May 2, 2006
Sorry, no pictures.
See the NWS link for May
2 through 5 for more information about the weather.
There was a limited activation on this day as storms began to fire up
to the east. I headed east well behind the storms. I wasn't able
to catch the early severe storms that moved across Dickens
county. As I reached the town of Dickens the spotters received
notice that there was a general recall issued. I stopped and
picked up a sandwich at the Ponderosa Barbecue and moved up to a high
point near a cell tower north of town to enjoy it and to listen to what
seemed to be tornadic action near Colorado City in the Midland
CWA. After I finished dinner I decided to head back on US 82
rather than moving north toward some storms still going on. This
would prove to be a mistake. I stopped several times along the
highway to take shots of the Historical Markers that I add to my
screensaver jpeg files on my computers. When I reached the
Caprock east of Crosbyton I talked to a spotter in Lubbock, who
informed me that the other mobile spotter in my area had just reported
landspouts southeast of Dougherty. I was then southwest of that
area and could see dust raised in a small area in the proper
position. I was too far away to get a picture or make out
details. I headed north on FM 28 then west on FM 1958. I
was too late (as usual) to see the landspouts but I could see that a
decent storm was in front of me. I headed east then north on TX
70 to Matador. I heard something on the NWS Weather Radio about a
tornado warning for Motley county. I contacted the NWS by cell
phone for details and after hearing of rotation indicated near
Norhfield and of a chaser report of a rain wrapped tornado in southeast
Hall county, I decided to head east on US 70 toward Paducah as
the storm seemed to be moving east southeast. Once I reached
Paducah I contacted by wife via cell phone and had her to a bit of
nowcasting for me. It was clear that the storm I'd been following was
well to the east northeast and a new storm was moving across south of
me. As I didn't want to get out of the area, and I might at least
look for hail on the ground or damage to the south I chose to head to
Guthrie. I found quite a bit of minor flooding, along the sides
of the road and piles of small hail on the shoulders just north of
Guthrie. The storm was by now well east and likely moving into
Knox or Foard counties. I reached US 82 and headed back west to
Lubbock. I later used the online site to report the hail
found as it might well have been of severe criteria when it fell,
though quite a bit of melting had occurred by the time I reached the
area. A decent trip, though I always seemed just out of position
or behind. I didn't realize that would be the theme for several
more days.
Judging from the storm reports I stayed just in front of high winds
most of the trip south and was just late for damaging winds that passed
near Guthrie.
