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May 12-13, 2000 After a full year of planning, plotting, and preparing, MESO's Chase 2K got off to a glorious start. Geoff Mackley and Chris Howell were the first to arrive in Kansas City, MO on May 11. They arrived to a severe thunderstorm warning and a tornado watch, which was quickly upgraded to a tornado warning, and a twister touched down not 8 miles from the hotel they were staying at. Sadly, it was one of those high-precip deals, hitting after dark, so there's no good footage or pictures of it; just the wonderful satisfaction of being on hand for one of Mother Nature's temper tantrums. Nancy Bose had to leave her home in New York at about 4 a.m. in order to get to the airport in Newburgh in time to catch her flight out, and left a drizzly New York behind. Shortly after making her connecting flight in Chicago, she was shocked out of a light snooze at 35,000 feet to see not one but THREE supercells in the distance. The shots made by a hastily grabbed camcorder are available for viewing at www.mcwar.org, www.allandetrich.com, and soon to be viewed on www.post-gazette.com. Brian McNoldy was driving in from Fort Collins, CO, and surviving the Denver morning rush hour, got to Wichita at around 3pm on the 12. Up until this point, things had been going almost too smoothly....a few adventures, a few great shots, and everyone was where they should be when they should be. However, those cells Nancy shot were soon to have an affect on the still-in-transit Bill Steigerwald (Pittsburgh Post Gazette) and MESO Media Director Allan Detrich. Bill ended up stranded in Chicago while severe weather pounded the state of Illinois, and Allan was equally stranded for the same reason in St. Louis. Eventually, they both got to Wichita by early morning of the 13th. The immense joy of reunion was quickly dissapated when looking at the short term forecast. Realizing that the team faced at least a few days of disgustingly fair weather, we used the day to run down elusive computer hardware to repair one of the laptop computers, but not without first experiencing the madness of the roads and traffic in Wichita. After a hearty mid-afternoon lunch in Cheney, KS,we went on to Medicine Lodge, KS....a great favorite, and traditional base camp for MESO. This is where we all sit now, the press guys sending off their postings, Chris and Brian doing their forecasts and data gathering, and Nancy pounding away at the keyboard. There is a possibility for moderate thunderstorms on the 14 in the TX/OK panhandle region. Conditions and indices are not ideal, but are far superior to what we've seen recently. The biggest factors that work again us are the lack of a potent trigger (surface is all the forcing we'll get) and the presense of a respectable cap. Basically, expectations aren't too high for the near future, but we're ready for anything.
Nancy Bose May 14, 2000 One of the many advantages of convoy chasing is that when you have nothing else, you have each other. There are tales to be told, laughs to be had, things to be seen...Wherever we go out here, there are things to learn and adventures to be had. The sky is HUGE out here, and our delight in having such a magnificent ground level view of all that is happening above is one we cherish; yes, even when it's NICE. There is never "nothing happening" above. In the presence of oppressively fair weather and a slim-to-none chance of any severe weather occurring, we decided to take on the roles of tourists. As usual, the forecast team gathered and analyzed their data throughout yesterday and today. The persistent High pressure "over our shoulder" and the impossible cap, no trigger, and cool temps dictated that today would be an off day. We cleaned out the vehicles and checked their fluids, then charted a path to Dodge City ... in the hopes of catching a Wild West show at a guest ranch prominently featured on the Kansas State Department of Commerce web page. When we got there we followed a road that was deeply rutted and obviously not well traveled to find ourselves dead-ended staring deeply into the eyes of a rather large buffalo. Next to his pen, a large donkey gazed quizzically at our vehicles as if to say, "and they call ME a jackass!" Turns out the place was closed 'til after Memorial Day. There was some talk about going to Boot Hill, some talk of going to Fort Dodge, and other interests in visiting the Dodge City NEXRAD site, but one thing we can all readily agree on is getting something to eat. That's exactly what we did. A Kansas-style buffet won out over exploring the abundant American history in the area. We're only human, and let me tell you, we can EAT when the opportunity presents itself. We're looking at that