Hi all,
We stayed around Sidney for much of the afternoon as Cu and very shallow Cb's developed in the vicinity. After a while we got bored and went to move to another line of activity to our SE. We made it about 15mi before it started to look crap so stopped and threw the ball around for a while.
After 30 minutes or so of this, we noticed a very nice cluster of cells about 80mi to our east in west central Nebraska so we made the quick call to book it east on I-80 to North Platte to get close to this action. These cells were clearly much better than anything we'd seen all day so we were keen to get on them (although we knew they would be high based with DP's in the mid to high 40's throughout the area).
Various cells developed along the frontal boundary (the "backdoor" one) and there were some reports of hail to 2cm from these cells. We eventally got close enough to these storms just as they weakened near McCook in south western Nebraska. We checked into a motel here in McCook and were planning on heading out of town for sunset although one last storm to our NW (moving SE towards us) had our interest. But this wasn't to be the only show. A small cell developed right over McCook and put out some flashes and rumbles on sunset. After the rain from this close cell moved on, we packed out camera gear and headed just S of town to shoot the cell coming in from the NW. It picked up in intensity nicely just as we set up and it put out some nice (but fairly infrequent) CG's and CC's. Photogenic nonetheless.
Pics from today here...
http://macca.bsch.au.com/gallery/20070516Models are still a bit unclear as to the position or intensity of the next upper trough although it does seem to be a central/high plains event. The latest GFS run shows chaseable set ups for almost the entire outlook period, however, the best shear sits quite a way north. EC also has chaseable action for most of the outlook period as well, however, I think it digs the upper trough a little deeper into the plains, dragging the better shear slightly further S (into N Kansas/S Nebraska). The next 2 days should provide a better idea as to how this system is going to pan out early-mid next week.
Tomorrow is slightly similar to today with more front range/high plains action from New Mexico right up through Colorado and Wyoming. Find some moisture pooling, find some hills, find a good view and watch the storms. Steering flow is a bit more slack tomorrow than today which means storms may struggle a bit to get off the range but we'll see what surprises it can throw at us. Moisture levels should be slightly higher too which will help the situation.
Macca & Chris
