VORTEX 2: Day 16
Well, the armada spent the night in Amarillo, Texas in preparation for yet another sub-marginal severe weather day. The difference this time being they were in the southern portion of the domain and not the far northern / out of the domain.
At the morning briefing it was decided to move to Clarendon, TX and recovene at 1PM. The thinking was the better shear would be to the north and the better moisture to the south. Ideally, a storm would form to the north, develop supercellular characteristics, and move south-southeast into the better moisture. Unfortunately, this didn’t happen. The original storm of the day developed just west of Childress, TX and the armada reluctantly dropped southeast and targeted this storm. Shortly after doing so, the storm dissipated and was nothing more than a shower. The armada was began looking for a new storm to target only to find they were equidistant from three new areas of convection that were all still sub-par. One storm (near Elk City, OK) was already mature and moving southeast along an old outflow boundary. Another storm was consolidating / developing near Canadian, TX and showed promise of being the next “real” storm. The other storm was south and east of Lubbock, TX and it was unclear what would happen to this storm over the next several hours.
After a brief debate, the armada decided to target the storm near Elk City, OK and hi-tailed it in the direction. Hopes were high as the armada blasted northeast toward this storm, only to have them dashed when the storm collapsed and dissipated as the armada got close. The armada then quickly turned around and headed toward the Canadian, TX storm only to have those hopes dashed as this storm also collapsed as the armada got close. By this time it was shortly after 8PM and the armada called it quits for the evening.
I have to admit, it was an impressive showing for the VORTEX II armada today. Not many scientists can say they have “killed” three separate storms in a single day. Does this make the VORTEX II project a fighter ace?
About Patrick
Patrick Marsh is a Ph.D. student at the University of Oklahoma's School of Meteorology. He earned a Bachelors of Science in Mathematics and Physics (cum laude) from the University of Arkansas in 2005 and a Masters of Science in Meteorology in 2007. In addition to working on his doctorate, Patrick serves as the National Severe Storms Laboratory Liaison to the Hazardous Weather Testbed where his research interests lie in working with operational forecasters, data mining, data visualization, and all things high-impact weather. For more about Patrick's work, check out his complete CV!
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