Saturday, May 24, 2014

Day 7: Homeward Bound

Well....our wishes for much better weather today weren't too fulfilled. Our excitement for the day- we finally got a hold of some decent sized hail.
We left Clovis, New Mexico this morning and made our way south aiming for the general area around Midland, Texas, hoping for some discrete cells to fire. We were afraid the several inches of rain that moved through the area overnight would rid any areas of possible instability, and we were right. We still pushed on knowing we could catch at least one storm or two. Once south, we locked eyes on the northern cell of a line, which was starting to veer off from the rest.
From looking at the VIL, Vertically Integrated Liquid, we realized there may be some good sized hail with it. From then on we played tag-a-long with the cell, sticking right behind it, looking for any fallen hail.
With that cell starting to die, and our other options looking unreachable and not very promising, we took a break to focus on the weather for the next few days. There's an Upper Level Low lagging over the Four Corners region (we were hoping for it to eject east faster) 
which is inhibiting a big chance for severe weather. Although there's a slight risk in the south-western Texas area through Memorial Day weekend, we've decided that chasing after shelf clouds and/or little cells that may produce hail isn't the most logical decision. So, after a week of getting the feel of chasing on our own, we're headed back east. Although none of us want to leave the Plain States, we're on the way back. 
The goal of this trip was to get our name out, see a tornado or two, enjoy the beauty of Mother Nature, and most importantly, have fun and stay safe. After making several new connections and gaining almost 100 more followers, sighting two tornadoes, and seeing some beautiful cloud structures, we feel accomplished. 
We will absolutely be back out west in the years to follow, and are already looking forward to it. We plan to stop a little north of Dallas for the night, and make it home in the next day or two. 
Thanks so much for sticking with us this trip; we hope its been as much fun for you as it has been for us! Until next year, keep up with the truck progression and our local chasing!

-Katie, Hans, & Travis

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