slight risk of strong thunderstorms east of us for tomorrow, a situation we ordinarily would not look too anxiously at were we not absolutely flat out from severe weather deprivation. This is part and parcel of the chase game, and why we insist that people who chase with us are in love with the entire process. And on the up side, we're learning LOTS from each other and eating extremely well. May 15, 2000 There was a minuscule chance of there being some sloppy HP cells develop to our east today, but most felt that they weren't worth going for even if they were close (and they weren't). Instead, we opted for doing dry runs of launching OZ, the camera and housing designed and built by Allan Detrich and Steve Chambers. We have high hopes for OZ, and think that it will prove to be a valuable tool in filming severe weather events when conditions are too volatile for manned cameras. However, until today, we had never even attempted to deploy OZ, so we took a road out of town to a secluded cow path and prepared to do a few practices... getting OZ from its housing on the Isuzu Trooper, and anchoring it. We were fortunate enough to run into a local land owner who was more than receptive to allowing us access to his acreage... 1500 acres of incredible pristine land. Our practice runs involved each person on the deployment team with a set task. Our initial attempt was decent....1minute 5 seconds was trimmed down to a rapid 45 seconds with only a few tries. We were quite pleased with how easily the deployment went, and relieved to discover how firm the anchoring was. Having accomplished our primary objective, we were left with an afternoon of fair weather, sunshine and access to land that begged to be explored. Now Allan's SUV was born to offroading, but the minivan? Our Rocky Mountain boy, Brian McNoldy, needed very little encouragement (and was receptive to very little discouragement) and soon was piloting the Chevy Venture off-road in the tracks of Allan's Trooper....over terrain that would make a Land Rover pause. It was a glorious afternoon, as good as a fair weather day can get. Other than a few oil wells and Bill Steigerwald calling in press dispatches on his cell phone from the middle of a buffalo wallow, the views were much like what they must have been 500 years ago. Conditions for storm chasing have been improving all week, and we may actually give chase tomorrow ... but we are keying on Wednesday. We're all anxious, and beyond ready; the wait for big weather has been handled well by one and all, but like the atmosphere, we need something HUGE now to re-establish our balance. We are, more than ever, ready to roll. We spent a somewhat quiet evening "in the house" in Medicine Lodge, Chris and Brian grinding out and analzying CIN, CAPE, LI, cloud cover, and did a hand drawn skewT, Allan editing footage, Bill talking to his editor, and Geoff marveling in yet another American cultural experience: professional wrestling. I did my thing, trying to keep up with the forecasters, banging away at the keyboard, running back and forth to the van, and standing sentry over the fleet against a recent Bubba invasion here at the hotel. As Geoff would say, "only in America!" Nancy Bose May 16 We're in a very confusing weather pattern....the juicy air is under an impossible cap. There was no clear cut path to the storms, but after much MUCH analyzing, we decided our best shot was to scoot north into NW Kansas, putting ourselves in a position to approach the storms we thought would be popping about 6pm in Nebraska. By about 5, our forecasting team came to the conclusion that IF there were storms in Nebraska, they would break well after dark....not a good time to be chasing around on unfamiliar roads. We decided to return home, and it turned out to be a good call. This is what chasing is all about, girls and boys, and this is why we tell newbies time and time again that you have to be as in love with the process as you are with the prize. We consider today a success, because our data was sound, our deployment well founded, our decision to abort; sane. Most of us here would rather be here doing our thing than anywhere in the world right now. Even though the luck factor has not played out, the cell connections are horrible for some reason, and the air conditioner in our room broke just as the warm weather started to return. There is never "nothing happening" in the sky out here this time of year. Even though there weren't any attractive storms, the clouds teased us all day, and the sky acted as our text book. Some of the highlights were Nancy's sales presentation to a desk clerk at a hotel, which resulted in a free room for about 1/2 hour and a land line with which to confirm our data....it often helps to have