm right-moved southward in step with the boundary at about 5–10 knots, before both ultimately stalled, after producing at least three tornadoes. Yes, the boundary and its ribbon of … [Read more...]
Roadless Rope
A pretty little west Texas tornado “ropes out” near the end of its lifespan, after traversing remote mesquite range many miles from any public roads. No person was harmed in the atmosphere’s making of this vortex. Jackrabbits, rattlesnakes, and mesquite bushes may have been, however. The bent-back old updraft, cleaving off the back side of the supercell, had eroded to a ragged nub, and the … [Read more...]
Smoky Duster
Dust from west Texas and New Mexico blew into the area behind a vigorous, synoptically forced dryline that passed through during the midmorning hours. Unfortunately, so did the very low-humidity boundary layer characteristic of the that side of intense drylines. As strong winds and dry conditions continued, over 100 wildfires erupted across the state. Though at least three of them were closer, … [Read more...]
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