Site hosted by Angelfire.com: Build your free website today!

May 29, 2001



This day had the South Plains under a moderate risk of severe thunderstorms with large hail and damaging winds being the most likely threats, though with supercells likely, tornadoes were a possibility.
Getting a somewhat late start, the storms were already well developed in the northern South Plains before I reached the area.  The first two had shown signs of anticyclonic rotation though the third, forming behind the other two showed a more normal orientation.  This storm formed in the Hart area and numerous lowerings and possible wall clouds were being observed.
Below is a shot of scud material forming under the intake area as seen from FM 179 south of Texas 194.  This storm, like the previous two was showing indications of rotation on the Lubbock Nexrad radar.

Looking N from FM 179 S of Tx 194.

Reaching Texas 194, the main intake area is visible in the haze.  With very abundant moisture and frequent downdrafting blowing out clouds of dirt, visibility was often somewhat restricted.

Looking NNE from FM 179 at Tx 194.

Moving to north of the town of Edmonson on FM1424 I got a good look at the rear of what had to be the main updraft tower.  The NWS indicated that this was an area of serious concern so I moved north to FM 145 and east to Interstate 27 which put me in good position to observe the area of concern, now a few miles NW of the town of Kress.

Looking NNE from FM1424 N of Edmonson.

The NWS was reporting a very strong hook echo in the mid ranges above this area.  In the shot below, some signs of motion were evident though the inflow winds were not particularly strong.  NWS went with a Doppler indicated Tornado Warning for Swisher County at about this time.  This shot was at 5:50 PM.

Looking NNW from FM 145 at I 27.

At around 5:53 PM when the next shot was taken, a possible weak RFD had occurred, though likely less than 45 to 50 MPH and the clouds seemed to show an increased level of rotation.  The brighter area at the rear may well be indication of an RFD.  However, like many other times during this day, the RFD didn't seem to be strong enough or there wasn't sufficient inflow, or some other low level ingredient was missing so that the circulation never quite got to the ground.  The dark spot is most likely a mosquito, they were almost as active as the storm chasing/storm research community, though at this time I'd not seen more than normal (chase traffic, that is), that would change!

Looking NNW from FM 145 at I 27.

By 6:10 the area was moving just to the north of Kress along old US 87.  It was still showing some evidence of weak rotation but nothing impressive.  Road choices sent me east on FM 145.  This area held together for a long time then seemed to shift the primary intake more to the east.  Starting from just east of Kress and lasting until I started pulling off of the storm south of Turkey, there was a nearly constant crowd of all sorts of chaser vehicles, several Doppler on Wheel trucks, instrument cars, etc.  either on or off the roads.  These made for somewhat dangerous driving conditions, though mostly everyone was well behaved.

Looking NNW from Kress.

The next main area will be seen on page 2.

Continued on Page 2.

Back to the Weather Page.

Back to the Main Page.