a used car salesman along! Though it may not be a highlight, another interesting occurrence happened. Chris Howell was stricken with a touch of food poisoning that nearly landed him in the hospital with dehydration. But Chris is a trooper, and rallied in time to chase north with the rest of the team. Bill Steigerwald, our accompanying reporter, is being a real boon to moral. We're all sure Bill is under the gun to report on some real action, but has shown good spirits and staunch fortitude in the absence of anything really worth reporting. Geoff has been eyeing OZ and asked Allan if it were possible to make one large enough to house a human. Those of you who don't know Geoff (videographer for Discovery Channel), you may thing he's joking. He isn't. Brian is handling his first year as MESO's president with valor. Its a tough job, as we hold him personally responsible for the lack of severe weather to date. The job of any team leader is to meet the needs, wants and desires of the team in so far as it applies to the mission statement. C'mon Brian...where are the storms! And Allan keeps shooting away with his camera, able to make art out of almost any photographic opportunity. The digital camera this year has been a marvelous tool, and we have grown to love it. Tomorrow, we're going north to escape the cloud cover, and hope to get lucky. We're going to be mobile all day and will cover quite a distance...possibly going into Nebraska if conditions indicate. In closing, we did our good deed for the day. Just before we did our turn around, two other chasers from Ohio saw us, and though we were hot, tired, disappointed, hungry, and eager for base camp, we took the time to share our data and technology and steer them not so much in the right direction (where's that?) but away from a course that was sure to lead to disaster; night chasing in Nebraska. Yeah, it took a few extra minutes, but it save these guys time, money, frustration, and possibly a windshield. Hopefully tomorrow, we'll hit pay dirt. But for what its worth, if I were to return to New York with nothing more than the times shared and the things learned thus far, I would have to count this year as a resounding success.
Nancy K. Bose May 17 We had some good remote assistance this morning, and Chris and Brian gathered data until late last night; our decision was to make a mad dash from Medicine Lodge to just north of the Nebraska border. Our cell connections have been lousy all along, and it doesn't seem to matter who's cell phone, service, computer or access number we use. Nor is it related to where we dial from. Data acquisition on the road has totally SUCKED. After nearly a week of waiting patiently, we were rewarded tremendously! First off, Bill Tabor (good friend and fellow chaser) hooked up with us early this am. Bill has a signal booster on his cell phone, and he's been the only chaser we've met this week that was able to maintain a connection long enough to grap a radar image. Bill joined the convoy, and we headed north to just north of the Nebraska state line, and when there, headed west. In retrospect, some here feel that after a week of too strong a cap, perhaps the cap today was too weak. Storms popped up everywhere. Even Bill's data feed was growing iffy, and we had to either bluff or beg a land line a few times along the way. It was magnificent. There were tornadoes, and we were within view of at least one, but from the wrong side....from our vantage point it was hidden by a rain shaft. We caught a few wall clouds and funnels, and superb RFD(rear flank downdraft) and skies as dark as midnight. We were ecstatic, and the wind finally hitting us in the face, lightening crackling over head, and a sky boiling with energy and action. The storms were so numerous, and moving quickly, that it was impossible NOT to do a little core punching if one was to make any forward momentum. So the MESO fleet was christened with a little hail here and there. A few in our group were disappointed that we just missed that beauty in Lincoln County, but most of us were delighted to have caught what we did. We'll be posting pix tomorrow on the web page, as we've been on the road since 9am...and its 11pm now. We're kinda up in the air about where to go tomorrow....the area of interest is kind of far to trot for a slight risk. However, ya never know. We'll check the data in the am. Friday, we're back in Wichita to meet the rest of the team...it'll be great to see everyone again, and wonderful to have McWar. I think we'll be spending time in Texas, but its too early by alot to tell. Nancy Bose May 18 ANNOUNCEMENT: We updated our web page with the pix from May 15, 16, 17 and 18. Go to www.mcwar.org, Gallery, then Chase 2000. A more expansive