However, little did we know, our chasing fuel would not come in handy...
Once we arrived in Ponca City, KS, we decided to make a few stops to get a few essentials, such as workout videos, magazines, candy, and golf balls for the boys...We even made a special trip to a local golf course so that the boys could purchase a cheap, used golf club. We, then, made our way to a park where the boys could play putt putt and the girls could catch up on their R&R while we wait for storms to brew...
That didn't happen...So, about two hours later, we decided to check into our hotel and stay in the A&C to monitor the situation...
About four hours later, there was still nothing...well, at least nothing near us... It seemed as if all the storms were forming too far north of us or too far south...Just our luck, right?!? I think the consensus is that we brought the "Starkville force field" or the "Starkville bubble" with us...
Despite storms forming in NE, KS, southern OK, and TX, there were still no storms in our area. I would like to explain the reasoning to you; however, it is an in depth explanation on material we haven't covered yet in my meteorology courses. Renny and Mike even had trouble explaining it to us. What made this even more frustrating was that we could clearly see two boundaries perfectly set up for storm development...one being the dryline and the other being the cold front. Storms did like to form on these boundaries in other areas though... Major frustration...
Then, all of a sudden, there was a glimpse of hope! A new storm had developed to our north near Witchita, KS, approximately 45 minutes away! Perfect! So, we raced to van and began high tailing it toward the storm. We didn't get far before we realized radar was 20 minutes old due to the hotel's lack of awesome internet connection...How wonderful?!? Needless to say, we turned around and called it a bust day...
However, we did learn something cool today...We learned about a Three Body Scatter, which is basically a hail spike in a storm. This occurs when radar signals reflect off of large hail toward the ground, as well as back to the radar site. The radar signal that is received records the data from the hail stone; however, the signals that are reflect to the ground take much longer to reflect from the ground back to the stone and then all the way back to the radar site. This lag causes the radar to think there is something there, when in reality it was just the other signals taking a longer time to reflect back. As a result, a long spike is formed on radar; however, this just means there is large hail associated with the system. This was really neat to see on radar, especially during a "down" day. I am very glad we still learn things even when the weather is not cooperating with us. Thanks, Mike and Renny!
Although today was unsuccessful and disappointing, I am still proud of our team, especially Mike and Renny. We had our spot nailed. We were in the "best" environment for storms to form; and this was proven through the models, data, and observations. However, sometimes, even the smallest ingredient can prohibit the development of storms, and it just so happened to do that very thing to us today...It happens. But, we can't lose hope. We have great minds and positive attitudes on this chase that will lead us to the next big storm. I have full confidence in my peers and our professors that we will continue to do our best and find more great storms. And if we have another bust day, oh well! Tough cookies! I say this because I will know that it will not be because of something we did but only because of factors we cannot control.
So...in order to get us out of a funk...we decided to eat Italian for dinner! YUM! And, it was GOOD too! We all enjoyed our meals and each other's company. It was a good ending to an off day. And, what is even better is that tomorrow is other day because we all survive the rapture/end of the world (5-21-11)! Woohoo! Celebrate! (Not than anyone believed this anyway lol)
Tomorrow, we will brief at 9:30a.m. to discuss our itinerary. Although the potential for severe weather has shifted east toward Iowa, Missouri, and the Arkansas, it looks like we will stick around the eastern edge of the Kansas/Oklahoma region due to safe chasing reasons. The Iowa/Missouri/Arkansa region is not the best environment for chasing; therefore, it will probably be best for us to stay put, especially since it looks like this is where we will be for Monday and Tuesday as well.
Keep us in your prayers, as well as those affected by the tornadoes today. Stay tuned!
INSIDE JOKES (from yesterday and today): Frogs, Rib eating competitions, "If we don't like it, it is Matt's fault," "I know how you can tell what state you are in... If you walk out side and it smells bad, you are in Kansas; if you walk outside and there are sketchy people, you are in Oklahoma; if you walk outside and everyone is wearing cowboy hats, you are in Texas; and if you walk outside and there is a tornado, you are in Colorado"...More to come!
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