Storm Chase Details


Chase Date: May 24, 2008
Miles Logged: 1075
States Chased: NE
Milestones:
First plains chase

Severe Risks: SPC Outlooks

Chase Recap:

The Kansas and Nebraska area had been a hot bed for Tornadoes on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday the 21st, 22nd and 23rd. Johnathan Brouwer, Clay Stahlka and I made the decision to leave on the evening of the 23rd and head out for a Moderate Risk in Nebraska the next day (24th) and then a moderate risk in Iowa on the 25th.

I left Lansing around 10pm on the 23rd and made it to Fort Wayne right around Midnight. We hit the road and drove over to 65, and then up to I-80. We took I-80 all the way through Illinois and Iowa throughout the night. We stopped between Davenport and Des Moines for breakfast at a very small diner that had good food. We managed to make it all the way out to Omaha around lunch time and kept driving. We made it out to Lincoln and made the decision to drop south, and also grab a bite to eat. We stopped off at a Panera and utilized their wireless.

The cap was holding, and was expected to break. At around 3pm the Storm Prediction Center placed most of Kansas under a Tornado Watch. 20 minutes later they issued one for the entire eastern half of Nebraska. We ended up dropping south to Beatrice, NE. We then decided we needed to be a bit further west towards the dryline.

We headed west to Hebron, NE where we met up with Tim Purington at a gas station for awhile. Storms started to seemingly fire to the west of us along the dryline, and we headed towards Clay Center, but nothing ever really materialized. The cap never broke, and the 00Z OAX Sounding confirmed. Eventually we gave up and drove all the way to Norfolk, NE to be in position for the next morning in Iowa.