photographic display is at http://www.allandetrich.com/2000work.htm">www.allandetrich.com. AFTERMATH: We are out on some little heard of road in Brady, Nebraska. We have been trailing the damage path of one of the tornadoes that hit here yesterday. Though reports of an F4 are circulating, we tend to think the damage is more indicative of an F1. Most of the damage was rooves, power lines, trees....except for the home of Sue Taylor. We're at Sue's now, and her home collapsed in last nights tornado here. One out building remains somewhat intact, but the house is totalled. Sue lost the house and everything in it, as well as her cars. Other than some stitches and a black eye, you would never know that Sue had just lost everything she owns. She's walking around, taking tally, adding up what can be saved, and the only thing that is haunting her is that her cats litter of kittens was swept away. Sue and her daughter were in the front of her house. The first indication she had of the torndo was looking out her front window and seeing it virtually at her front door. They had no time to make it to the basement...and in this case, it was a good thing, as the house collased INTO the basement. Unfortunately, Sue had no insurance. Her loss is a total. We're taking up a collection for her amongst us now, but I'm going to ask anyone who feels so inclined to help this lady out. I just spoke with Deb Bertrand, the Emergency Management DIRECTOR here, based in North Platte, NE. Please send any donations to
Deb Bertand and mention that they are to help out Sue Taylor in Brady, NE. This is the somber side of what we do. Sue was an animal lover, and though most of her livestock remains intact, their food, her milking supplies and everything she needs to maintain them is gone. Brian is writing out a SUBSTANCIAL check from our chase funds even as I speak, and a few of the other s guys (Allan, Geoff, Bill Steigerwald and Bill Tabor) are putting together some cash. I'm braving knee high grass and snakes to try to find the and surviving or wounded animals that might be out there. One cannot observe the scene laid out before us without being moved. We felt it was a right and good thing to help whatever way we coud. Kinda makes me think we were there for more than just the storms...kinda like drawn there for a higher purpose. At any rate, we were there at the time, and we did what was right....and what felt good. Hopefully others will be moved to do the same. We've been here for a few hours now, but we've done what we could and are pulling up stakes to move back into Kansas. A late breaking update....the kittens were found, alive. Its absolutely amazing how this one tidbit of news has had such an elating effect on all of use that have been here for a few hours. Almost like a little celebration...EMS workers, the people from the Salvation Army Disaster Relief team, the guys from the light and power company; everyone is smiling. Maybe every dark cloud does have a silver lining....even when that dark cloud is a tornado.
Nancy K. Bose May 19-20 The team members from Alpha team made a mad dash from SW Nebraska on Friday am to get to Wichita by noon on Friday to meet the incoming Beta team members. The first expected member was Jill Borden, but we arrived to find that Jill's flight was canceled due to severe weather. We bid Bill Steigerwald good bye, which was tough. Bill is a great chase partner, and we hoped we provided him with at least a few stories. Then we made a mad dash back to the hotel to welcome John Bender, who surprised us with our own RADAR on McWar. McWar is one of the most state of the art vehicles out there, but we always seem to have enough room for one more toy. Grizz was the next to arrive, with his new Dodge Ram Quad cab, loaded to the teeth with GPS, cellular data center, mechanics kit, and on and on. We consider it important to have well lit vehicles in the field when we're in active chase, but Grizz's truck is a light SHOW. The truck is DOPED UP! Back to the airport to pick up Eric from Ryboprod, a French film production company that is doing a documentary on MESO. Eric proved to be up to the rigors of chasing, but he was perhaps unprepared for the "Down Day Delirium" that prevails on our team. Jill pulled in about that time, taking a shuttle from the airport, and last to arrive were Doug Elick and Steve Chambers. This is the largest team we've ever had on the road, and we have a few bugs to work out as far as organization and communication, but I think we'll be just fine. We departed the next morning for what we would hope was the area of highest probability....and we were treated to some storms that popped up near the OK panhandle just ahead of the dryline. The cellular connections are horrible this