Beware the Cap!

The western U.S. trough made slow progress eastward yesterday into the Central Plains. The environmental setup appeared quite favorable for supercells and tornadoes to develop from Mississippi to Iowa. MSU storm chasers were out in full force and were hopeful to witness Mother Nature's spectacle. Well, Mother Nature had other plans in mind and warmly welcomed the cap to the party in Mississippi. 700 mb temperatures between 8-10 C over the Delta region limited convective initiation for most of the day. Close to sunset, storms did form along a pre-frontal trough moving along the Mississippi River, but the cap still limited the vertical extent of the storms.

Most of the severe weather reports occurred well to the north in Missouri and Iowa. This was one of the biggest busts for me in a long time, but I was more disappointed for the students who went chasing for the first time. Still, it was a great road trip and we all had a lot of fun. Significant severe weather will likely be tough to find over the next 7-10 days as an eastern U.S. trough effectively cuts off the Gulf of Mexico.

Texas Sized Storms

The big trough crashing into the western U.S. showed that it means business as it moves across the country this week. Supercells erupted across parts of Texas and Oklahoma producing six reports of tornadoes. Storm chasers from MSU intercepted a long-tracked supercell near Abilene. The storm rode along a warm front all the way to Decatur before the crew called off the chase. They witnessed one tornado near Breckenridge, TX that produced quite a bit of damage in and around the town.

The crew is headed to Arkansas tonight to gear up for another chase tomorrow. Meanwhile, other storm chasers at MSU have their eyes set on a big storm chase day tomorrow in the MS Delta region. As the western U.S. trough ejects into the Southern Plains, supercells should once again erupt from Mississippi to Illinois. Given the favorable thermodynamic and dynamic environment in place, tornadoes are a good bet once again tomorrow. My initial target is Cleveland, MS. This is the best time of the year!