year, but one really can't expect much from the middle of a cow pasture. Nothing of earth shattering proportions, but more than what we expected. We even caught a little bit of a wall cloud that dropped down to visit for a bit, and terrific cg (cloud to ground) lightening. What never ceases to amaze is the brilliant panarama that these plains storms produce....and how wonderfully unique they truly are. Highlights of the day were Allan inventing a new turtle cam, Eric discovering that Americans really ARE crazy, Doug discovering the outer limits of bladder control, Nancy discovering that calf fries are nothing you're gonna find on a menu in New York, and the entire team discovering that even McWar must yield to an angry longhorn. For now, we're discovering how to work together, and what different people's capabilities and strenths (and weaknesses) are. A lot of people represent a lot of opinions, and each one is valid; or should be dealt with as such. Nancy Bose May 21 Sunday morning, we slept a little later than usual and headed south to the Oklahoma City area. We were here last year, shortly after the May 3 F5, and we were all heartened to see how much of the area near Moore had rebuilt. I don't think any of us that were there will ever forget the devastation, but many felt seeing the "rebirth" would bring some sort of closure. Many of the team wanted to tour NSSL in Norman, but we arrived to find them closed for visitors. Fortunately we were able to gain a sympathetic ear, and lead forecaster Jack Hales cracked open the door and let us come in for a tour. Its always a real trip going there....without a doubt, they have the best toys of anyone. We were able to talk with many of the people who worked there, and it was fascinating. Later, a few of the people at NSSL visited our web page, and said some really nice things. We felt pretty good about that. The fair weather blues are making the practical jokes even a little wilder than usual, all this fair weather has really started to make creative use of spare time a challenge. However, we are learning to pull together as a team more and more....we just hope to have a chance to test how we all mesh on a really ACTIVE day. Nancy Bose May 22 We started the day KNOWING that nothing would happen. We all made plans for the day: laundry, naps, film developing, vehicle maintenance. We first had our annual business meeting, where in we discussed where we are, where we want to be, and how we intend to get there. Basically, we will be reformatting our mission statement, with more of an emphasis on public education and safety programs. I don't know who realized it first, as about 5 computers were running, checking data, watching "just in case," but we started seeing signs of convection in the NE, towards the Tulsa area. After a minimal amount of discussion, we went mobile...deploying in record time, and were soon zooming down the road to the NE. It wasn't long before we realized that we would have to chase into Arkansas. This is something we would never have even thought of, as the terrain is terrible for chasing. But we had chaser fever, and with the weather being what it has been, we couldn't let any opportunity escape. It felt marvelous to be on the road for something other than sightseeing, and if you could have run adrenaline indices, they would have been off the scale. The first cell popped up quickly, managing to birth three overshooting tops before it died out, each popping up after its ancestor collapsed. But the NEXT one! The another formed slightly behind it, and exploded into one of the most gorgeous LP Supercells ever to be see by man. It was lit incredibly, very crisp, and the updraft tower was tilted and rotating visibly. It produced several small and very temporary funnels, and a b-wer and hook detected by our new roof mounted X band radar, which also was able to detect the range of the storm. By now, we had committed to the storm, and couldn't break off, even as we chased it further and further into Arkansas. We felt as though we "owned" this storm, and chased it till it was obscured by the approaching evening. Darkness caught up with us, and we said farewell to our storm, possibly the largest and most beautiful we had ever perused. Shortly after the traditional "high five's" and reaccounts of the events of the day, we came to the realization that we had wondered some 200 miles from Norman, where we were currently based. The trip home is always a long one, but spirits were high. We had had our first active chase as a fully deployed team, and we had done well. Another victory: our young French camera man has been converted from an objective observer to a stone cold storm junkie.
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